Blinderman Construction Co., Inc.

B-412319.6 Nov 30, 2016 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Zodiac-Poettker Joint Venture, LLC, of Chesterfield, Missouri, requests a recommendation that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest of the award of a contract to Blinderman Construction of Chicago, Illinois, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912QR-15-R-0037, issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, for the design and construction of an Army Reserve Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois. We deny the request. We deny the request. 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:  Zodiac-Poettker Joint Venture, LLC--Costs File:  B-412319.6 Date:  November 30, 2016 Scott F. Lane, Esq., and Katherine S. Nucci, Esq., Thompson Coburn LLP, for the protester. Carlton A. Arnold, Esq., Corps of Engineers, for the agency. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Request that our Office recommend reimbursement of protest costs is denied where the protest grounds were not clearly meritorious or the agency did not unduly delay taking corrective action. DECISION Zodiac-Poettker Joint Venture, LLC, of Chesterfield, Missouri, requests a recommendation that it be reimbursed the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest of the award of a contract to Blinderman Construction of Chicago, Illinois, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912QR-15-R-0037, issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, for the design and construction of an Army Reserve Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  We deny the request. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on August 10, 2015, contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract to design and construct an Army Reserve Center comprised of three separate buildings.  Pursuant to the RFP, proposals were to be evaluated on a best-value basis, considering past performance, technical, and price factors.  Id. at 9-10.  The technical factor was comprised of management plan and schedule subfactors.  Id.  The RFP stated that the agency would evaluate offerors under the technical factor using adjectival ratings and on an acceptable/unacceptable basis, and evaluate offers under the past performance factor using relevancy and confidence assessment ratings.  Id. For the schedule subfactor, offerors were to provide a bar chart schedule showing how the work would be performed and completed.  With respect to schedule, the solicitation set forth several requirements, including, as relevant here, the following: 1.3.3 Requirements for Completion of Designated Areas Prior to Furniture Installation . . . The Contractor shall furnish at no additional cost all utilities, including HVAC, lighting and electrical power, during furniture and IT (information technology)/Telecom equipment installation and until the facility is turned over to the Government. *   *   *   *   * All interior building finishes of areas receiving furniture, including all furniture entries, pathways, staging, and storage areas shall be complete.  Completed building finishes shall include. . . HVAC systems and controls. . . . All utilities and systems serving the building shall be fully operational. The HVAC system(s) must be in operation, fully balanced and commissioned.  The elevator(s) shall be operable and certified for use by the approving agency prior the delivery of the furniture package and must be made available, at no additional costs, for use by the furniture and IT/Telecom equipment installation contractors.  RFP, Amend. 001, at 3-4.  The agency received proposals from eight offerors, including Zodiac and Blinderman.  Agency Report (AR) at 5.  The agency concluded that Zodiac's proposal was unacceptable for award due to a deficiency under the schedule subfactor.  AR, Tab 7, Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD), at 2, 4.  Specifically, the SSDD stated that Zodiac showed that the furniture/IT installation would begin prior to the completion of the HVAC commissioning and elevator certification, which was not in accordance with solicitation.  Id.