B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3, Capitol Supply, Inc., June 28, 2006

B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3, Capitol Supply, Inc., June 28, 2006 TITLE: B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3, Capitol Supply, Inc., June 28, 2006 BNUMBER: B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3 DATE: June 28, 2006 ********************************************************************* B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3, Capitol Supply, Inc., June 28, 2006 Decision Matter of: Capitol Supply, Inc. File: B-298123; B-298123.2; B-298123.3 Date: June 28, 2006 Robert Steinman for the protester. Kacie A. Haberly, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. John L. Formica, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Proposal preparation instructions included in a commercial item solicitation for furniture and furnishings that require the submission of presentation boards which include photographs (rather than line drawings or renderings) of 90 percent of the items offered are reasonably based and not overly burdensome, where the solicitation is for commercial items, requires the submission of current catalogs as well as sample items, and the agency amended the solicitation to include the protested requirement because of the difficulties it encountered in evaluating submissions that included more than a limited number of line drawings and renderings. DECISION Capitol Supply, Inc. protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. 3FNH-05-F015-N, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), for furniture and furnishings. Capitol argues that certain provisions of the solicitation as revised are unnecessary and in excess of the agency's minimum needs, and unduly restrict competition. We deny the protest. The RFP, issued April 21, 2005, provides for the award of a fixed-price requirements contract for a base period of 1 year with four 1-year option periods in support of the agency's Packaged Home Program (PHP). According to the agency, the PHP, through a memorandum of understanding between GSA and the Department of State, has "successfully provided U.S. Government personnel stationed at diplomatic and consular posts abroad with their household furniture and furnishing requirements" since the inception of the PHP in the late 1950s. Contracting Officer's Statement at 1; RFP at 88. Under the contract to be awarded here, furniture and furnishings will be available to certain "high-level" government personnel "as `package' orders (i.e., a complete one, two, or three bedroom home) or individual rooms," and as separate pieces. Agency Report (AR) at 2. The solicitation specifies that "[t]o ensure availability, furniture and furnishings supplied under this contract shall be commercial residential products," and provides that "[c]ommercial items are supplies or services used for other than Government purposes and sold or traded to the general public in the course of normal business operations." RFP at 89. The solicitation requires that furniture be offered and available to the agency during the course of contract performance in 18^th Century, Louis Philippe, Mission, and Contemporary styles, and "broadly define[s]" the distinguishing characteristics of each of these four styles. RFP at 89. The solicitation also includes detailed "minimum requirements for materials to be used in construction and assembly" of the furniture and furnishings to be provided. RFP at 95-102. The solicitation includes detailed proposal preparation instructions. The RFP specifies that the technical proposal is to consist of the following 11 sections: overview, descriptions of each room, index of all deviations and minor modifications, support services plans, overall management plan, past performance, commercial product information, presentation boards, cutaway illustrations, finish step panels, and construction material data sheets. RFP at 158-60. The commercial product information section of the technical proposal is to include "current catalogs and price lists for each style line proposed" and states that "sales data (categorized by Government and non-Government sales) may be requested for any/all lines/items." RFP at 159. The solicitation provides for the award of a contract to the offeror submitting the proposal determined to represent the best value to the government, based upon technical/quality, management, and cost/price evaluation factors.[1] RFP at 163-64. The solicitation informs offerors that the agency intends to conduct discussions, and that "[s]ource selection samples will be requested from each offeror who is determined to be in the competitive range."[2] RFP at 163.