West Electronics, Inc. (W56HZV-21-R-0011)

B-421816 Sep 27, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights West Electronics, Inc., of Poplar, Montana, protests the agency's actions in connection with the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to GTA Containers, LLC, of South Bend, Indiana, pursuant to request for proposals (RFP) No. W56HZV-21-R-0011, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Materiel Command, for a water storage distribution system program. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably failed to give offerors sufficient time to respond to material changes to the solicitation, and further alleges it was the only offeror that should have been found eligible for award of the IDIQ contract. We dismiss 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 Electronics, Inc. File: B-421816 Date: September 27, 2023 William E. Hughes, Esq., Husch Blackwell LLP, for the protester. Scott E. Pickens, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, for GTA Containers, LLC, the intervenor. Debra J. Talley, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Michael P. Price, Esq., and John Sorrenti, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the reasonableness of an agency’s alleged solicitation modifications and acceptance of late delivery orders under a two-phase procurement is dismissed where the protest issues raised are matters of contract administration. DECISION West Electronics, Inc., of Poplar, Montana, protests the agency’s actions in connection with the award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite‑quantity (IDIQ) contract to GTA Containers, LLC, of South Bend, Indiana, pursuant to request for proposals (RFP) No. W56HZV-21-R-0011, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Materiel Command, for a water storage distribution system program. The protester contends that the agency unreasonably failed to give offerors sufficient time to respond to material changes to the solicitation, and further alleges it was the only offeror that should have been found eligible for award of the IDIQ contract. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP stated that the procurement would take place in two phases; phase 1 anticipated the award of up to five fixed‑price IDIQ contracts for five base years with two 1-year options, while phase 2 anticipated the issuance of a single-award task order to one of the phase 1 contract holders.[1] Req. for Dismissal, exh. C, RFP at 2.[2] The Army issued the initial RFP for phase 1 on May 12, 2021, pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15. Id. at 1, 96. The RFP was set aside for small businesses and sought proposals for a water storage distribution system (WSDS) program and associated field support that included, among other things, water pumps rated at 125 gallons per minute (GPM) and 350 GPM. Id. at 2, 61. The initial RFP stated that phase 1 contract holders would be notified if they were eligible to compete in phase 2 and if so, would be given a fair opportunity to compete for the phase 2 effort in accordance with FAR section 16.505.[3] Id. at 96. In accordance with the initial RFP, the agency issued a letter RFP for phase 2 of the procurement on November 18, 2022. Req. for Dismissal, exh. A, Phase 2 RFP at 1. Phase 1 consisted of: (1) the solicitation, receipt, and evaluation of phase 1 proposals; (2) the award of IDIQ contracts to successful offerors; (3) the fulfillment of a single delivery order, which included the design and delivery of two 125 GPM pumps and two 350 GPM pumps; and (4) product qualification testing (PQT) of the delivered pumps. Id. at 61-62, 96. The PQT consisted of a variety of functional tests as specified by the solicitation and detailed in the solicitation’s attachments. Id. at 61-62. The evaluation factors under phase 1 included experience and price, however, offerors were required to submit with their phase 1 proposals pricing for both phases of the procurement, including all option periods.[4] Id. at 4-46. The solicitation further stated that the procurement would be governed by the WSDS purchase description under the Automotive Tank Purchase Description (ATPD) in effect at the time of the solicitation’s release. Id. at 47. The relevant ATPD advised that the water pumps had to meet a specific military performance pump specification; for the 350 GPM pump, the parties agree that the specification in effect at the time of the solicitation’s release was a recently revised version of specification MIL-PRF-53051 revision C (REV C). See id; Protest, exh.