Cherokee CRC, LLC (140A1621R0062)

B-420205,B-420205.2 Dec 21, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Cherokee CRC, LLC, a small business of Tulsa, Oklahoma, protests the issuance of an order by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to Walga Ross Group JV (WRG), a small business of Joplin, Missouri, under task order request for proposal (TORFP) No. 140A1621R0062 for design-build services for an adult detention center in Mescalero, New Mexico. Cherokee alleges the agency's evaluation of WRG's price was improper for several reasons. 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:  Cherokee CRC, LLC File:  B-420205; B-420205.2 Date:  December 21, 2021 Antonio R. Franco, Esq., Jacqueline K. Unger, Esq., Anna R. Wright, Esq., and Anna G. Sullivan, Esq., Piliero Mazza PLLC, for the protester. Aaron H. Reichelson, Esq., Trenam Law, for the intervenor. William B. Blake, Esq., Bureau of Indian Affairs, for the agency. Samantha S. Lee, 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 unequal discussions is denied where the agency’s exchanges with the awardee were clarifications, not discussions. 2.  Protest that the agency’s price realism evaluation of the awardee’s proposed price was inadequate is denied where the record shows that the evaluation was consistent with the solicitation. DECISION Cherokee CRC, LLC, a small business of Tulsa, Oklahoma, protests the issuance of an order by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to Walga Ross Group JV (WRG), a small business of Joplin, Missouri, under task order request for proposal (TORFP) No. 140A1621R0062 for design-build services for an adult detention center in Mescalero, New Mexico.  Cherokee alleges the agency’s evaluation of WRG’s price was improper for several reasons. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The BIA issued the TORFP on July 2, 2021, under the BIA indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity National Multiple Award Construction Contract (NMACC) in accordance with the procedures of FAR part 16.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, TORFP at 1.  The TORFP seeks a contractor to provide design-build services for a 40-bed Mescalero Adult Detention Center in New Mexico.  AR, Tab 15, Statement of Work (SOW) at 1-2.  The solicitation contemplated issuance of a single fixed-price order with a 2-year period of performance.[1]  TORFP at 3, 5.  The TORFP requested that offerors submit technical and price proposals and provided for award to be made on a lowest-priced, technically-acceptable (LPTA) basis, considering price and four non-price (technical) evaluation factors.[2]  Id. at 11, 14.  In the final solicitation amendment, the BIA replaced the Section B price schedule “to obtain more detailed pricing information.”  AR, Tab 6, TORFP Amend. 3 at 2.  The final price schedule was still organized as a single contract line item number (CLIN), and retained the caution from the original solicitation that “Price Proposals must be submitted following the price schedule/format herein” and that “[i]ncomplete price proposals” would not be considered for award.  Compare TORFP at 5 with AR, Tab 6, TORFP Amend. 3 at 2.  The BIA, however, added “price categories” and directed offerors to propose their “best prices for each of the Price Categories in accordance with the Statement of Work (SOW) and attachments.”  AR, Tab 6, TORFP Amend.