Diversified Elevator Service and Equipment Company, Inc. (W911SF-23-R-0006)

B-421925,B-421925.2 Nov 21, 2023 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Diversified Elevator Service and Equipment Company, Inc., of Millbrook, Alabama, a small business, protests the award of a contract to Black & Loans, LLC, of Atlanta, Georgia, also a small business, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W911SF-23-R-0006, issued by the Department of the Army for commercial elevator repairs and services at Fort Moore, Georgia. Diversified argues that the Army misevaluated the awardee's proposal as acceptable and lacked a basis to find the firm satisfied multiple definitive responsibility criteria in the RFP. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. No party requested redactions; we are therefore releasing the decision in its entirety. Decision Matter of: Diversified Elevator Service and Equipment Company, Inc. File: B-421925; B-421925.2 Date: November 21, 2023 Matthew T. Schoonover, Esq., Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq., John M. Mattox II, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., and Timothy J. Laughlin, Esq., Schoonover & Moriarty LLC, for the protester. Cyril Iyasele, Black & Loans, LLC, the intervenor. Andrew J. Smith, Esq., Major Bruce A. Nessler, Captain Dmitrius R. McGruder, and Nolan T. Koon, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency misevaluated awardee’s proposal is denied where the record shows the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest that awardee would fail to comply with a clause limiting subcontracting is denied where the proposal on its face did not indicate that the awardee intended to violate the limitation. DECISION Diversified Elevator Service and Equipment Company, Inc., of Millbrook, Alabama, a small business, protests the award of a contract to Black & Loans, LLC, of Atlanta, Georgia, also a small business, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W911SF‑23‑R‑0006, issued by the Department of the Army for commercial elevator repairs and services at Fort Moore, Georgia. Diversified argues that the Army misevaluated the awardee’s proposal as acceptable and lacked a basis to find the firm satisfied multiple definitive responsibility criteria in the RFP. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP was issued on April 10, 2023, seeking proposals to provide maintenance and repair for several types of elevators (passenger, freight, dumbwaiter, drum, and vertical lift, plus a jump tower hoist system) at Fort Moore, including Martin Army Community Hospital, for a base year and four option years. Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, Conformed RFP at 4-39. The RFP requested fixed prices for monthly inspection, maintenance, and repair services, and cost reimbursement for parts and labor where the cost of a component part would exceed $3000. Id. at 97. The RFP was set aside for small businesses, and provided that the contract would be awarded to the “lowest responsive and responsible bidder having submitted an acceptable bid. [Offerors would] be evaluated in accordance to standards specified in Federal Acquisition Regulation 9.104‑1.” Id. at 4. That provision requires contractors to meet general standards of contractor responsibility, such as having adequate resources, having the ability to comply with contract requirements, and having the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 9.104-1. Although not expressly mentioned in the RFP, the Army explains that the procurement was a simplified acquisition under FAR part 13. The RFP’s performance work statement (PWS) described the requirements in numbered paragraphs, RFP at 85-98, followed by a Service Contract Act wage determination. Id. at 98-108. Among the PWS requirements was that “[t]he contractor shall be regularly engaged in the installation and servicing of elevators of the general type indicated for maintenance and repair service,” “the contractor shall maintain a fulltime service and warehouse operation within 50 miles” of Fort Moore,[1] and it “must have sufficient stock of repair parts, especially common repair parts, . . . circuit boards, elevator light bulbs and materials. . . .” Id. at 88, 96. The RFP also incorporated the clause at FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, which, in relevant part, specifies that the small business contractor, will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities [which effectively means other small businesses]. Id. at 72 (incorporating FAR clause 52.219-14).