GOV Services, Inc.

B-414374 May 11, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights GOV Services, Inc., a small business of Falls Church, Virginia, protests the decision of the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), to award sole-source contract No. HHSN263201700012I for janitorial services to Akima Support Operations (ASO), an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), of Anchorage, Alaska, under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) section 8(a) program. The protester asserts that the award of the contract on a sole-source basis is improper because it violates the SBA's regulations. 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 version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  GOV Services, Inc. File:  B-414374 Date:  May 11, 2017 Milton C. Johns, Esq., and Richard C. Gross, Esq., Fluet Huber and Hoang, PLLC, for the protester. Amy L. O'Sullivan, Esq., Olivia L. Lynch, Esq., and Laura J. Mitchell Baker, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for Akima Support Operations, the intervenor. Anson Obayuwana, Esq., and Erin V. Podolny, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services; Laura M. Foster, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Elizabeth Witwer, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest alleging that the agency failed to comply with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) regulations when awarding a sole-source contract to an Alaska Native Corporation is denied whether the record reflects that the contract constitutes a “new requirement” under the SBA’s regulations and is distinct from a requirement previously submitted to the SBA for competition within the SBA’s section 8(a) program. DECISION GOV Services, Inc., a small business of Falls Church, Virginia, protests the decision of the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), to award sole-source contract No. HHSN263201700012I for janitorial services to Akima Support Operations (ASO), an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), of Anchorage, Alaska, under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) section 8(a) program.  The protester asserts that the award of the contract on a sole-source basis is improper because it violates the SBA’s regulations. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND This protest is the sixth challenge to a series of actions taken by NIH related to the award of contracts for janitorial services at the NIH’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland.[1]  Two contracts are relevant here:  (1) the contract that is the subject of this protest, the sole-source contract awarded to ASO in February 2017 pursuant to the SBA’s section 8(a) program, referred to by the agency as the “bridge” contract; and (2) a sole-source contract awarded to ASO in November 2016 pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 6.203-2, referred to by the agency as the “48P” sole-source contract.[2]  Memorandum of Law (MOL) (B‑414226), Jan. 23, 2017, at 2, 4.  The NIH awarded the sole‑source bridge contract to afford it additional time to complete corrective action taken in response to earlier protests filed by GOV Services and another firm, East West, Inc., which is not a party to this protest.  The 48P sole-source contract was the subject of a prior protest, B‑414226.  Hence, we provide a brief summary of that protest.    On December 16, 2016, the NIH announced that it had awarded a short-term, “emergency” sole-source contract to ASO pursuant to FAR § 6.203-2.  During a subsequent conference call with our Office, the agency clarified that the sole‑source contract was awarded under purchase order No. HHSN263201700048P.  As noted above, the NIH referred to this award as the 48P sole-source contract.  On December 20, GOV Services filed a protest with our Office challenging the 48P sole‑source award, which we docketed as B-414226.  Protest (B-414226), Dec. 20, 2015, at 2; Amend. Protest (B‑414226), Dec. 23, 2016.  On January 23, 2017, the NIH submitted its agency report responding to GOV Services’ protest.  In the agency report, the NIH argued that the decision to award the 48P sole-source contract to ASO was proper because the incumbent contractor had allegedly “walked off the job” and ASO was “the only responsible source that can provide this service within the immediate time frame.”  MOL (B‑414226) at 2‑3, 4; Combined Contracting Officer’s Statement and Justification of Other than Full and Open Competition (COS/JOFOC) (B‑414226), Jan. 25, 2017, at 6 (citing FAR § 6.203-2 and 41 U.S.C.