M.K. Taylor, Jr. Contractors, Inc., B-291730.2, April 23, 2003

B-291730.2 Apr 23, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Increased quantities would not have led protester to reduce its price sufficiently to give it a substantial chance of receiving the award. Protester was not prejudiced by agency's actions and there thus is no basis to sustain protest. The contractor was to maintain the paved areas on the base. Offerors were to submit unit and extended prices for each of 70 contract line item numbers (CLINs) covering the various tasks for the base year and each option year. Was determined to be most advantageous to the government. Under each of which proposals were to be assigned a rating/confidence level. Were received by the August 28 closing time. Both were rated exceptional/high confidence for past performance. View Decision M.K. Taylor, Jr. Contractors, Inc., B-291730.2, April 23, 2003 * REDACTED DECISION DIGEST Attorneys DECISION M.K. Taylor, Jr. Contractors, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Pembroke Construction Company, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. F44600-02-R0107, issued by the Department of the Air Force, 1st Contracting Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, for repair of pavements at the base. Taylor argues that the agency improperly failed to amend the solicitation to reflect changed requirements and that Pembroke submitted unbalanced prices. We deny the protest. The solicitation, issued July 15, 2002, provided for the award of a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract for a base year, with 5 option years. RFP at 34. The contractor was to maintain the paved areas on the base, including, among other things, excavation and hauling; surface preparation; repair of existing concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and airfield pavement slabs and spalls; repair of airfield box drains; painting of stripes on the airfield; resetting manholes and catch basins; and pothole repair. RFP, Specifications, Sec. 01110, at 1. All services would be performed in response to negotiated delivery orders issued on a fixed-price basis. RFP at 10-11. Offerors were to submit unit and extended prices for each of 70 contract line item numbers (CLINs) covering the various tasks for the base year and each option year. RFP at 3. Each CLIN contained an estimated quantity. Relevant here, for each of the 6 years, CLIN A001CQ, Remove and Replace 3 Foot Box Drain, listed an estimated quantity of 200 linear feet; CLIN A0001AC, Hauling, listed an estimated quantity of 1,920 cubic yards; CLIN A001CR, Precast Concrete Manholes, listed an estimated quantity of 10; and CLIN A001CW, Paint Runway Markings, listed an estimated quantity of 82,000 square feet. RFP, Bid Schedule, at 1-15. In addition to the estimated quantity for each CLIN, the solicitation provided a $5,000 contract minimum guarantee for the base year and a $25,000,000 maximum for the life of the contract. RFP at 3. The RFP provided for award, without discussions, to the offeror whose proposal, conforming to the solicitation, was determined to be most advantageous to the government, based on a tradeoff between recent and relevant past performance and price. RFP at 38. Past performance included five subfactors, under each of which proposals were to be assigned a rating/confidence level; based on these subfactor ratings, an overall rating/confidence level then would be assigned for the factor (exceptional/high confidence; very good/significant confidence; satisfactory/ confidence; neutral/unknown confidence; marginal/little confidence; or unacceptable/no confidence). RFP at 38-39. Two proposals, Taylor's and Pembroke's, were received by the August 28 closing time, and both were rated exceptional/high confidence for past performance. Because the past performance ratings of the two offerors were identical, and Pembroke offered the lower price ($21,739,615 versus $23,082,599), the Air Force determined that Pembroke's proposal offered the best value to the government. It made award to Pembroke on September 23. On September 28 and 29, the agency issued seven delivery orders under the awarded contract, several of which included CLIN quantities that exceeded the base year and/or estimated 6-year contract quantities that had been set forth in the RFP. INACCURATE ESTIMATES Taylor cites the September delivery orders in arguing that the award to Pembroke under the solicitation as issued was improper because the delivery orders show that the solicitation did not reflect the agency's true minimum needs. Taylor notes, for example, that the solicitation estimated a quantity of 200 linear feet of box drain work for each of 6 years, but delivery order 0006 required 5,050 linear feet of box drain work in the base year alone. /1/ Protester's Comments, Feb. 24, 2003, at 4.