Fiore Industries, Inc.

B-414197 Mar 17, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Fiore Industries, Inc. (Fiore), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, protests the award of a contract to TEAM Technologies, Inc. (TEAM), also of Albuquerque, under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA8110-17-R-0002, issued by the Department of the Air Force for aircraft maintenance and testing. Fiore contends that TEAM's proposal should have been rejected as technically unacceptable, because its proposed personnel did not meet the RFP's qualification requirements. 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:  Fiore Industries, Inc. File:  B-414197 Date:  March 17, 2017 Carolyn Callaway, Esq., Carolyn Callaway, P.C., for the protester. Frank V. Reilly, Esq., Frank V. Reilly Attorney at Law, for Team Technologies, Inc., the intervenor. Kyle E. Gilbertson, Esq., and Jason R. Smith, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Pedro E. Briones, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is denied where the agency’s evaluation and award were reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation and the protester’s objection to the qualifications of the awardee’s proposed personnel reflect only the protester’s untimely disagreement with the plain, unambiguous language of the solicitation. DECISION Fiore Industries, Inc. (Fiore), of Albuquerque, New Mexico, protests the award of a contract to TEAM Technologies, Inc. (TEAM), also of Albuquerque, under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA8110‑17‑R‑0002, issued by the Department of the Air Force for aircraft maintenance and testing.  Fiore contends that TEAM’s proposal should have been rejected as technically unacceptable, because its proposed personnel did not meet the RFP’s qualification requirements. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The Air Force issued the solicitation on October 24, 2016, as a set‑aside for small business concerns to provide preventative maintenance and testing services for two B‑2 aircraft at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.  RFP at 1‑8; Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1.[1]  The RFP stated that the agency would award a contract (for a base year and 2 option years) on a lowest‑price, technically acceptable basis under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15, considering the following evaluation factors:  technical proposal/mission capability, cost/price, and past performance.  RFP at 3‑8, 31.  Offerors were to submit separate technical and price proposals, as well as examples of relevant past performance.  Id. at 28‑30. In their technical proposals, offerors were to address how they intended to meet the requirements of the solicitation’s performance work statement (PWS), including, at issue here, providing a senior systems engineer (SSE) who meets the qualifications discussed below.  See id. at 29; PWS § 1.12.1.  The RFP stated that technical acceptability would be determined based on the offeror’s compliance with the PWS and whether its proposal met the specified minimum requirements necessary for acceptable contract performance.  RFP at 29, 32. The Air Force received proposals from two offerors, Fiore and TEAM, which were evaluated by an agency source selection evaluation team as follows:   Technical Proposal / Mission Capability Past Performance Cost / Price Fiore Acceptable Satisfactory $1,118,155 TEAM Acceptable Satisfactory $956,968 Agency Report (AR), Tab 6, Source Selection Decision Doc. (SSD), at 2.  As reflected in the table above, both proposals were found to meet the PWS’ criteria and evaluated as technically acceptable.  Id.  Of significance here, TEAM proposed an SSE who holds a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in electrical engineering.  AR, Tab 5, TEAM’s Tech. Proposal, Sr. Sys.