Sofia Health, LLC (36C24923Q0645)

B-422186 Jan 30, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sofia Health, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Playa Del Ray, California, protests the award of a contract to The HABITS Group, LLC, an SDVOSB of Austin, Texas, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24923Q0645, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health and wellness classes and services. The protester argues that the agency should have awarded Sofia Health the contract, contending that its quotation presented the best value to the agency and alleging that the agency improperly based the award on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection scheme that was inconsistent with the solicitation. We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. View Decision Decision Matter of: Sofia Health, LLC File: B-422186 Date: January 30, 2024 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. Natica C. Neely, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Hannah G. Barnes, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation is dismissed where the record shows that the protester is not an interested party because its quotation was not received at the email address designated by the solicitation for receipt of quotations. DECISION Sofia Health, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Playa Del Ray, California, protests the award of a contract to The HABITS Group, LLC, an SDVOSB of Austin, Texas, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 36C24923Q0645, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health and wellness classes and services. The protester argues that the agency should have awarded Sofia Health the contract, contending that its quotation presented the best value to the agency and alleging that the agency improperly based the award on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection scheme that was inconsistent with the solicitation. We dismiss the protest on the basis that the protester is not an interested party. BACKGROUND On September 21, 2023, the VA issued the RFQ as an SDVOSB set-aside for the provision of complimentary and integrative health wellness classes and services under the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) parts 12, commercial products and services, and 13, simplified acquisition procedures. Req. for Dismissal, Exh. 1, RFQ at 2, 5. The RFQ provided for the issuance of a firm-fixed-price contract to the vendor whose quotation “will be most advantageous to the [g]overnment considering [three] factors”: technical, price, and past performance. Id. at 5. As relevant here, the solicitation provided that quotations were to be submitted by September 27,[1] advised that “[e]mailed quot[ation]s are the only method of submitted quot[ation]s,” and cautioned vendors that they “bear the burden of ensuring that all portions of the offer . . . reach the designated office before the deadline specified in the solicitation.” Id. at 2. The RFQ also incorporated FAR provision 52.212-1[2] regarding the circumstances under which an agency may accept a late submission in a procurement conducted under FAR part 12.[3] Sofia Health states that it timely submitted its quotation via email to the contracting officer by the September 27 due date. Protest at 5. On September 29, the agency made award to The HABITS Group and posted the notice of award on SAM.gov. Req. for Dismissal at 3. On October 2 and again on October 6, the protester emailed the contracting officer to request a debriefing. Id. On October 10, the protester and the contracting officer had a telephone conversation in which the protester was informed that the contracting officer had not received Sofia Health’s quotation. Req. for Dismissal, Exh. 3, Contracting Officer Statement of Facts at 1. Later that same day the protester submitted another email, requesting that the agency recognize the protester’s quotation as timely and evaluate it, on the basis that although it apparently did not reach the contracting officer’s email box, it had been submitted prior to the deadline and was within the government’s control. Req. For Dismissal, Exh. 5, October 10 Emails at 3. The contracting officer informed the protester by email that he had not received Sofia Health’s quotation by the closing time, and that he could not consider the quotation for award because it was late, citing FAR provision 52.212‑1(f). Protest at 5; Req. for Dismissal, Exh. 3, Contracting Officer Statement of Facts at 1-2; Req. for Dismissal, Exh. 5, October 10 Emails. On October 23, the protester filed a pre-filing notice with the U.S.