Securicor Sicherheitsdienste, B-292723, November 18, 2003

B-292723 Nov 18, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Higher technically rated proposals is denied. Award was to be made to the offeror or offerors whose proposals provided the "overall best value. The technical/management capability and performance risk factors were of equal importance. Combined were "significantly more important" than price. Which was to be evaluated for realism and consistency with the technical/management proposal. Which were further broken down into sub-subfactors. Which were to be qualitatively evaluated. The contractor's qualification subfactor was to be evaluated only on a pass/fail basis. A competitive range of three proposals was established. Discussions were held with the three competitive range offerors. The offerors were provided a list of questions concerning proposal weaknesses. View Decision Securicor Sicherheitsdienste, B-292723, November 18, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Securicor Sicherheitsdienste protests the award of two contracts, one to Securitas GmbH Werkschutz and the other to Pond Security Service GmbH, by the Department of the Army under request for proposals (RFP) No. DABN01-03-R-0005 for guard services at U.S. military installations in Germany. We deny the protest. The RFP sought proposals for installation guard services for five Area Support Groups (ASG) in Germany and the former U.S. Embassy in Bonn, Germany. /1/ These services include such things as static installation access control, roving security patrols, explosive detection and patrol dog teams, personnel security escorts, and "any other security related function associated with the protection of the U.S. Government installations, materials, property, and personnel." RFP at 284. The RFP also required the operation and maintenance of the government-furnished "Mobile Vehicle Inspection System" to conduct security inspections of vehicles at various locations on military installations. Operation of the mobile search system at an installation required providing a three-person team per shift. RFP at 475. The RFP contemplated the award of multiple fixed-price contracts covering the six installations for a base year with six 1-year options. Award was to be made to the offeror or offerors whose proposals provided the "overall best value," considering technical/management capability, performance risk (i.e., past performance), and price. The technical/management capability and performance risk factors were of equal importance, and combined were "significantly more important" than price, which was to be evaluated for realism and consistency with the technical/management proposal. The RFP provided for a tradeoff analysis between price and the other evaluation factors to determine which offer represented the best value, and cautioned offerors that the Army "reserves the right to award to other than the low [price] offeror for better technical/management capability or low performance risk or a combination of both." RFP at 496. The technical/management capability factor consisted of eight subfactors of equal importance--contractor's qualification; contract organizational structure; contract personnel staffing; personnel management; training plan; mobilization capability; uniforms, vehicle and other equipment; and quality control--which were further broken down into sub-subfactors. RFP at 498-500. Unlike the other subfactors, which were to be qualitatively evaluated, the contractor's qualification subfactor was to be evaluated only on a pass/fail basis. RFP at 498. Securicor, Securitas, Pond, and four other offerors responded to the RFP. A technical/management performance evaluation board (TMPEB) evaluated proposals on a pass/fail basis under the contractor's qualification subfactor, and as deficient, marginal, good, or excellent under the remaining technical/management capability subfactors. The Wiesbaden Financial Services Branch evaluated the price proposals. Based on these evaluations, a competitive range of three proposals was established, including those of the two awardees and the protester. Discussions were held with the three competitive range offerors. In advance of these discussions, the offerors were provided a list of questions concerning proposal weaknesses. In these discussions, Securicor was informed of weaknesses under all eight of the technical/management subfactors, including weaknesses relating to manager responsibilities, recruitment, training, and mobile search team labor rates. Securicor was represented at the discussion session by its proposed project manager, the principal of Cambra-Consult, who had also prepared the proposal. No employee of Securicor attended the discussion session. After discussions concluded, the three offerors submitted final proposal revisions (FPR), which were evaluated and rated as follows: FPR (final proposal revisions) > Contracting Officer's Statement Para.