Digital Technologies, Inc., B-291657.3, November 18, 2004

B-291657.3 Nov 18, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Digital Technologies, Inc. (DTI) protests the Department of Agricultures decision to amend request for proposals (RFP) No. FSA-R-003-02DC to add additional work, and to allow revised proposals. The agencys decision followed cancellation of the original award due to a finding by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that the awardee was not a small business concern eligible for award. DTI asserts that, instead of amending the solicitation and requesting revised proposals, the agency should make award to the offeror next in line for award and then modify the awarded contract to add any new requirements. We deny the protest. View Decision B-291657.3, Digital Technologies, Inc., November 18, 2004 Decision Matter of: Digital Technologies, Inc. File: B-291657.3 Date: November 18, 2004 John F. Klein for the protester. Tenley A. Carp, Esq., McGuire Woods, for Communication Technologies, Inc., an intervenor. Byron W. Waters, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Paul E. Jordan, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Where award was canceled after awardee under small business setaside was declared other than small by Small Business Administration, agencys decision to amend solicitation and provide offerors opportunity to submit revised proposalsinstead of making award to next offeror in line for award under original evaluation--was reasonable in view of material increase in estimated quantities and addition of geographically remote performance site. DECISION Digital Technologies, Inc. (DTI) protests the Department of Agricultures decision to amend request for proposals (RFP) No. FSA-R-003-02DC to add additional work, and to allow revised proposals. The agencys decision followed cancellation of the original award due to a finding by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that the awardee was not a small business concern eligible for award. DTI asserts that, instead of amending the solicitation and requesting revised proposals, the agency should make award to the offeror next in line for award and then modify the awarded contract to add any new requirements. We deny the protest. The RFP, a small business set-aside issued in August 2002, provided for award of a fixed-price, indefinitedelivery/indefinite-quantity contract for a base year, with 4option years, for remedial and preventive maintenance for an estimated 2,557 Farm Service Agency (FSA) IBM AS/400 Model 170 computers, 3,130 IBM Model 4317 laser printers, and a small quantity of other laser printers (6 IBM Model 4028 and 12 IBM Model 5262). The computers and printers are located at approximately 2,370 county Field Service Centers, 50 state FSA offices, 10 Caribbean offices, and headquarters offices in 3 other cities. The RFP established required response times for any necessary remedial maintenance, with the contractor required to return the computer or printer to operation within 4 to 18 business hours--depending on the location of the equipment--of the governments reporting the problem to the contractor. Award was to be made to the offeror whose proposal was most advantageous to the government based on technical capability, past performance and price. The agency originally made award to Communication Technologies, Inc. (ComTek). Integration Technologies Group Inc. filed a protest challenging the award, asserting that ComTeks proposal contained a misrepresentation. We sustained the protest and recommended that the agency open negotiations with offerors in the competitive range, request revised proposals, and make a new award determination. Integration Techs. Group, Inc. , B291657, Feb. 13, 2003, 2003 CPD 55. The agency obtained revised proposals in November 2003 and, after concluding its evaluation, awarded a contract to A&T Systems, Inc. on March 4, 2004. ComTek challenged A&Ts size status at the SBA. On April 19, the SBA determined that A&T was other than small and thus not eligible for the award. A&Ts appeal of the SBAs determination was denied on July 1. Thereafter, as the contracting officer prepared to make award to another offeror in the competitive range, she recognized that some of FSAs requirements had changed. Specifically, the last option on a service contract for 2,439 IBM impact printers was due to expire at the end of September 2004, and some servers and printers had been moved from Hawaii to Guam, changing the geographic scope of the procurement. The contracting officer amended the RFP to add the printers and the Guam site, and invited revised proposals from all offerors that had responded initially.