Zodiac-Poettker HBZ JV, LCC (W912QR-20-R-0057)

B-419292 Jan 15, 2021 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Zodiac-Poettker HBZ Joint Venture, LLC, (Zodiac), a small business of St. Louis, Missouri, protests the award of a contract by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, to A&K Construction, Inc., of Paducah, Kentucky, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912QR-20-R-0057 for the construction of a middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Zodiac contends that the agency conducted misleading discussions and that the agency failed to apply a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) preference, as required by 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:  Zodiac-Poettker HBZ JV, LLC File:  B-419292 Date:  January 15, 2021 Scott F. Lane, Esq., Jayna Rust, Esq., and Katherine Nucci, Esq., Thompson Coburn LLP, for the protester. C. Thomas Miller, Esq., Whitlow, Roberts, Houston & Straub, PLLC; Laurence Schor, Esq., David Edelstein, Esq., Allison Geewax, Esq., Asmar, Schor, & McKenna, PLLC, for A&K Construction, Inc., the intervenor. Jennifer Kirby-McLemore, Esq., and Tarrah M. Beavin, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and Evan C. Williams, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the agency’s discussions were misleading is denied where the discussions were sufficient to lead the protester into the areas of its proposal which required revision. DECISION   Zodiac-Poettker HBZ Joint Venture, LLC, (Zodiac), a small business of St. Louis, Missouri, protests the award of a contract by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, to A&K Construction, Inc., of Paducah, Kentucky, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912QR-20-R-0057 for the construction of a middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Zodiac contends that the agency conducted misleading discussions and that the agency failed to apply a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) preference, as required by the solicitation. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On June 29, 2020, the agency issued the RFP in accordance with the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15, Contracting by Negotiation.  The solicitation sought proposals for the construction of a middle school, including a combination of new construction, as well as the renovation and demolition of an existing building on Fort Campbell.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, RFP at 9.  The project will also include related infrastructure such as parking areas, mechanical rooms, delivery areas, storage, and lighting.  Id.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering the following factors, listed in descending order of importance:  past performance, management plan, and small business (SB) participation plan.  Id. at 1, 9, 11.  With respect to price, the RFP provided that the proposals would be evaluated for fairness and reasonableness through the use of a price analysis.  Id. at 17.  In addition, the solicitation warned offerors that the agency reserved the right to accept other than the lowest-priced offers and the right to reject all offers.  Id. at 9. The solicitation also included the following regarding the application of the HUBZone price evaluation preference:  In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 19.1307, this project requires the HUBZone 10% price evaluation. Id. at 1.  The solicitation further informed potential offerors that the estimated contract cost was between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000.  Id. The agency received eight proposals in response to the solicitation, including those of Zodiac, a HUB-Zone small business, and A&K, a large business.  AR, Tab 4, Summary Evaluation Report at 1.  The agency evaluated the proposals and determined that the prices were fair and reasonable.  The agency then applied the 10% price evaluation preference to the prices of all large businesses, including that of A&K, and determined that Zodiac’s initial price proposal ($61,371,000) was the lowest evaluated price proposal.  Id. at 41.  The contracting officer was subsequently informed by the requiring activity that the available funding limit for this project was $56,200,000.  Id. at 43.  The contracting officer states that because none of the existing proposals offered prices below this threshold, the agency decided to hold discussions.  Id.  On August 28, each offeror was sent a discussion letter providing an opportunity to correct any weaknesses in their technical proposals, and inviting them to reduce their price.  AR, Tab 7, First Discussion Letter to Zodiac (Aug.