Bluewater Management Group, LLC

B-414785 Sep 18, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Bluewater Management Group, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, of Norfolk, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to DMC Management Services, LLC under request for quotations (RFQ) No. N32205-16-R-2374 (e-Buy No. 1117467), issued by the Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command, to small business holders of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 48, for lodging and transportation services. Bluewater contends that the award was improper because DMC's schedule contract did not include the transportation services sought by the solicitation. We sustain the protest. We sustain 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:  Bluewater Management Group, LLC File:  B-414785 Date:   September 18, 2017 Daniel Strouse, Esq., and John J. O'Brien, Esq., Cohen Mohr LLP, for the protester. Jonathan T. Williams, Esq., and Kathryn V. Flood, Esq., Piliero Mazza, LLC, for DMC Management Services, LLC, the intervenor. Johanna Crawford, Esq., and Max Jenkins, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Gabriel D. Soll, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest of the issuance of a task order to a firm pursuant to the firm's Federal Supply Schedule contract is sustained where the agency failed to consider whether the services offered by the firm are included in its schedule contract, and the record establishes that the firm's quotation was based on providing a service not included in its schedule contract. DECISION Bluewater Management Group, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, of Norfolk, Virginia, protests the issuance of a task order to DMC Management Services, LLC under request for quotations (RFQ) No. N32205-16-R-2374 (e-Buy No. 1117467), issued by the Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command, to small business holders of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) 48, for lodging and transportation services.  Bluewater contends that the award was improper because DMC's schedule contract did not include the transportation services sought by the solicitation. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The agency issued the RFQ via the GSA's e-Buy system pursuant to the procedures set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4, to procure temporary lodging and transportation services.[1]  The RFQ sought quotations to provide lodging and transportation services to civil service mariners assigned to the Military Sealift Command at the Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia.  RFQ at 8.  The RFQ's scope of work required the awardee to provide an average of 120, but up to as many as 250, extended-stay hotel rooms within 25 miles of the naval base.  Id.  Central to this protest, the RFQ also required the awardee to provide daily round trip transportation to the naval base at times prescribed in the solicitation.  Id. at 12.  The lodging and transportation requirements were identified as separate contract line items (CLINs) in the RFQ. The RFQ contemplated the establishment of a single, fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements task order with a small business vendor.  RFQ at 23-24.  The record shows that only vendors holding a schedule 48 contract including Special Item Number (SIN) 653-9, long-term lodging, were invited by the agency to submit a quotation; however, the RFQ makes no reference to the schedule or SIN.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 27, e-Buy Vendor Notification Screenshot.  Vendors were required to submit proposals through GSA's e-Buy system, which instructed them that all products and services offered must be on the vendor's current GSA schedule contract, and reminded vendors not to include open market items with their quotations.  Protest at 2-3.  The RFQ did not preclude potential vendors from offering services included on other FSS contracts or submitting a quotation as a contractor team to ensure the requirements would be met. Schedule 48 offers federal agencies an array of services relating to transportation, delivery, and relocation services, listed under individual SINs.  AR, Tab 13, FSS 48 Brochure Excerpts, at 1.  For example, as relevant here, SIN 653-9 under schedule 48 is for corporate housing facilities to accommodate such things as employee relocations or extended training needs.  Id.