Deva & Associates, PC

B-415508.11 Jun 21, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Deva & Associates, PC, of Rockville, Maryland, protests the issuance of a task order to TFC Consulting, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under request for quotations (RFQ) No. HSTS01-17-Q-FIN001 for financial and performance audit services. Deva challenges the agency's evaluation of its and TFC's quotations, and argues that the awardee should have been excluded from the competition due to an unmitigable organizational conflict of interest (OCI). 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 redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Deva & Associates, PC File: B-415508.11 Date: June 21, 2019 David S. Cohen, Esq., John J. O'Brien, Esq., and Daniel J. Strouse, Esq., Cordatis LLP, for the protester. Victor A. Kubli, Esq., Law Office of Victor A. Kubli, PC, for TFC Consulting, Inc., the intervenor. Michael Kiffney, Esq., and Christopher Reames, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. Robert T. Wu, Esq., Young H. Cho, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging the evaluation of quotations under various non-price factors is denied where the record shows that the evaluation was reasonable and in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria. 2. Protest that the awardee should have been excluded from the competition due to an unmitigable impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest is denied where the contracting officer gave meaningful consideration to the alleged conflict and reasonably concluded that the factual circumstances make the possibility of a conflict too unlikely or speculative to be disqualifying. DECISION Deva & Associates, PC, of Rockville, Maryland, protests the issuance of a task order to TFC Consulting, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under request for quotations (RFQ) No. HSTS01-17-Q-FIN001 for financial and performance audit services. Deva challenges the agency's evaluation of its and TFC's quotations, and argues that the awardee should have been excluded from the competition due to an unmitigable organizational conflict of interest (OCI). We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The agency issued the RFQ on March 29, 2017, seeking quotations from small businesses holding one of the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Professional Services Schedule contracts in accordance with procedures set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4. Agency Report (AR), Tab1, RFQ at 1. The RFQ contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price task order to provide internal control support services, financial statement audit support, and certain optional services to the TSA's Office of Finance and Administration (OFA), Financial Management Division (FMD).1 Id. at 2-7. Specifically, the contractor was to assist with: planning, testing, and documenting internal controls over financial reporting (ICOFR); the agency's management control program (MCOP); work related to the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act; and supporting financial statement audits. Id. at 10-21. Issuance of a task order was to be made to the responsible vendor whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, represents the best value to the government, price and other factors considered. Id. at 105. Quotations were to be evaluated considering the following non-price factors, listed in descending order of importance: corporate experience, technical approach, management and staffing approach, and past performance. Id. at 105-106. The non-price factors, when combined, were significantly more important than price. However, the RFQ stated that as the ratings for the non-price factors become more equal, the importance of price would increase. Id. at 106. Seven quotations were evaluated, including those of Deva and TFC. AR, Tab 8, Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD), at 2. The relevant evaluation results were as follows:   TFC Deva Corporate Experience Outstanding Outstanding Technical Approach Outstanding Good Management and Staffing Approach Outstanding Good Past Performance Acceptable Acceptable Price $13,772,704 $13,388,635   Id. at 3, 7. The source selection authority (SSA) conducted a detailed tradeoff analysis among the various vendors, and ultimately decided that TFC's quotation represented the best value to the government. Id. at 10-13.