Best Practices Group

B-417768 Jul 30, 2019 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Best Practices Group (BPG), of Renton, Washington, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Quality Registry Services, LLC (QRS), of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. VA36C24419Q0619, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for cancer registry services at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (CMC VAMC), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. BPG contends that the solicitation was defective and the agency's award decision was improper. We dismiss the protest because an initial protest to the agency was not timely filed. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Best Practices Group File:  B-417768 Date:  July 30, 2019 Peter J. Whalen for the protester. Melody A. Goldberg, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is dismissed as untimely where it raises the same issues as those presented in a prior agency-level protest that was not timely filed. DECISION Best Practices Group (BPG), of Renton, Washington, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Quality Registry Services, LLC (QRS), of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. VA36C24419Q0619, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for cancer registry services at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (CMC VAMC), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  BPG contends that the solicitation was defective and the agency’s award decision was improper. We dismiss the protest because an initial protest to the agency was not timely filed. The VA issued the RFQ on April 24, 2019, as a combined solicitation/synopsis “in accordance with FAR [Federal Acquisition Regulation] Part 13.5 [Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items].”  RFQ at 1.  The RFQ, issued on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)[1] website (www.fbo.gov), was set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and required the contractor to provide all necessary labor, personnel, equipment, supplies, and materials necessary to maintain the CMC VAMC cancer registry database.  Id. at 5. BPG was among the vendors that submitted quotations by the May 13 closing date.  The VA thereafter made award to QRS on June 13, and published notice of the award on FBO that same day.[2]  Agency Dismissal Request, exh. 2, FBO Award Posting (June 13, 2019). On July 1, BPG filed an agency-level protest with the VA.  BPG alleged that the RFQ was defective, and that the agency’s evaluation of vendors’ quotations was improper.  Agency Dismissal Request, exh. 4, BPG Agency-Level Protest at 1-3.  On July 15, the VA dismissed BPG’s protest as untimely, finding that BPG’s challenges to the solicitation were not filed before the May 13 closing date and that the remaining protest grounds challenging the award decision had not been filed within 10 days of the June 13 award notice.  Agency Dismissal Request, exh. 5, Agency-Level Protest Decision (July 15, 2019).  BPG then refiled its July 1 protest with our Office on July 17.[3] On July 23, the agency submitted a dismissal request asserting that BPG’s agency-level protest was not timely filed and, as a result, BPG’s July 17 protest to this Office was untimely.  Agency Dismissal Request, July 23, 2019, at 1-4.  BPG responded to the agency’s dismissal request by stating that:  it was unfamiliar with the procedures for filing a protest; it was awaiting receipt of an award notice from the VA that would include its appeal rights; and that it promptly filed its protest once it determined that no information was forthcoming.  BGP Response to Agency Dismissal Request, July 23, 2019, at 1-2. Our Bid Protest Regulations contain strict rules for the timely submission of protests.  These rules reflect the dual requirements of giving parties a fair opportunity to present their cases and resolving protests expeditiously without unduly disrupting or delaying the procurement process.  Verizon Wireless, B‑406854, B‑406854.2, Sept. 17, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 260 at 4.  Under these rules, a protest based on alleged improprieties in a solicitation must be filed prior to bid opening or the time established for receipt of proposals, 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(1), and all other protests must be filed no later than 10 calendar days after the protester knew, or should have known, of the basis for protest, whichever is earlier.[4]  4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(2).  Further, a matter initially protested to the contracting agency will be considered timely by our Office only if the initial agency protest was filed within the time limits provided by the Regulations for filing a protest with our Office unless the contracting agency imposes a more stringent time for filing, in which case the agency’s time for filing will control.  4 C.F.R.