Top Guard, Inc. (19AQMM22R0051)

B-420719 Jul 28, 2022 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Top Guard, Inc., of Norfolk, Virginia, protests its exclusion from the competition under request for proposals (RFP) No. 19AQMM-22-R-0051, which was issued by the Department of State (DOS) for local security guard services in Athens, Greece. Top Guard contends that the agency improperly concluded that the prime offeror was a joint venture, as opposed to Top Guard itself, and that the joint venture was required to separately register in the system for award management (SAM) database prior to proposal submission. 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: Top Guard, Inc. File: B-420719 Date: July 28, 2022 Shane J. McCall, Esq., Nicole D. Pottroff, Esq., John L. Holtz, Esq., Kevin B. Wickliffe, Esq., and Stephanie L. Ellis, Esq., Koprince, McCall & Pottroff, LLC, for the protester. John W. Cox, Esq., Department of State, for the agency. Paula A. Williams, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging agency's rejection of protester’s proposal because the protester failed to register in the system for award management prior to proposal submission is denied where the solicitation specifically required such compliance. DECISION Top Guard, Inc., of Norfolk, Virginia, protests its exclusion from the competition under request for proposals (RFP) No. 19AQMM-22-R-0051, which was issued by the Department of State (DOS) for local security guard services in Athens, Greece. Top Guard contends that the agency improperly concluded that the prime offeror was a joint venture, as opposed to Top Guard itself, and that the joint venture was required to separately register in the system for award management (SAM) database prior to proposal submission. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On February 16, 2022, DOS issued the RFP pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15, contracting by negotiation for local security guard services at the United States Embassy in Athens, Greece. RFP at 2.[1] The solicitation contemplates the award of a single time-and-materials contract with a 1-year base period and four 1-year option periods. Id. at 2. Award will be made on a lowest-price technically acceptable basis with proposals evaluated based on two factors: price and technical. Id. at 88, 103. The agency intends to make award without holding discussions. Id. at 107. With respect to price, the solicitation includes a 10-percent price evaluation preference for U.S. persons or U.S. joint venture persons, in accordance with the requirements of Section 136 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, Pub. L. No. 101-246, as amended, and codified at 22 U.S.C. § 4864. RFP at 82-83. In order to establish that an offeror is entitled to the price evaluation preference, the RFP requires an offeror to complete Department of State Acquisition Regulation §§ 652.237-73, "Statement of Qualifications for Preference as a U.S. Person" (Statement of Qualifications) questionnaire, certifying that the offeror qualifies as a U.S. person or as a U.S. joint venture person if at least 51 percent of its assets are owned by the U.S. joint venture partner. Id. at 82; see also, 22 U.S.C. § 4864(c)(3). As relevant to this protest, section L of the solicitation includes FAR provision 52.204-7, System for Award Management (SAM), which, in relevant part, requires offerors to be registered in SAM when they submit an offer to the government.[2] In pertinent part, this provision states as follows: (b)(1) An [o]fferor is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. (2) The [o]fferor shall enter, in the block with its name and address on the cover page of its offer, the annotation "Unique Entity Identifier" followed by the unique entity identifier that identifies the Offeror's name and address exactly as stated in the offer. . . . The unique entity identifier will be used by the [c]ontracting [o]fficer to verify that the [o]fferor is registered in the SAM. Id. at 88. The RFP also requires in section L.11.1 that joint ventures have an active SAM registration at the time of proposal submission. Specifically, the RFP provides as follows: Offerors, including any offeror organized as a joint venture, must have an active SAM registration at the time of proposal submission and throughout the procurement process.