Command Enterprises, Inc., B-293754, June 7, 2004

B-293754 Jun 07, 2004 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Command Enterprises, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Mow Better Lawn & Landscaping, Inc. d/b/a/ Rushing Technical Services, Inc. (RTS) under request for proposals (RFP) No. F16602-03-R-0005, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for grounds maintenance at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana. Command challenges the propriety of the Air Force's past performance evaluation and its best value determination. We deny the protest. View Decision B-293754, Command Enterprises, Inc., June 7, 2004 Decision Matter of: Command Enterprises, Inc. File: B-293754 Date: June 7, 2004 Charles F. Merz, Esq., Charles F. Merz & Associates, for the protester. Lynn H. Patton, Esq., Armstrong Allen, for Mow Better Lawn & Landscaping, Inc., an intervenor. Maj. Graeme S. Henderson, Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and Glenn G. Wolcott, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency properly rated protester's past/present performance as merely satisfactory in light of protester's insufficient relevant experience, and the agency reasonably concluded that the risks associated with protester's limited corporate experience were not offset by the individual experience of protester's proposed project manager. DECISION Command Enterprises, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Mow Better Lawn & Landscaping, Inc. d/b/a/ Rushing Technical Services, Inc. (RTS) under request for proposals (RFP) No. F16602-03-R-0005, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for grounds maintenance at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana. Command challenges the propriety of the Air Force's past performance evaluation and its best value determination. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP at issue here was published on August 11, 2003, seeking proposals to perform various grounds maintenance activities on more than 3,200 acres of improved, semiimproved, and unimproved land at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana, for a base period and six 1-year option periods. RFP, amend. No. 0001, App. A, at 24. The statement of work (SOW) requires the contractor to perform a variety of grounds maintenance duties, including: mowing, aeration, trimming/pruning shrubs/hedges, irrigation, leaf removal, fertilization, fence cleaning, maintaining sand play areas, edging of jogging trail, and clover eradication. RFP amend. No. 0001, App. A, at 14. The RFP provided for award on the basis of the proposal offering the best value to the government and established past/present performance and price as the only evaluation factors, advising offerors that past/present performance was significantly more important than price. RFP amend. No. 0001 at 2. More specifically, with regard to evaluation of past/present performance, the RFP provided: The past/present performance factor assesses the degree of confidence the Air Force has in an offeror's ability to supply services that meet users' needs including cost and schedule based on a demonstrated record of project compliance. The confidence assessment rating is established through an integrated analysis of those risks and strengths identified by the statement of work as determined by the offeror's recent, and relevant projects performance.[ [1] ] Relevant past performance is defined as providing grounds maintenance services for approximately 2000 acres of improved and semi-improved grounds as described in the Statement of Work, in additional to providing all other similar work, as referenced in Appendix A of the Statement of Work.... As a result of an analysis of the risks and strengths identified in the past and present performance record, each offeror will receive a rating for the Past Performance factor. RFP amend. No. 0001 at 3. In connection with the agency's assessment of past/present performance, offerors were directed to submit questionnaires completed by contract references for whom the offerors had performed prior work. These questionnaires sought responses to various questions under the headings of: performance, quality, cost, management and safety. Price was evaluated on the basis of reasonableness. Proposals were submitted by six offerors, including Command and RTS, by the September 10 closing date. [2] Command's proposal offered a price of10,257,440; RTS's proposal offered a price of $11,062,349. [3] In evaluating Command's past/present performance, the agency determined that Command had not performed any contracts that qualified as relevant past performance. [4] Specifically, Command submitted past/present performance questionnaires from references regarding three contracts: one at Jackson, Ohio that encompassed 369 acres; one at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, that encompassed 600 acres; and one at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for which no acreage information was provided.