Hendall Inc. (2001)

B-417513.5 Jan 27, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Hendall, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, requests partial reconsideration of our decision, Hendall, Inc., B-417513.3; B-417513.4, Feb. 24, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 87. In that decision we denied in part, and dismissed in part, Hendall's protests against the issuance of a task order to IQ Solutions, Inc., also of Rockville, Maryland, under task order request for proposals (TORP) No. 2001, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), for communications support services. In its protests, Hendall challenged the agency's evaluation under the technical and past performance factors, and the agency's best-value tradeoff decision. The protester also asserted that the agency engaged in disparate treatment of Hendall and IQ Solutions by providing IQ Solutions more substantive information regarding its evaluation in IQ's debriefings, and more details about its past performance during discussions. Hendall requests that we reconsider our decision to the extent it dismissed these issues. We deny the request for reconsideration. 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:  Hendall Inc.--Reconsideration File:  B-417513.5 Date:  January 27, 2021 Matthew T. Schoonover, Esq., and John M. Mattox II, Esq., Schoonover + Moriarty LLC, for the protester. Anthony E. Marrone, Esq., and Tami S. Hagberg, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Request for reconsideration is denied where protester has not shown that our prior decision contained any error of fact or law that warrants reversal or modification.  DECISION Hendall, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, requests partial reconsideration of our decision, Hendall, Inc., B-417513.3; B-417513.4, Feb. 24, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 87.  In that decision we denied in part, and dismissed in part, Hendall’s protests against the issuance of a task order to IQ Solutions, Inc., also of Rockville, Maryland, under task order request for proposals (TORP) No. 2001, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), for communications support services.  In its protests, Hendall challenged the agency’s evaluation under the technical and past performance factors, and the agency’s best-value tradeoff decision.  The protester also asserted that the agency engaged in disparate treatment of Hendall and IQ Solutions by providing IQ Solutions more substantive information regarding its evaluation in IQ’s debriefings, and more details about its past performance during discussions.  Hendall requests that we reconsider our decision to the extent it dismissed these issues.  We deny the request for reconsideration. BACKGROUND The agency issued the TORP on December 18, 2018, pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 16, as a small business set‑aside, to holders of NIH Public Information and Communications Services II indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts.  Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 1.  The TORP provided for award on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering three factors, listed in descending order of importance:  technical, past performance, and cost/price.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 2d, TORP Evaluation Criteria at 1.  The technical factor was scored numerically, with 100 possible points.  Id. at 1-3.  Under the past performance factor, the TORP provided that the agency would consider various aspects of the offerors’s existing and prior contracts, including relevance and quality.  Id. at 3-5.  The TORP advised that the agency would assign an overall adjectival rating under this factor with “excellent” as the highest rating.  Id.