B-311343, Singleton Enterprises- GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture, April 23, 2008

B-311343 Apr 23, 2008 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Singleton Enterprises-GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture (JV) protests the rejection of its bid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under invitation for bids (IFB) No. VA-256-08-IB-0086, for the renovation of a garage file storage area at the VA Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi. We dismiss the protest because the joint venture was not an eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. View Decision B-311343, Singleton Enterprises- GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture, April 23, 2008 Decision Matter of: Singleton Enterprises- GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture File: B-311343 Date: April 23, 2008 Arthur Wayne Singleton and Gary Michael Thompson, for the protester. Natica L. Chapman, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs; and Kevin R. Harber, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency properly rejected bid of joint venture under a solicitation set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns (SDVOSBC), where the Small Business Administration had determined with regard to another solicitation that the joint venture did not qualify as an SDVOSBC and this determination, which had been affirmed by the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals, remained in force and effect when the agency rejected the joint venture's bid. DECISION Singleton Enterprises-GMT Mechanical, A Joint Venture (JV) protests the rejection of its bid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under invitation for bids (IFB) No. VA-256-08-IB-0086, for the renovation of a garage file storage area at the VA Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi. We dismiss the protest because the joint venture was not an eligible service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern (SDVOSBC). The agency issued the IFB on January 15, 2008, as a total set-aside for SDVOSBCS. In this regard, the IFB included the clause at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sect. 52.219-27, entitled, –Notice of Total Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Aside,— under which a firm must represent at the time it submits its bid that it is an eligible SDVOSBC. Four firms, including Singleton-GMT JV, submitted bids in response to the solicitation at issue by the February 14 bid opening date. Meanwhile, on January 22, the VA filed a protest with the Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the SDVOSBC eligibility of the Singleton-GMT JV with regard to its bid under Solicitation No. VA-249-07-IB-0058 issued by the VA Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky.[1] On February 20, SBA's Director for Government Contracting sustained VA's protest and found that Singleton-GMT JV was not eligible to represent itself as an SDVOSBC for purposes of Federal procurement opportunities, or to bid on or receive contracts set aside for competition among SDVOSBCs. The low bid in response to the solicitation under protest here was rejected for reasons not germane to this protest. Singleton-GMT JV's second low bid was rejected on February 27 based on the SBA's February 20 determination that the Singleton-GMT JV was not an eligible SDVOSBC and could not certify itself to be such on other procurements. On March 5, Singleton-GMT JV then filed an appeal of SBA's determination with the agency's Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA), and submitted the instant bid protest to our Office on March 11. On March 27, the OHA affirmed the SBA's determination that Singleton-GMT JV did not qualify as an SDVOSBC. VA Submission (Mar. 27, 2007), attach., SBA OHA Decision (Mar. 27, 2007). The VA has requested our Office to dismiss Singleton-GMT JV's protest because the rejection of the bid was mandated by the SBA's determination that the joint venture was not eligible to receive awards under solicitations that are set aside for SDVOSBCs. We solicited the views of the SBA on this protest, which concurs with the VA's position. We are required to give deference to an agency's reasonable interpretation of its regulations, and because the SBA is the agency responsible for promulgating the regulations regarding the SDVOSBC program we give its interpretations of its regulations great weight. Singleton Enters. -- GMT Mech., A Joint Venture, supra, at 3. As discussed in Singleton Enters. -- GMT Mech., A Joint Venture, supra, at 4, Federal Acquisition Regulation sect. 19.307(h) and 13 C.F.R. sect. 125.24(b) provide for the SBA's resolution of questions of SDVOSBC status and for an agency procedure to protest a firm's SDVOSBC status to the SBA. Consistent with the SBA's regulations, 13 C.F.R. sect.