IDS International Government Services, LLC (W912ER-20-R-0011)

B-419003,B-419003.2 Nov 18, 2020 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights IDS International Government Services, LLC, a small business, of Arlington, Virginia, challenges the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. W912ER-20-R-0011, which was issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, for operations and maintenance (O&M) services at sites and facilities in Afghanistan. The protester argues that several of the terms of the solicitation are ambiguous and fail to provide adequate information about the agency's requirements, and that the protester continues to suffer competitive prejudice from the agency's improper disclosure of its proprietary information in connection with an earlier solicitation. We sustain the protest. View Decision   Decision Matter of:  IDS International Government Services, LLC File:  B-419003; B-419003.2 Date:  November 18, 2020 David S. Black, Esq., Gregory R. Hallmark, Esq., and Amy L. Fuentes, Esq., Holland & Knight LLP, for the protester. William A. Wilcox, Jr., Esq., and Megan O. Jorns, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that a solicitation’s experience factor is ambiguous is sustained where the evaluation criteria and adjectival ratings conflict regarding the basis on which proposals will be evaluated. 2.  Protest that a solicitation is ambiguous concerning the relative weight of the non-price factors is denied where the solicitation is silent, meaning that the non-price factors have equal weight. 3.  Protest that a solicitation’s phase-in evaluation factor is ambiguous is denied because the plain language of the final amendment eliminated any potential ambiguities.  4.  Protest that a solicitation’s price evaluation factor is ambiguous concerning whether the agency will evaluate price realism is denied where an evaluation of the risk of a buy‑in does not obligate or permit a price realism evaluation. 5.  Protest that the solicitation is ambiguous as to the distinction between types of operation and maintenance requirements is denied where the solicitation contains adequate information for offerors to understand the difference. 6.  Protester is not an interested party to argue that a solicitation does not provide other offerors with adequate information regarding performance requirements. 7.  Protest that the agency should amend the solicitation to address inadvertent disclosures of the protester’s proprietary information in a prior solicitation is denied where the agency reasonably concluded that the information is not competitively useful. DECISION   IDS International Government Services, LLC, a small business, of Arlington, Virginia, challenges the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. W912ER-20-R-0011, which was issued by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, for operations and maintenance (O&M) services at sites and facilities in Afghanistan.  The protester argues that several of the terms of the solicitation are ambiguous and fail to provide adequate information about the agency’s requirements, and that the protester continues to suffer competitive prejudice from the agency’s improper disclosure of its proprietary information in connection with an earlier solicitation.  We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The Corps issued the solicitation on May 15, 2020, seeking proposals to provide O&M services at sites and facilities in Afghanistan for the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA).  Agency Report (AR)[1], Tab 1-D, RFP amend. 3 at 2; id., Performance Work Statement (PWS), at 37.[2]  The O&M services consist of “management, supervision, labor, materials and supplies, tools, equipment, spare parts, security, transportation, Contractor life support and satisfactory operations, and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and repairs of equipment and systems for facility O&M services.”  PWS at 37.  The RFP identifies 55 sites in Afghanistan where O&M services will be required, but also states that sites may be added or deleted during performance.  RFP at 101; PWS at 64.  IDS was awarded a contract for these O&M services in 2015; the current contract under which the services are provided was awarded on a sole‑source basis to IDS’s Afghan affiliate in 2019.  Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 5.  Based on these awards, the protester states that “IDS and [its] affiliate have performed the incumbent contract for the requirement being competed under the Solicitation for the past five years.”  Protest at 9.[3]  The solicitation anticipates the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a 1-year period of performance and a 1-year option.  PWS at 37-38.  The contract will provide for the issuance of task orders on a fixed-price basis.  Id.