Byrd Enterprises Unlimited, Inc. (FA4626-23-Q-0001)

B-421462 May 09, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Byrd Enterprises Unlimited, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Lynchburg, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to AllServ, Inc., of Chapin, South Carolina, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. FA4626-23-Q-0001, issued by the Department of the Air Force for ground maintenance services. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably evaluated the awardee's proposal and made an improper source selection decision. 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: Byrd Enterprises Unlimited, Inc. File: B-421462 Date: May 9, 2023 Edward J. Tolchin, Esq., Offit Kurman, P.A., for the protester. Matthew T. Schoonover, Esq., Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq.; John M. Mattox II, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., and Timothy Laughlin, Esq., Schoonover & Moriarty LLC, for AllServ, Inc., the intervenor. Erika Whelan Retta, Esq., and Isabelle P. Cutting, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Emily R. O’Hara, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging the agency’s decision to make award before resolving the protester’s alleged agency-level protest is denied where the record does not show that the protester submitted a protest to the agency. 2. Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s past performance and the agency’s source selection decision is denied where the record shows that the agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. DECISION Byrd Enterprises Unlimited, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Lynchburg, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to AllServ, Inc., of Chapin, South Carolina, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. FA4626-23-Q-0001, issued by the Department of the Air Force for ground maintenance services. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably evaluated the awardee’s proposal[1] and made an improper source selection decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation, issued on January 3, 2023, sought grounds maintenance services for Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) in Cascade County, Montana. Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFQ at 1, 21; AR, Tab 13, System for Award Management (SAM) Posting at 2. Tasks included mowing improved and semi-improved grounds, trimming trees and shrubs, controlling weeds, and maintaining irrigation systems. RFQ at 21-27. The agency issued the solicitation as an SDVOSB set-aside and contemplated the award of a fixed‑price indefinite-delivery requirements contract for a 5-year ordering period. Id. at 1; Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 1. Award was to be made to the offeror whose proposal represented the best value to the government, with the following evaluation factors considered: past performance, technical approach, and price. RFQ at 4. Past performance would be evaluated based on the information offerors provided in a past performance questionnaire (PPQ), and would be rated on an acceptable/unacceptable basis. Id. Offerors with acceptable past performance would proceed to be “comparatively rated amongst all acceptable offerors on technical approach.” Id. Technical ranking would be “based upon identified weaknesses, deficiencies, and/or non-compliance.” Id. The Air Force awarded the contract to AllServ on February 1, 2023, and posted the notice of award on SAM.gov on February 7, with the final evaluation ratings and prices of AllServ and Byrd as follows:   Byrd AllServ Past Performance Acceptable Acceptable Technical Approach Ranking 1 2 Price $5,287,861.90 $4,448,994.80   AR, Tab 12, Source Selection Decision (SSD) at 9; AR, Tab 13, SAM Posting at 33, 35. The Air Force concluded that AllServ represented the best value to the government after considering both offerors’ technical approaches and finding that none of AllServ’s technical weaknesses, solely or cumulatively, weighed heavily enough to justify the price premium of selecting Byrd for award. AR, Tab 12, SSD at 9-10. After receiving an in-person post-award debriefing on February 9, Byrd filed this protest with our Office on February 14. AR, Tab 14, Email Confirmation of In-Person Debrief. DISCUSSION The protester alleges that the agency violated section 33.103 of the FAR when it made award to AllServ without first resolving the protester’s agency-level protest. Protest at 3-4. Byrd also contends that the agency unreasonably evaluated the awardee’s past performance and, as a result, made an improper source selection decision. Id. at 4-5.