Team Housing Solutions

B-411162 Jun 03, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Team Housing Solutions, Inc. (THS), of New Braunfels, Texas, protests the Department of the Army's award of a contract to SRM-Group (SRM), of Atlanta, Georgia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912JF-14-R-0010, for lodging and transportation services for soldiers attending classes at the United States Property and Fiscal Office at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. THS protests the agency's evaluation of SRM's past performance and asserts that the agency made an unreasonable best value determination. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Team Housing Solutions File: B-411162 Date: June 3, 2015 Theodore P. Watson, Esq., Watson & Associates, LLC, for the protester. John E. McCarthy Jr., Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for the intervenor. Kyle E. Chadwick, Esq., and Scott N. Flesch, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and David A. Ashen, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency unreasonably rated awardee’s past performance as satisfactory confidence is denied where the awardee had performed similar, though not identical, services, and received recent overall good, very good and outstanding ratings. DECISION Team Housing Solutions, Inc. (THS), of New Braunfels, Texas, protests the Department of the Army’s award of a contract to SRM-Group (SRM), of Atlanta, Georgia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912JF-14-R-0010, for lodging and transportation services for soldiers attending classes at the United States Property and Fiscal Office at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. THS protests the agency’s evaluation of SRM’s past performance and asserts that the agency made an unreasonable best value determination. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract to furnish lodging management of Independence Hall, Liberty Hall and Patriot Hall . . . for the National Guard Professional Education Center (NGPEC) at Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas. Services performed shall consist of front desk services, housekeeping, and transportation of students and guests staying in NGPEC lodging as well as those that are billeted off-post. RFP, Statement of Work (SOW), § 1.0. Regarding transportation, the SOW required the contractor to provide: “transportation between Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport and NGPEC Lodging as well as transportation for those guests that will be in off post billeting;” “transportation for off post dining such as to McCain Mall;” and “service for trips to and from a medical facility/hospital for guests staying in lodging.” SOW § 1.11 (Transportation). Award was to be made on a best-value basis considering the following evaluation factors: technical, past performance, price, and small business participation plan. RFP at 27. Technical was more important that past performance, which was more important than price, which was more important than small business participation. RFP at 30. The possible ratings for the technical and small business participation factors were: blue/outstanding, purple/good, green/acceptable, yellow/marginal, or red/unacceptable. RFP at 32-33. Past performance was to be assigned a confidence rating of substantial, satisfactory, limited, no, or unknown. RFP at 35. Four offerors, including THS and SRM, responded to the solicitation. Following proposal evaluation, THS was rated blue/outstanding for the technical factor, substantial confidence for past performance, and blue/outstanding for small business participation, while SRM was rated purple/good for the technical factor, satisfactory confidence for past performance, and blue/outstanding for small business participation. Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD) at 1. THS’s price ($23,059,729) was approximately 8.8 percent higher than SRM’s ($21,179,229). Id. The source selection authority (SSA) performed a best value analysis and concluded that THS’s higher technical and past performance ratings did not warrant payment of the price premium associated with its proposal. Id. at 6‑7.