B-298156.2, Alaska Structures, Inc.--Costs, July 17, 2006

B-298156.2 Jul 17, 2006 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Alaska Structures, Inc. requests that we recommend that it be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 129731, issued by the Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Army Medical Material Agency, Department of the Army, for a portable hospital system. We dismissed the protest after the agency advised our Office that it would take corrective action by canceling, and subsequently revising and reissuing, the RFQ. Alaska Structures argues that it was forced to file its most recent protest, and incur the associated costs, because the agency failed to properly implement the corrective action promised in response to a prior protest filed by Alaska Structures raising the same alleged solicitation defects. We deny the request. View Decision B-298156.2, Alaska Structures, Inc.--Costs, July 17, 2006 Decision Matter of: Alaska Structures, Inc.--Costs File: B-298156.2 Date: July 17, 2006 Richard J. Conway, Esq., Robert J. Moss, Esq., and Justin A. Chiarodo, Esq., Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP, for the protester. Peter F. Pontzer, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Government Accountability Office will not recommend that protester be reimbursed its protest costs where the agency promptly took corrective action before the date set for filing its report on the protest. 2. Request for recommendation for reimbursement of protest costs relating to subsequent protest of allegedly defective solicitation, undertaken after prior protest of original solicitation led to corrective action, is denied where the record does not show that the issue which the agency's corrective action failed to address was clearly meritorious. DECISION Alaska Structures, Inc. requests that we recommend that it be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 129731, issued by the Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Army Medical Material Agency, Department of the Army, for a portable hospital system. We dismissed the protest after the agency advised our Office that it would take corrective action by canceling, and subsequently revising and reissuing, the RFQ. Alaska Structures argues that it was forced to file its most recent protest, and incur the associated costs, because the agency failed to properly implement the corrective action promised in response to a prior protest filed by Alaska Structures raising the same alleged solicitation defects. We deny the request. On September 21, 2005, the Army issued RFQ No. 113332 for a 250-bed portable hospital system.[1] On September 26, Alaska Structures protested to our Office, arguing that the RFQ failed to provide vendors with sufficient time to prepare and submit quotations. On October 4, the Army provided notice that it was taking corrective action in response to Alaska Structures' protest by resoliciting the requirement and allowing more time for vendors to respond to the solicitation. Based on the agency's announced corrective action, we dismissed Alaska Structures' September 26 protest without rendering a decision on the protest's merits. Alaska Structures, Inc., B-297286, Oct. 12, 2005. On October 26, the Army issued RFQ No. 117562 for a similar 250-bed portable hospital system. On December 15, Alaska Structures again protested to our Office, arguing that various solicitation requirements were defective.[2] On January 11, 2006, the Army provided notice that it was taking corrective action in response to Alaska Structures' protest by canceling the underlying RFQ and preparing a new solicitation.[3] We subsequently dismissed Alaska Structures' December 15 protest without rendering a decision on the protest's merits. Alaska Structures, Inc., B-297743, Jan. 19, 2006. On March 1, the Army issued the instant solicitation, RFQ No. 129731, for a 150-bed portable hospital system. On March 31, Alaska Structures again protested to our Office, arguing that various terms of the RFQ were defective. Specifically, Alaska Structures alleged that the agency improperly intended to purchase non-Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) items using FSS procedures; the solicitation's functional characteristics were vague and ambiguous; the RFQ failed to provide vendors with equal information concerning mandatory compatibility requirements; the solicitation contained internally inconsistent evaluation criteria; and the evaluation criteria improperly contained requirements that were not also contained in the functional characteristics. Protest, Mar. 31, 2006, at 10-19. On April 26, the Army notified our Office of its intent to cancel the RFQ here, and to revise and reissue the solicitation.