B-297800.13, INDUS Technology, Inc., June 25, 2007

B-297800.13 Jun 25, 2007 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights INDUS Technology, Inc. protests its exclusion from consideration for the award of a contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. 6FG2005MYV000001, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for information technology services. INDUS argues that its proposal was improperly excluded from the competition for failing to provide the minimum acceptance period established by the RFP. We deny the protest. View Decision B-297800.13, INDUS Technology, Inc., June 25, 2007 Decision Matter of: INDUS Technology, Inc. File: B-297800.13 Date: June 25, 2007 Ronald K. Henry, Esq., Kaye Scholer LLP, the protester. Adele Ross Vine, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Edward Goldstein, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency reasonably excluded offeror's proposals from competition where the cover letters accompanying the proposals provided for an acceptance period of 180 days, and the solicitation required a minimum acceptance period of 350 days and specifically stated that proposals providing less than the minimum acceptance period would be rejected. DECISION INDUS Technology, Inc. protests its exclusion from consideration for the award of a contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. 6FG2005MYV000001, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for information technology services. INDUS argues that its proposal was improperly excluded from the competition for failing to provide the minimum acceptance period established by the RFP. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND GSA issued the RFP on March 31, 2005, as a set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns (SDVOSB) for information technology services. The RFP contemplated the award of a government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC), referred to as the Veterans Technology Services GWAC (VETS GWAC), whereby GSA would select and administer a pool of pre-qualified, SDVOSB firms that would compete for information technology –task orders— from individual agencies across the federal government. More specifically, the RFP provided that the GWAC would consist of approximately 20 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract awards in each of two –functional areas,— one covering information systems engineering and the other covering systems operation and maintenance. Contracts were to be for a 5-year base period, plus five 1-year option periods, with a total GWAC ceiling of $5 billion over the life of all contracts. The RFP provided that awards were to be made on a best value basis considering two evaluation factors, price and technical merit (which consisted of two subfactors, past performance (a pass/fail evaluation) and contract performance plan). The RFP also provided that prior to evaluating offerors' prices and technical proposals, GSA would review each proposal for –completeness and adherence to instructions.— RFP at M.2. According to the RFP, proposals that did not pass this –acceptability review— would not be further evaluated. Id. As it relates to the protest, offerors were instructed to submit their proposals using standard form (SF) 33. Section L of the RFP, entitled –Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors,— contained the following provision: L.3. Offer Acceptance Period. The Offeror shall complete Block 12 of each SF33 submitted with full cognizance of the minimum acceptance period established herein. (a) –Acceptance period,— as used in this provision means the number of calendar days available to the Government for awarding a Contract from the date specified in this solicitation for receipt of offers. (b) This provision supersedes any language pertaining to the acceptance period that may appear elsewhere in this solicitation. (c) The Government requires a minimum acceptance period of not less than 365 calendar days.[1] (d) Offerors may specify a longer acceptance period than the Government's minimum requirement. (e) An offer allowing less than the Government's minimum acceptance period will be rejected. (f) The offeror agrees to execute all that it has undertaken to do, in compliance with its offer, if that offer is accepted in writing within-- (1) The acceptance period stated in paragraph (c), this provision; or (2) Any longer acceptance period as permitted by paragraph (d) of this provision. RFP at L-11. As explained by GSA, the lengthy acceptance period was considered necessary due to GSA's expectation that it would receive numerous proposals in response to the solicitation and the resulting time that it would take to evaluate those proposals. Contracting Officer's Statement at 3. Section L of the RFP also incorporated by reference Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sect. 52.215-1, Instructions to Offeror--Competitive Acquisition. RFP at L-15.