Government and Military Certification Systems, Inc.

B-414740.5 Dec 19, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Government and Military Certification Systems, Inc. (GMCS), of Washington, D.C., protests the award of a contract to Orion Registrar, Inc., of Arvada, Colorado, under request for proposals (RFP) No. D17PS00707, issued by the Department of the Interior (DOI), for an accredited registrar to audit the DOI's Office of Aviation Services (OAS). GMCS challenges the agency's evaluation of its proposal and the source selection decision. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Government and Military Certification Systems, Inc. File:  B-414740.5 Date:  December 19, 2017 Leigh Andrew Brand, for the protester. William B. Blake, Esq., Department of the Interior, for the agency. Peter D. Verchinski, Esq., and Amy B. Pereira, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Agency is not required to contact all of an offeror’s references, but must act reasonably in determining which to contact or not contact. DECISION Government and Military Certification Systems, Inc. (GMCS), of Washington, D.C., protests the award of a contract to Orion Registrar, Inc., of Arvada, Colorado, under request for proposals (RFP) No. D17PS00707, issued by the Department of the Interior (DOI), for an accredited registrar to audit the DOI’s Office of Aviation Services (OAS).  GMCS challenges the agency’s evaluation of its proposal and the source selection decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The OAS is responsible for the Department of the Interior’s aviation programs, and it is currently certified to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2008 quality standards.  The RFP was issued on July 13, 2017 as a small business set‑aside pursuant to the commercial item acquisition and simplified acquisition procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) parts 12 and 13, and sought to procure an accredited registrar to audit for registration and surveillance of the OAS’ quality management system to ISO 9001:2015 standards.  The RFP contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for a base period of one year and two 1-year option periods.  RFP at 1-2.  Award was to be made on a best‑value tradeoff basis considering management approach, technical capabilities, past performance, staffing, and price.  Id. at 13. With regard to past performance, offerors were to provide a minimum of three references.  Id.  Specifically, the RFP stated that the [c]ontractor shall have past history in conducting [the] same or similar type services described in this SOW [statement of work] for federal agencies or other large organizations.  Potential vendors shall provide a minimum of three (3) references with the ability to verify past performance, particularly with other Federal Agencies. Id.  The RFP also included a reference questionnaire, which offerors were to fill out with contact information for their references.  RFP, exh. 3, Reference Questionnaire. With regard to staffing, the RFP provided that the lead auditor must be ISO 9001:2015 lead auditor certified, and that   [c]ompanies who offer an auditor who is an FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] certified pilot and also has experience assessing (auditing) and registering quality management systems with similar (or greater) complexity, especially aviation organizations, will be given more weight during proposal evaluation. RFP at 13. Both Orion and GMCS submitted timely proposals in response to the RFP.  In its proposal, GMCS identified eight past performance references.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, GMCS Technical Proposal, at 12-16.  GMCS also provided a “directory of certified clients” that included approximately 20 organizations.  Id. at 23-34. As relevant to this protest, during its evaluation of GMCS’ past performance, the agency only reached out to one of the eight past performance references that GMCS identified in its proposal.  AR, Tab 19, Agency Past Performance Memorandum, at 1-2.  This contact provided the agency with a negative reference for GMCS.  Id.