BTC Contract Services, Inc., B-295877, May 11, 2005

B-295877 May 11, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights BTC Contract Services, Inc., a small business, protests the award of a contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4418-04-R-0007, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for grounds maintenance and sprinkler/irrigation maintenance services at Charleston Air Force Base (AFB), South Carolina. BTC objects that the agency's evaluation of past performance was unreasonable and, as a consequence, the source selection decision to award to Joppa Maintenance Company, the incumbent contractor, whose proposal was higher-priced and higher-rated, was unreasonable. We deny the protest. View Decision B-295877, BTC Contract Services, Inc., May 11, 2005 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: BTC Contract Services, Inc. File: B-295877 Date: May 11, 2005 Benjamin N. Thompson, Esq., and Jennifer M. Miller, Esq., Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, for the protester. Michael A. Gordon, Esq., and Fran Baskin, Esq., Holmes & Gordon, for Joppa Maintenance Company, an intervenor. Maj. Rebecca R. Vernon, and Capt. Paul E. Cronin, Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Michael R. Golden, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is denied where agency record provides reasonable basis for selecting the higher-priced proposal because of awardee's more favorable past performance evaluation. DECISION BTC Contract Services, Inc., a small business, protests the award of a contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4418-04-R-0007, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for grounds maintenance and sprinkler/irrigation maintenance services at Charleston Air Force Base (AFB), South Carolina. BTC objects that the agency's evaluation of past performance was unreasonable and, as a consequence, the source selection decision to award to Joppa Maintenance Company, the incumbent contractor, whose proposal was higher-priced and higher-rated, was unreasonable. We deny the protest. The procurement was conducted as a commercial item acquisition under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, and was a total set-aside for Historically Underutilized Business Zone small businesses. RFP at 1. The RFP sought fixed-price proposals to furnish services for a base period of 8 months and four 1-year option periods. RFP amend. 23. The RFP provided that the award would be based on the evaluation of past performance and price, with past performance being considered significantly more important than price. RFP at 22-23. Under the heading of "PAST PERFORMANCE INFORMATION," the RFP noted that "Only references for [the] same or similar type contract [are] desired," and also stated: Provide a list of no more than seven (7) contracts, performed for Federal Agencies and commercial customers that have been performed within the last three (3) years. Relevant contracts include, but are not limited to, those contracts where Grounds Maintenance and Sprinkler/Irrigation Maintenance Services, of similar scope, magnitude and complexity to the services required to be performed at Charleston AFB, SC. Items to include but not limited to are pruning shrubs, policing grounds and maintaining grounds of Taxiways and Runways, coordinating and multitasking of various areas to include runways, residential housing and common areas. Contracts under which more than one grounds maintenance type of service has been performed will be considered more relevant than those contracts under which only a single grounds maintenance type of service has been performed. The purpose of the past performance evaluation is to allow the Government to assess the offeror's ability to perform the efforts as described in the solicitation, based on the offeror's demonstrated present and past performance. The assessment process will result in an overall risk rating of exceptional, very good, satisfactory, neutral, marginal or unsatisfactory. RFP at 23. The RFP also explained that, "In evaluating past performance, the Government reserves the right to give greater consideration to information on those contracts deemed most relevant to the effort described in this solicitation." Id. The agency received 15 proposals, conducted discussions with three offerors (including both BTC and Joppa), and thereafter selected for award the proposal of the second lowest priced offeror, Joppa, on the basis of its superior record of past performance.