NARCORPS Specialties, LLC (70LGLY20RGLB00004)

B-418971.4 Jan 21, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights NARCORPS Specialties, LLC, of Orange Park, Florida, requests that our Office recommend that the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), reimburse the firm the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the award of a contract to Ops Tech Alliance LLC (OTA) under request for proposals (RFP) No. 70LGLY20RGLB00004, issued by FLETC for role-player services, after the agency took voluntary corrective action in response to NARCORPS's supplemental protest. NARCORPS argues that the agency did not take timely corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest. We deny the request. 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:  NARCORPS Specialties, LLC--Costs File:  B-418971.4 Date:  January 21, 2021 Jacob W. Scott, Esq.,  Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP, for the requester. James C. Caine, Esq., and Stephanie Kearney-Quilling, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. Young H. Cho, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Request for recommendation that protest costs be reimbursed is denied where the requester has not shown that the initial protest grounds were clearly meritorious or that the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in response to the supplemental protest. DECISION NARCORPS Specialties, LLC, of Orange Park, Florida, requests that our Office recommend that the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), reimburse the firm the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest challenging the award of a contract to Ops Tech Alliance LLC (OTA) under request for proposals (RFP) No. 70LGLY20RGLB00004, issued by FLETC for role-player services, after the agency took voluntary corrective action in response to NARCORPS’s supplemental protest.  NARCORPS argues that the agency did not take timely corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest. We deny the request. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on April 24, 2020, under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) parts 12 and 15, contemplated the award of a single labor-hour contract with fixed-price and cost-reimbursement line items, for role-player services.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 7, RFP amend. 4, at 521, 523, 710, 711.[1]  Award was to be made on a best-value tradeoff basis considering the following evaluation factors:  (1) prior experience; (2) management, staffing, and scheduling approach; (3) past performance; and (4) price.  Id. at 711.  The procurement was to be conducted in two phases.  AR, Tab 9, RFP amend. 6, at 724.  In phase one, offerors were to submit written proposals for the prior experience evaluation factor only.  Id. at 724, 725.  After the evaluation of phase one submissions, offerors would be notified whether they could participate in phase two of the procurement, which required, as relevant here, an oral presentation by offerors addressing the management, staffing, and scheduling approach evaluation factor.  Id. at 707.  Offerors selected to participate in phase two of the procurement would be permitted to submit, among other things, slides to assist in the oral presentation.  Id.  The solicitation stated, however, that the slide presentation submitted by the offeror would not be evaluated.  Id. On July 31, 2020, NARCORPS filed a protest with our Office of the award of a contract to OTA.  Protest at 1.  The initial protest, which was docketed as B-418971.1, challenged the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s proposal under the prior experience, past performance, and price factors, as well as the selection decision.  NARCORPS also alleged that the agency was unreasonable in allowing OTA to “flagrantly defy the [a]gency’s disclosure requirement.”  Id. at 23.  This protest was filed within 10 days of NARCORPS learning that OTA was the apparent successful offeror but before NARCORPS received its requested and required debriefing, in accordance with section 15.506 of the FAR.  Id. at 4.  On August 10, NARCORPS filed its first supplemental protest after receipt of its written debriefing on July 31.  First Supp. Protest at 2.  In this protest, NARCORPS challenged the agency’s evaluation of NARCORPS’s proposal under the management, staffing, and scheduling approach factor, raising two primary arguments.  NARCORPS argued that the agency applied unstated evaluation criteria and assessed weaknesses that were inconsistent with other areas of the agency’s evaluation.[2]  First Supp.