Semper Valens Solutions, Inc.

B-417028.4 Sep 17, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Semper Valens Solutions, Inc. (SVS), of Canyon Lake, Texas, protests the award of a contract to NavQSys, LLC, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W56KGY-17-R-0020, issued by the Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command, for systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) support services. SVS argues that the Army improperly found NavQSys to be nonresponsible for lack of a facility security clearance, and improperly referred the awardee to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a certificate of competency (COC) review. SVS also argues that the SBA's issuance of a COC to NavQSys was in error, and that the Army conducted a flawed best-value determination. 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:  Semper Valens Solutions, Inc. File:  B-417028.4 Date:  September 17, 2019 William K. Walker, Esq., Walker Reausaw, for the protester. Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., Shane J. McCall, Esq., Nicole D. Pottroff, Esq., and Robert D. Kampen, Esq., Koprince Law LLC, for NavQSys, LLC, the intervenor. Wade L. Brown, Esq., and Thomas L. Clark, Esq., Department of the Army, and Kevin R. Harber, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Louis A. Chiarella, 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 that contracting agency improperly referred awardee to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for consideration under certificate of competency (COC) procedures does not fall within exceptions that allow for review by our Office; protest that the SBA failed to consider vital information bearing on the awardee’s responsibility when granting the issuance of a COC is denied where there is no evidence the contracting agency provided incorrect information to, or withheld information from, the SBA. 2.  Protest challenging contracting agency’s best-value tradeoff decision is denied where the agency reasonably considered offerors’ total evaluated costs in accordance with the solicitation; protester’s assertion that agency should have considered other costs amounts to a challenge to the terms of the solicitation and is untimely. DECISION Semper Valens Solutions, Inc. (SVS), of Canyon Lake, Texas, protests the award of a contract to NavQSys, LLC, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W56KGY-17-R-0020, issued by the Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command, for systems engineering and technical assistance (SETA) support services.  SVS argues that the Army improperly found NavQSys to be nonresponsible for lack of a facility security clearance, and improperly referred the awardee to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a certificate of competency (COC) review.  SVS also argues that the SBA’s issuance of a COC to NavQSys was in error, and that the Army conducted a flawed best-value determination. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP was issued on July 17, 2017, as a small business set-aside, pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15.[1]  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFP at 1-2; Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS)/Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 1.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) contract for the required SETA services for a base year with four 1-year options.[2]  RFP at 2.  The RFP established that contract award would be made a best-value tradeoff basis, based on three evaluation factors in descending order of importance:  technical; past performance, and cost/price (hereinafter cost).[3]  Id.  Additionally, as relevant to this protest, the RFP stated that “[o]fferors must have a valid TOP SECRET facility clearance in order to respond to this RFP.”  RFP, attach. 4, Department of Defense Contract Security Classification Specification, at 3. Five offerors, including NavQSys and SVS, submitted proposals by the August 23 closing date.