GS Engineering, Inc.

B-413299.2 Jan 10, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights GS Engineering, Inc. (GSE), of Houghton, Michigan, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. W56HZV-16-R-0051, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Materiel Command, for mine rollers and related spare parts and training. GSE argues that the solicitation amendments issued after the agency's corrective action, taken subsequent to a previous protest, substantially revised the solicitation without providing offerors sufficient time to complete the testing required under the solicitation. 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:  GS Engineering, Inc. File:  B-413299.2 Date:  January 10, 2017 Pamela J. Mazza, Esq., Michelle E. Litteken, Esq., Julia Di Vito, Esq., and Kelly A. DiGrado, Esq., Piliero Mazza PLLC, for the protester. Wade L. Brown, Esq., and Kandis C. Gaines, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Young H. Cho, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that an agency revised a solicitation substantially without providing offerors sufficient time to complete the revised testing requirements is denied where protester was able to complete testing prior to the proposal due date under one of two alternative test conditions specified in the solicitation. DECISION GS Engineering, Inc. (GSE), of Houghton, Michigan, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. W56HZV-16-R-0051, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Materiel Command, for mine rollers and related spare parts and training.  GSE argues that the solicitation amendments issued after the agency’s corrective action, taken subsequent to a previous protest, substantially revised the solicitation without providing offerors sufficient time to complete the testing required under the solicitation. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The agency originally issued the solicitation on April 22, 2016, for 464 mine rollers and 300 brackets for M1151 high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs), along with spare parts and new equipment training for the Afghanistan National Security Forces and the Afghanistan National Army.[1]  RFP at 1, 56.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a single fixed-price contract on a lowest-price, technically-acceptable (LPTA) basis considering a technical factor and price.  Id. at 142.  The technical factor required offerors to respond to a technical information questionnaire (TIQ), provided as attachment 0002 to the solicitation,[2]  that consisted of two questions concerning the offered item’s capabilities.  RFP at 133.  Offerors were required to submit substantiating data in the form of government or independent automotive testing data as part of their responses to each of the TIQ questions.  Id. at 142; see also id., TIQ.  The solicitation was amended three times.  Agency Report (AR), Combined Contracting Officer Statement and Legal Memorandum (COSLM) at 1.  The agency received three timely proposals on May 24, 2016, including GSE’s proposal, and made award to Critical Solutions International (CSI) on June 9.  Id. at 1-2.  GSE filed a protest with our Office challenging the award to CSI.  Id. at 2.  The agency took corrective action in response to that protest, proposing to issue an amendment to the solicitation, and to allow the offerors that had submitted proposals to submit revised proposals.  Id. at 2; see also AR, Tab 5-2, Corrective Action Letter.  Amendment 0004 was issued on August 31, 2016.  This amendment corrected a previously incorrect identifier used in the RFP for the prime mover vehicle[3] and made significant revisions to the specifications and the TIQ.[4]  See RFP, Amendment 0004 at 2, 3.  As relevant here, the following requirement was added to the specifications:  “Side Slope:  The Track Width Mine Roller combination, tested at a minimum of vehicle curb weight plus driver, shall be capable of traversing a 30 percent unpaved side slope while maintaining straight line tracking with an M1151A1B1 variant or M1151A1 UAH HMMWV variant as the host vehicle.  Testing shall be conducted in accordance with TOP [Test Operations Procedure] 2-2-610.”  Id., attach. 0001, Solicitation Specification, at 1.  The TIQ also included the following additional question:  “Is your track width mine roller capable of traversing a 30 percent unpaved side-slope while maintaining  straight line tracking with a M1151A1B1 variant or M1151A1 UAH HMMWV variant prime mover?”  Id., attach. 0002, TIQ, question 6.  In addition, the proposal due date was extended to September 15, 2016.  Id.