Trademasters Service, Inc. (47PD0120Q0003)

B-418522 Jun 03, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Trademasters Service, Inc., of Lorton, Virginia, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. 47PD0120Q0003, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service, for facilities maintenance services. Trademasters argues that the agency engaged in improper acquisition planning, and challenges various aspects of the solicitation. 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:  Trademasters Service, Inc. File:  B-418522 Date:  June 3, 2020 Timothy F. Valley, Esq., Jason A. Blindauer, Esq., and Meghan F. Leemon, Esq., Piliero Mazza PLLC, for the protester. John Klein, Esq., and Mark  Hagedorn, Esq., Small Business Administration; and Robert Notigan, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agencies. Robert T. Wu, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that the agency engaged in improper acquisition planning is denied where the record shows that the agency’s planning was reasonable and in accordance with relevant regulatory requirements. 2.  Protest that the agency failed to obtain concurrence from the Small Business Administration to release requirement from the 8(a) program is dismissed because the protester is not an interested party to protest the agency’s action. 3.  Protest that the solicitation deprives vendors of the ability to compete intelligently and fairly is denied where the record shows that the solicitation is drafted in a fashion that enables vendors to intelligently prepare their proposals and sufficiently free from ambiguity so that vendors may compete on a common basis. DECISION   Trademasters Service, Inc., of Lorton, Virginia, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. 47PD0120Q0003, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service, for facilities maintenance services.  Trademasters argues that the agency engaged in improper acquisition planning, and challenges various aspects of the solicitation. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFQ, issued on November 26, 2019, sought quotations from holders of GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) No. 03FAC (Facilities Maintenance and Management) contracts, to establish a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for facilities maintenance services under the rules prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-3.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 6, RFQ, at 4.[1]  Specifically, the RFQ calls for the provision of facilities engineering, operation and maintenance, and related services for five federal buildings located in Washington, District of Columbia, over the term of one base year and nine, 1-year option periods.  Id. at 4.  The procurement is to be conducted on a full and open, unrestricted basis.  Id. The solicitation contemplates the issuance of a single BPA on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering the following non-price factors, listed in descending order of importance:  management plan, prior experience, and past performance.  Id. at 10.  The non-price factors, when combined, are more important than price.  Id.  Under the management plan factor, quotations are to be evaluated based on management approach and technical approach.  Id. at 11-14.  According to the agency, historically, GSA has procured only mechanical maintenance services under its facilities management program, which involved providing detailed guidance on how to accomplish maintenance tasks, strict adherence with procedural guidelines, and government inspection to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract.  Id. at 72.  The objective of this BPA, however, is to employ a different approach, procuring “a holistic and integrated complete facilities management program.”  Id.  The agency states that this approach “includes not only the accomplishment of predefined tasks, but also the technical, managerial and decision making expertise of a Contractor to jointly manage the assets, tenants, and projects in partnership with GSA over the long term.”  Id. The record shows that Trademasters is the incumbent on the current operations and maintenance services contract for the five buildings involved in this procurement.  AR, Tab 1, Trademasters Contract, at 1.  The current contract (GS-11-P-17-DC-D-0001) was awarded to Trademasters in 2017 as a competitive small business set-aside through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) Business Development program.[2]  Id.