Latvian Connection LLC

B-410981 Apr 06, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Latvian Connection, LLC, of Kuwait City, Kuwait, protests its exclusion from competition under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 691713, issued by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, for fabrication and installation of mechanical assist mobile shelving system components. Latvian Connection argues that it has been improperly excluded from competing for this procurement, which is being conducted on behalf of the agency by FedBid, Inc. We sustain the protest. We sustain the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: Latvian Connection, LLC File: B-410981 Date: April 6, 2015 Keven Barnes, Latvian Connection, LLC, for the protester. Paul Batlan, Esq., Department of the Interior, for the agency. Cherie J. Owen, Esq., and David A. Ashen, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is sustained where FedBid, acting as the agent for the contracting agency, excluded the protester, a small business, from the competition based on a perceived lack of business integrity, in effect making a negative responsibility determination, without referring the matter to the Small Business Administration under the Certificate of Competency procedures. DECISION Latvian Connection, LLC, of Kuwait City, Kuwait, protests its exclusion from competition under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 691713, issued by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, for fabrication and installation of mechanical assist mobile shelving system components. Latvian Connection argues that it has been improperly excluded from competing for this procurement, which is being conducted on behalf of the agency by FedBid, Inc. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation, issued on December 11, 2014, and set aside for small businesses, sought a contractor to provide fabrication and installation of a high-density mobile shelving system to replace the current steel cantilever shelving at the U.S. Geological Survey’s library in Denver, Colorado. Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, RFQ, at 1; see Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1. The estimated value of the procurement was $95,159. COS at 1. The procurement was conducted through FedBid, a commercial online procurement services provider that operates a website at www.FedBid.com which, among other things, hosts reverse auctions. The procurement here was being conducted using FedBid’s reverse auction platform. In order to respond to solicitations posted on FedBid, prospective vendors or offerors must have a valid FedBid account. FedBid’s terms of use provide that “FedBid may refuse the Services to any person or any entity at any time, in FedBid’s sole discretion.” http://www.fedbid.com/terms; see also AR at 5 (quoting AR, Tab 3, FedBid Suspension and Reinstatement Policy, at 1). FedBid suspended the protester’s account on July 8, 2014. FedBid Suspension E‑mail, July 8, 2014, at 1. In this regard, FedBid provided the protester with the following explanation of the decision to suspend it: System and Business Integrity: Latvian Connection has taken actions to repeatedly and purposely interfere with FedBid’s business relationships. Right to Terminate: Latvian Connection’s use of the FedBid marketplace demonstrates that Latvian Connection has not used (and does not use) the FedBid marketplace as required in the FedBid Terms of Use. Protest, Attach. 9, FedBid Suspension E-mail, July 8, 2014, at 1. Since Latvian Connection’s FedBid account was suspended, the firm was unable to compete for the procurement. Latvian Connection filed this bid protest prior to the January 2, 2015 closing date, challenging its inability to compete for this requirement. DISCUSSION Latvian Connection argues that its exclusion from the competition constitutes either a negative responsibility determination, which should have been referred to the Small Business Administration (SBA), or an improper de facto debarment. Interested Party Status As a preliminary matter, DOI contends that Latvian Connection is not an interested party to protest this procurement because Latvian Connection is currently suspended by FedBid and has received no awards in procurements conducted using FedBid since its registration with FedBid.[1] Under our Bid Protest Regulations, we will only consider protests filed by an “interested party,” that is, an actual or prospective offeror whose direct economic interest would be affected by the award of a contract or the failure to award a contract. 4 C.F.R. §21.0(a). Determining whether a party is interested involves consideration of a variety of factors, including the nature of the issues raised, the benefit or relief sought by the protester, and the party’s status in relation to the procurement.