C&S Corporation

B-411725 Oct 07, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights C&S Corporation, of Seoul, Korea, protests the award of a contract to KF&S Corporation, also of Seoul, Korea, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W91QVN-15-R-0036, which was issued by the Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, for contract security guard services. C&S argues that KF&S's proposal should have been found unacceptable for failing to meet the solicitation's prime contractor corporate experience requirements. The protester also asserts that KF&S included forged labor union documents in its proposal, which should disqualify that firm from award. In addition, C&S challenges the veracity of the agency's statements responding to the forgery allegation, which we view as an assertion that the agency was motivated by bias and bad faith. 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:  C&S Corporation File:  B-411725 Date:  October 7, 2015 Song Yong Eui, Esq., Chung Jin Law Office, for the protester. Maj. Michael G. Pond, Capt. Harry M. Parent, and Scott N. Flesch, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Kenneth Tae Kim, Esq. and James Jin Chung, Esq., Yoon & Yang LLC, for KF&S Corporation, the intervenor. Heather Weiner, Esq., and Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that the agency should have found the awardee’s proposal technically unacceptable is denied where the agency’s interpretation of the solicitation’s terms was reasonable. 2.  Protest alleging bias and bad faith on the part of an agency is denied where protester does not support its allegations with convincing proof, and the record does not otherwise reflect bias or bad faith. DECISION C&S Corporation, of Seoul, Korea, protests the award of a contract to KF&S Corporation, also of Seoul, Korea, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W91QVN-15-R-0036, which was issued by the Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, for contract security guard services.  C&S argues that KF&S’s proposal should have been found unacceptable for failing to meet the solicitation’s prime contractor corporate experience requirements.  The protester also asserts that KF&S included forged labor union documents in its proposal, which should disqualify that firm from award.  In addition, C&S challenges the veracity of the agency’s statements responding to the forgery allegation, which we view as an assertion that the agency was motivated by bias and bad faith. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On March 18, 2015, the Army issued the solicitation for contract security guard services at Army and other Department of Defense installations in the Republic of Korea.  RFP at 1, 24.  The solicitation anticipated the award of a fixed-price contract, with requirements-type contract line item numbers (CLINs) for fixed-price task orders, for a base year and three 1-year options.  Id. at 24, 100.  The solicitation provided for award on a lowest-priced, technically-acceptable basis, considering the following four factors:  (1) technical capability, (2) management approach, (3) past performance, and (4) price.  Id. at 103-11.  To receive consideration for award, proposals had to receive a rating of acceptable under all non-price factors and subfactors.  Id. at 111-12. As relevant here, the technical capability factor consisted of three subfactors:  (1) prime contractor’s permission certification and validation, (2) prime contractor’s corporate experience, and (3) key personnel qualifications.  Id. at 112-15.  With respect to the evaluation of the prime contractor’s corporate experience under the second subfactor, the solicitation stated: The offeror shall provide verifiable information demonstrating that the prime contractor has a minimum of two (2) years of experience in security guard services in [the Republic of Korea] with relevant experience in installation or facilities (military or non-military) access control and management of security guard forces totaling 500 or more security guards during a single time period.  An installation is a grouping of facilities located in the same vicinity that support particular functions . . . . Id.