Wilson 5 Service Company, Inc. (47PE0520Q0008)

B-418650.1 Jun 17, 2020 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Wilson 5 Service Company, Inc., a small business of Kittery, Maine, protests the establishment of a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with South Dade Air Conditioning and Refrigerant (SDAC) of Homestead, Florida, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 47PE0520Q0008, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service, Acquisition Management Division, Alabama/Mississippi Property Management Center to support operations and maintenance (O&M) services at federal office buildings in Montgomery, Dothan, Selma, and Opelika, Alabama. Wilson 5 argues that GSA unreasonably evaluated its quotation as technically unacceptable for failing to meet the staffing requirements set forth in the RFQ's Performance Work Statement (PWS). 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 version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Wilson 5 Service Company, Inc. File:  B-418650.1 Date:  June 17, 2020 James S. DelSordo, Esq., Argus Legal LLC, for the protester. Benjamin D. Lorber, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Michael P. Price, and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest arguing that agency unreasonably evaluated protester’s quotation as unacceptable for proposing to use a single position to satisfy a full-time manager position as well as a full-time productive position is denied because the protest is based on an unreasonable reading of the solicitation. DECISION   Wilson 5 Service Company, Inc., a small business of Kittery, Maine, protests the establishment of a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with South Dade Air Conditioning and Refrigerant (SDAC) of Homestead, Florida, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 47PE0520Q0008, issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), Public Buildings Service, Acquisition Management Division, Alabama/Mississippi Property Management Center to support operations and maintenance (O&M) services at federal office buildings in Montgomery, Dothan, Selma, and Opelika, Alabama.  Wilson 5 argues that GSA unreasonably evaluated its quotation as technically unacceptable for failing to meet the staffing requirements set forth in the RFQ’s Performance Work Statement (PWS). We deny the protest. BACKGROUND GSA issued the RFQ on February 4, 2020, seeking quotations from small business vendors with GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) No. 03FAC (Facilities Maintenance and Management) contracts, to establish a BPA for facilities maintenance services under the rules prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-3.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFQ at 1-2.  The solicitation contemplated the establishment of a single BPA with a 12-month base period, and nine 12-month option periods with a vendor to provide O&M support services at six federal buildings in Alabama.[1]  RFQ at 3-5; AR, Tab 4, PWS at 23.  Among other things, the vendor will be responsible for operating and maintaining equipment, systems, and services to include:  heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; kitchen hoods, toilets, and exhaust systems; electrical systems; control systems; plumbing and domestic water equipment and systems; landscape irrigation systems; sanitary sewage systems; storm drainage systems; fire protection and life safety systems; special suppression systems; smoke control systems; perimeter and security systems; architectural systems; flag pole systems; roofing systems; bollard systems; fire doors and windows; parking lots and sidewalks; and parking control and loading dock equipment.  PWS at 24-25.  In the PWS, GSA stressed the importance of forming a successful partnership between the government and the contractor.  PWS at 22-23.  To this end, GSA required the contractor to provide, at a minimum, a full-time on-site Project Manager.  Id. at 23. Section C.1.2, Personnel, stated that the contractor “shall designate a Contract Project Manager / Onsite Supervisor or both in writing.”  Id. at 26.  The PWS went on to say that “[t]he Contract Project Manager or On-site Supervisor shall have complete authority to act for the Contractor in every detail during the terms of the Contract. . . [t]he Contractor can fulfill this requirement by having the Contract Project Manager located onsite or having an additional onsite Supervisor.”  Id. at 27.  After stating the management requirement, the PWS specified a minimum of 9 full-time equivalent (FTE) (40 hours per week) productive staff (7 HVAC personnel, 1 electrician, and 1 production control clerk).  Id.