Sea Box, Inc.

B-414742 Sep 06, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sea Box, Inc., a small business of East Riverton, New Jersey, protests the award of a contract to Tribalco, LLC, of Bethesda, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. GSQ0017AJ0016, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for relocatable simulator shelters (RSS) for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Simulators Program Office and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) to house training devices. The protester argues that the agency was required to refer Sea Box's unacceptable proposal to the Small Business Administration (SBA) because the basis for eliminating Sea Box from the competition related to responsibility. The protester also asserts that the agency failed to provide proper notice of Sea Box's elimination from the competition, and failed to provide a pre-award notice regarding the award to Tribalco. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Sea Box, Inc. File:  B-414742 Date:  September 6, 2017 Robert A. Farber, Esq., for the protester. Richard L. Moorhouse, Esq., Greenberg Traurig, LLP, for Tribalco, LLC, the intervenor. Jennifer Howard, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. K. Nicole Willems, 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 elimination of a proposal that did not demonstrate conformance with the salient characteristics in a brand-name-or-equal procurement was tantamount to a finding of nonresponsibility is denied where the agency reasonably found the proposal unacceptable based on a factor not related to responsibility. DECISION Sea Box, Inc., a small business of East Riverton, New Jersey, protests the award of a contract to Tribalco, LLC, of Bethesda, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. GSQ0017AJ0016, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for relocatable simulator shelters (RSS) for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Simulators Program Office and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) to house training devices.  The protester argues that the agency was required to refer Sea Box’s unacceptable proposal to the Small Business Administration (SBA) because the basis for eliminating Sea Box from the competition related to responsibility.  The protester also asserts that the agency failed to provide proper notice of Sea Box’s elimination from the competition, and failed to provide a pre-award notice regarding the award to Tribalco. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND AFSOC is responsible for training Air Force Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP), which are teams of airmen with the ability to call and direct close air support and other offensive operations from a forward position.  RFP at § 2.1.  TACP undergo training using a high-fidelity, partially immersive simulator designed to support TACP and combat controller squadron level continuation, qualification, and mission rehearsal training, in order to obtain Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) certification.  Id. The RFP was issued on March 28, 2017, and was set aside for small businesses.  The solicitation, which was issued on a brand-name-or-equal basis, contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for six commercial-off-the-shelf RSS that would be used to house the simulators described above.  Award was to be made on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable basis, considering pass/fail elements as well as technical evaluation factors and price.  RFP at §§ 12.2, 12.7.  As relevant here, the RFP provided: [a] failure on any single [p]ass/[f]ail criteria will make the proposal ineligible for award, with no further evaluation of the technical and price proposal performed by the [g]overnment. RFP at § 12.2. One of two pass/fail criteria established by the RFP provided that the agency would reject any proposal that did not include a statement confirming that the RSS solution provided had been rated to operate at a secret classification level in accordance with the salient characteristics provided in section 2.5.1(a) of the RFP.  RFP at § 12.2(b).  In order to demonstrate that they met the criterion, offerors were required to submit: Documentation that demonstrates in writing how the offerors’ solution complies with [Department of Defense (DOD)] Manual 5200.01 “[DOD] Information Security Program: Protection of Classified Information,” and [DOD] Instruction 8500.01 “Cybersecurity.”  The offeror shall provide documentation that demonstrates its product has been previously certified/accredited by a [g]overnment [s]ecurity agency such as the [Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency or Defense Security Service] to a minimum level of SECRET, Open Storage as listed in the salient characteristics in Section 2.5.1 of the solicitation. RFP § 11.6.8.[1] The agency received two pro...