Dehler Manufacturing Co., Inc.

B-416963 Dec 20, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Dehler Manufacturing Co, Inc., of San Antonio, Texas, protests the issuance of a delivery order to Chicago American Manufacturing LLC, of Chicago, Illinois, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. W912DY-18-T-0241, issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Army Engineering & Support Center (Corps), for the provision and installation of furnishings. Dehler argues the Small Business Administration (SBA) erred in denying Dehler a Certificate of Competency (COC) review based on an allegedly incorrect size status determination of the vendor. We dismiss the protest. We dismiss 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:  Dehler Manufacturing Co., Inc. File:  B-416963 Date:  December 20, 2018 Kristi Morgan Aronica, Esq., and Mark A. Weitz, Esq., Weitz Morgan PLLC, for the protester. James W. Kim, Esq., and Llewelyn M. Engel, Esq., McDermott Will & Emery LLP, for Chicago American Manufacturing LLC, the intervenor. Garry L. Brewer, Esq., and Barbara Hebel, Esq., Department of the Army, and Sam Q. Le, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that Small Business Administration (SBA) improperly failed to follow its own regulations in connection with deciding whether protester was a small business concern, and thus eligible for the Certificate of Competency program, is dismissed because protest essentially challenges SBA’s determination of protester’s small business size status, which is within SBA’s exclusive statutory authority to determine and not for review under Government Accountability Office Bid Protest Regulations. 2.  Protester is not an interested party to challenge substance of contracting agency’s evaluation of its quotation where record shows that protester is not a small business, and procurement is set aside for exclusive small business participation. DECISION Dehler Manufacturing Co, Inc., of San Antonio, Texas, protests the issuance of a delivery order to Chicago American Manufacturing LLC, of Chicago, Illinois, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. W912DY-18-T-0241, issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Huntsville Army Engineering & Support Center (Corps), for the provision and installation of furnishings.  Dehler argues the Small Business Administration (SBA) erred in denying Dehler a Certificate of Competency (COC) review based on an allegedly incorrect size status determination of the vendor. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The RFQ was issued as a small business set-aside to holders of General Services Administration Federal Supply Schedule contracts for furniture, pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, RFQ, at 1; Army Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS)/Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 2.  The solicitation contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price order for the delivery and installation of specified furnishings (i.e., beds, wardrobes, refrigerator/ freezers) for unaccompanied personnel housing at Fort Benning, Georgia.  RFQ at 2-3.  Award was to be made on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable basis using three nonprice factors:  technical, schedule, and past performance.  Id. at 10. Five vendors, including Dehler and Chicago American, submitted quotations by the RFQ closing date.  The agency evaluated Dehler’s quotation and found the vendor’s past performance to be unacceptable.[1]  Army COS/MOL at 2.  The contracting officer then referred the matter to the SBA under the SBA’s COC procedures.[2]  AR, Tab 5, Dehler COC Referral, at 1-2. The SBA undertook a size determination of Dehler in conjunction with the vendor’s COC application.[3]  AR, Tab 6, SBA Letter to Dehler, Sept. 19, 2018, at 1-3.  The SBA subsequently concluded that Dehler was not a small business for the subject procurement, and therefore not eligible for a COC.[4]  AR, Tab 7A, SBA Letter to Dehler, Sept. 26, 2018.  Having been notified by SBA that Dehler was not eligible for a COC, the Corps then issued the delivery order to Chicago American.  AR, Tab 4, Award Determination Memorandum, at 2-3; Tab 7, SBA Letter to Contracting Officer, Sept. 27, 2018.  This protest followed. DISCUSSION Dehler alleges the SBA erred in denying Dehler a COC review because of the SBA’s allegedly incorrect size determination of the vendor.  Specifically, the protester contends “[t]he SBA indicated Dehler was not a small business and therefore ineligible for a COC because it could not comply with the nonmanufacturer rule . . .