West Pacific Electric Company Corporation (N6247321R1216)

B-421606,B-421606.2,B-421606.3 Jul 06, 2023 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights West Pacific Electric Company Corporation (West Pacific), of Pismo Beach, California, protests its exclusion from the competition under request for proposals (RFP) No. N6247321R1216, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, for projects involving construction and repair of dry utilities at government installations located in six western states. The protester argues that the agency improperly rated its proposal as unacceptable under the experience factor. 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: West Pacific Electric Company Corporation File: B-421606; B-421606.2; B-421606.3 Date: July 6, 2023 Shane J. McCall, Esq., Nicole D. Pottroff, Esq., John L. Holtz, Esq., Stephanie L. Ellis, Esq., and Gregory P. Weber, Esq., Koprince, McCall & Pottroff, LLC, for the protester. Andrew Campos, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Michelle Litteken, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency unreasonably evaluated protester’s proposal as unacceptable under the solicitation’s experience factor is denied where the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation. DECISION West Pacific Electric Company Corporation (West Pacific), of Pismo Beach, California, protests its exclusion from the competition under request for proposals (RFP) No. N6247321R1216, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, for projects involving construction and repair of dry utilities at government installations located in six western states. The protester argues that the agency improperly rated its proposal as unacceptable under the experience factor. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On November 4, 2021, the Navy issued the solicitation as a small business set-aside under the two-phase design-build procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 36.3 and the negotiated procurement procedures of FAR part 15. Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 6; Agency Report (AR), Exh. 1, RFP at 38.[1] The solicitation contemplated the award of three or more indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts to the offerors whose proposals were determined to represent the overall best value to the government, using a tradeoff process. COS/MOL at 5-6. The agency would issue fixed-price task orders under the IDIQ contracts for projects involving new construction, renovation, and repair of dry utilities construction projects at government installations located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Id. at 5. For phase one of the competition, the solicitation required offerors to submit proposals addressing the following evaluation factors: technical approach, experience, past performance, and safety. RFP at 48.[2] As relevant here, the experience factor encompassed two types of experience: construction experience and design experience. Id. at 49-52. For design experience, the solicitation required offerors to identify a maximum of five relevant design projects performed by the offeror’s proposed design team using a design experience project datasheet, which was an exhibit to the solicitation. Id. at 52. The solicitation required the proposed design team to demonstrate experience with each of the following types of work: ·Design of underground electrical power distribution systems, with a minimum system voltage of 15 [kilovolt (kV)]; nominal voltage may vary (e.g., 12kV would qualify; 4160 [volts (V)] would not qualify). ·Design of overhead electrical power distribution systems, with a minimum system voltage of 15kV; nominal voltage may vary (e.g., 12kV would qualify; 4160V would not qualify). ·Design of electrical substations (including transformers, switchgear, and control systems). ·Preparation of required time-current data, one-line diagram, and coordination curves, as described in [Unified Facilities Criteria] 3-501-01, Electrical Engineering, paragraph 3-2.5. Id.[3] The solicitation stated that the description provided on the project datasheets should clearly describe the scope of work performed and the relevancy of the project to the solicitation requirements. Id. at 53. The solicitation stated that unless specifically requested, the agency would not consider information submitted in addition to the project datasheet. Id. at 52. The agency would assign each proposal an adjectival rating of outstanding, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable under the experience factor. AR, Exh.