Knowlogy Corporation

B-416208.2 Aug 13, 2018 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Knowlogy Corporation, a small business located in Vienna, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that the General Services Administration (GSA) reimburse the firm the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest of request for proposals (RFP) No. ID03180005, which GSA issued to procure cyber-security and information technology training services for Department of Defense activities in Europe. We deny the request. We deny the request. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Knowlogy Corporation--Costs File:  B-416208.2 Date:  August 13, 2018 Scott R. Williamson, Esq., Williamson Law Group, LLC, for the protester. Kathleen K. Barksdale, Esq., General Services Adminstration, for the agency. Pedro E. Briones, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Request for reimbursement of protest costs is denied where the agency did not unduly delay taking corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest. DECISION Knowlogy Corporation, a small business located in Vienna, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that the General Services Administration (GSA) reimburse the firm the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest of request for proposals (RFP) No. ID03180005, which GSA issued to procure cyber-security and information technology training services for Department of Defense activities in Europe. We deny the request. BACKGROUND Knowlogy (the incumbent) filed its protest on March 30, 2018, contending that GSA was improperly conducting the procurement as a negotiated acquisition under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15, because the services were previously procured as a commercial item acquisition under FAR part 12.  Protest at 1‑8.  In this respect, Knowlogy argued that the RFP was inconsistent with section 848 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 (NDAA), Pub. L. No. 115‑91, 131 Stat. 1283, 1487 (Dec. 12, 2017), and the Act’s implementing regulations at subpart 212.70 of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).  Id. On April 25 (7 days prior to the due date for submission of an agency report), GSA informed the parties that it intended to take corrective action in response to the protest.  Notice of Corrective Action.  GSA stated that it would reevaluate the terms of the procurement to address the protester’s concerns.  Id.  GSA further stated that based on the reevaluation, the agency may, if necessary, amend or cancel the procurement in light of the agency’s needs and to ensure full compliance with the FAR and DFARS.  Id. On April 30, our Office dismissed the protest because GSA’s corrective action rendered the protest academic.  Knowlogy Corp., B‑416208, Apr. 30, 2018 (unpublished decision). Knowlogy now requests that our Office recommend the protester be reimbursed for its costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including attorney’s fees.  Req. at 1.  Knowlogy concedes that “[i]n general, if an agency takes corrective action by the due date for its report in response to a protest, the GAO considers such action to be prompt and will not recommend reimbursement of protest costs.”  Id. (citing The Sandi–Sterling Consortium--Costs, B‑296246.2, Sept. 20, 2005, 2005 CPD ¶ 173).  However, Knowlogy urges that the facts and circumstances of its protest indicate that our general rule should not be followed here.  Id. at 2.  In this respect, Knowlogy points out that prior to filing its protest, it had expressed its concerns regarding the solicitation to GSA on three occasions.[1]  Id. at 2‑3.  According to Knowlogy, If GSA took timely and appropriate steps to resolve the violation, GSA would have followed the statutory requirements when issuing the solicitation.  Subsequently, notwithstanding the clear statutory violation, GSA elected to defend its solicitation even after the violation was again brought to their notice.  GSA[’s] violation of statutory requirements, despite numerous notifications of the violation, caused Knowlogy to incur the expense of filing [the] protest.  These are precisely the expenses the requirement for the agency to take appropriate and timely steps to investigate and resolve the impropriety[,] is intended to avoid. Id. at 3. DISCUSSION Under our Bid Protest Regulations, if an agency decides to take corrective action in response to a protest, our Office may recommend that the agency pay the protester the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including attorneys’ fees and consultant and expert witness fees.  4 C.F.R.