Noble Supply & Logistics, Inc. (QSAB-RFQ-19001)

B-418141 Jan 16, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Noble Sales Co., Inc., d/b/a Noble Supply & Logistics, Inc., a small business of Rockland, Massachusetts, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. QSAB-RFQ-19001, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the establishment of blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) under federal supply schedule (FSS) No. 51V for hardware store supplies and ancillary services. The protester argues that the solicitation establishes an evaluation and source selection methodology that fails to consider price as required by law and regulation, and that the pricing requirements of the solicitation are inconsistent with the terms of the underlying FSS contract. We sustain the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Noble Supply & Logistics, Inc. File:  B-418141 Date:  January 16, 2020 Gary J. Campbell, Esq., G. Matthew Koehl, Esq., and Nathaniel J. Greeson, Esq., Womble Bond Dickinson-US, LLP, for the protester. Nathan C. Guerrero, Esq., and Ginger Marshall, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Heather Self, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenging agency’s use of a highest-technically rated reasonably-priced source selection methodology when establishing single-award blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) with federal supply schedule (FSS) contract holders is sustained because the methodology does not satisfy the agency’s statutory and regulatory obligation to establish BPAs with schedule contractors that can provide the supplies or services that represent the best value and result in the lowest overall cost alternative to meet the government’s needs.  When utilizing the FSS, an agency must use an evaluation methodology that provides a basis for a reasonable assessment of the price of performance under competing quotations, so as to establish whether one vendor’s quotation would be more or less costly than another’s.  Here, there is no comparative assessment of prices, and any best-value determination will be made without a weighing of the value and benefits associated with a vendor’s approach against its associated cost to the government.  2.  Protest challenging solicitation’s required pricing structure is sustained because it is inconsistent with the terms of the underlying FSS contract. DECISION Noble Sales Co., Inc., d/b/a Noble Supply & Logistics, Inc., a small business of Rockland, Massachusetts, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. QSAB-RFQ-19001, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the establishment of blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) under federal supply schedule (FSS) No. 51V for hardware store supplies and ancillary services.  The protester argues that the solicitation establishes an evaluation and source selection methodology that fails to consider price as required by law and regulation, and that the pricing requirements of the solicitation are inconsistent with the terms of the underlying FSS contract. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND On January 25, 2019, under the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4, the agency[1] issued the RFQ to vendors holding contracts under FSS No. 51V, Hardware Superstore.  COS at 1 ¶ 5; AR, Tab 7, RFQ, at 1.  The agency intends to establish four separate single-award BPAs, one each for the Departments of the Navy, Army, and Air Force, and the U.S. Marine Corps, with each BPA having a 1-year base period and four 1-year option periods.  RFQ at 5, 20.  The solicitation includes estimated total purchase volumes, inclusive of the base period and all option periods, of approximately:  $1.84 billion for the Navy; $670 million for the Army; $354 million for the Air Force; and $481 million for the Marine Corps.  Id. at 3-4.  Under GSA FSS No. 51V, Hardware Superstore, vendors offer a diverse line of products and related ancillary services normally found in, or offered by, a hardware store, home improvement center, or maintenance, repair, or operations provider.  Supp. Memorandum of Law (MOL), attach. 1, GSA eLibrary Schedule Summary for FSS No. 51V, at 1.  The established BPAs will include supplies and ancillary services that fall within three special item numbers (SINs) available under FSS No. 51V--SINs 105-001, 105‑002, and 105-003.  RFQ at 41.  Vendors, or vendor teams, must hold FSS No.