Team J's, LLC

B-415090 Nov 14, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Team J's, LLC (TJL), an 8(a) small business of Dunkirk, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to Melgar Janitorial Solutions, an 8(a) small business of San Jose, California, under request for proposals (RFP) No. GS-11P-17-YE-D-0001 issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for janitorial and cleaning services. The protester contends that the agency erred in finding it nonresponsible because the agency misinterpreted a provision of the solicitation, and further that the Small Business Administration (SBA) denied it a certificate of competency (COC) because of the manner in which the agency presented the issue to SBA. We dismiss the protest because it is untimely. We dismiss the protest because it is untimely. 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:  Team J's, LLC File:  B-415090 Date:   November 14, 2017 Eliot Wagonheim, Esq., and Lacie B. Simpson, Esq., Wagonheim Law, for the protester. Steven J. Koprince, Esq., Candace M. Shields, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., and Shane J. McCall, Esq., Koprince Law, LLC, for Melgar Janitorial Solutions, the intervenor. Maria G. Bellizzi, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Michael Willems, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is untimely where the protester was excluded from the competition prior to award and the protester neither requested a debriefing within three days of the exclusion nor filed a protest within ten days of the exclusion. DECISION Team J's, LLC (TJL), an 8(a) small business of Dunkirk, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to Melgar Janitorial Solutions, an 8(a) small business of San Jose, California, under request for proposals (RFP) No. GS-11P-17-YE-D-0001 issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for janitorial and cleaning services.  The protester contends that the agency erred in finding it nonresponsible because the agency misinterpreted a provision of the solicitation, and further that the Small Business Administration (SBA) denied it a certificate of competency (COC) because of the manner in which the agency presented the issue to SBA. We dismiss the protest because it is untimely. BACKGROUND The agency issued the RFP on December 2, 2016, as an 8(a) set-aside, and contemplated the award of single fixed-price indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract.  RFP at 1, 3.  The contract was to be awarded on a lowest-priced technically-acceptable basis, with three technical evaluation factors:  (1) corporate experience; (2) past performance; and (3) key personnel.  Id. at 122.  Of note, the solicitation provided that the contractor's submission in response to the corporate experience factor should provide corporate experience information on a minimum of three and a maximum of seven projects.  In addition, the solicitation provided that each project required substantive performance of a list of requirements, to include demonstrating that the offeror has "experience on at least three (3) Custodial/Janitorial Service Contracts in facilities over 800,000 gross square feet."  Id. at 123. In its proposal, TJL included three reference contracts that it identified as responsive to the janitorial services requirement, but did not include square footage figures for those three contracts.  TJL Technical Proposal at 5-9, 14.  As a result of this omission, among other issues not contested in this protest, the agency issued a determination of nonresponsibility and referred the protester to the SBA for a COC determination on May 3, 2017.  Agency Request for Dismissal at 2.  On May 18, the SBA sent a letter to the protester informing it that the agency had found it nonresponsible, and noted that this finding was due to, among other things, omission of details such as the gross square footage of past projects.  Letter from SBA to TJL, May 18, 2017.  On May 25, the protester provided information to SBA concerning the square footage of some, but not all of the submitted references.  Letter from TJL to SBA, May 25, 2017.  Of note, the prior contracts discussed in the May 25 letter collectively exceeded 900,000 square feet.  Id.  However, no single contract discussed exceeded 800,000 square feet, and not all the contracts discussed involved the performance of janitorial or custodial services.  Id.  On June 6, the SBA requested that the agency confirm that TJL was the apparent awardee.  E-mail from SBA to TJL, June 6, 2017. On July 7, based on the information provided by the protester, the SBA declined to issue a COC, stating that the solicitation required, among other things, experience managing a minimum of three separate contracts for janitorial services at faci...