Allserv Inc. (36C24724Q0325)

B-422347 Apr 23, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Allserv, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Chapin, South Carolina, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. 36C24724Q0325, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for exterior pressure washing services at a VA medical center. The protester argues that the agency did not provide sufficient time for interested vendors to submit responses or sufficient information to permit vendors to compete intelligently and fairly. 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: Allserv, Inc. File: B-422347 Date: April 23, 2024 Matthew T. Schoonover, Esq., Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq., John M. Mattox II, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., Timothy J. Laughlin, Esq., Schoonover & Moriarty LLC, for the protester. Natica Chapman Neely, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Samantha S. Lee, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency failed to provide sufficient time for vendors to submit quotations is denied where the timeframe allotted was reasonable. 2. Protest that solicitation deprives vendors of the ability to compete intelligently is denied where the record shows that the solicitation is drafted in a fashion that enables vendors to intelligently prepare their proposals. DECISION Allserv, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) of Chapin, South Carolina, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. 36C24724Q0325, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for exterior pressure washing services at a VA medical center. The protester argues that the agency did not provide sufficient time for interested vendors to submit responses or sufficient information to permit vendors to compete intelligently and fairly. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The VA issued the solicitation on February 5, 2024, under the commercial item provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12 and the simplified acquisition procedures of FAR part 13. Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 2; AR, Exh. 9, RFQ at 5, 19.[1] The RFQ, set aside for SDVOSB firms, seeks annual pressure washing services of the exterior areas, interior courtyards, and attached canopies of the “Main Hospital Building 110” at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. RFQ at 5. The RFQ includes a “performance based work statement” that sets forth the general requirement, the address of the medical center where services are to be performed, and a short description of the “contractor[’]s responsibilities,” such as using a “bio-based cleaning agent safe to environment and areas being pressure washed and cleaned.” Id. at 6-8. The solicitation anticipates the award of a single fixed-price contract with a base year and one 1-year option period. Id. at 6. The solicitation requires quotations that include administrative information about the vendor (such as the company’s tax identification number), a fixed price for each annual pressure washing, a “[w]ritten statement limited to two pages or less demonstrating the [vendor] has the required technical capability, experience, and past performance,” and three past performance references. Id. at 5, 18-19. Quotations will be evaluated based on price and the following three non-price factors: (1) technical capability, (2) experience, and (3) past performance. Id. at 19-20. For purposes of award, the non-price factors, when combined, will be “more important than price.” Id. at 19. The RFQ established a response deadline of 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 7. Id. at 1. The VA subsequently amended the solicitation to incorporate three vendor questions and responses and to extend the response deadline to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 9. AR, Exh. 10, RFQ amend. 1 at 4-5. Allserv filed this protest on February 9, prior to the submission deadline time. Also on February 9, the VA issued the second amendment to the RFQ, which extended the response deadline to 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 15, and made no other changes. AR, Exh. 11, RFQ amend 2 at 4. The agency received seven quotations in response to the solicitation. COS at 2. DISCUSSION Allserv contends that the agency did not provide an adequate amount of time to allow vendors to submit quotations in response to the RFQ. Allserv also argues that the agency did not include adequate information about its requirements to allow vendors to compete intelligently and on a common basis.