Financial & Realty Services, LLC (75P00124Q00007)

B-422858 Nov 25, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Financial & Realty Services, LLC (FRS), a small business of Calverton, Maryland, protests the cancellation of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 75P00124Q00007, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) purchase of facilities maintenance, management, and repair services at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C. FRS argues that the agency improperly canceled the solicitation, which anticipated establishment of a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with a small business. 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: Financial & Realty Services, LLC File: B-422858 Date: November 25, 2024 Eden Brown Gaines, Esq., Brown Gaines, LLC, for the protester. Megan R. Nathan, Esq., and Anthony E. Marrone, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Sarah T. Zaffina, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency’s decision to cancel a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) procurement set aside for small businesses is dismissed for failure to state a valid basis of protest because set-asides under the FSS are discretionary. DECISION Financial & Realty Services, LLC (FRS), a small business of Calverton, Maryland, protests the cancellation of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 75P00124Q00007, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) purchase of facilities maintenance, management, and repair services at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C. FRS argues that the agency improperly canceled the solicitation, which anticipated establishment of a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with a small business. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND On May 10, 2024, in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4, HHS issued the RFQ to vendors holding General Services Administration (GSA) multiple award schedule contracts for special item number (SIN) 561210FAC (facilities maintenance, management, and repair). The RFQ was issued through the GSA eBuy website under eBuy ID RFQ No. 1695390.[1] COS at 1.[2] The solicitation anticipated establishment of a single fixed-price BPA with an estimated value of $29 million for a 1‑year base period with four 1-year options. AR, Tab 3, RFQ at 4. The RFQ provided for establishment of the BPA with the vendor whose quotation represents the best value to the government using a tradeoff process that considers technical, price, and past performance factors, in descending order of importance, and where the combined non‑price factors are significantly more important than price. Id. at 128-129. HHS initially issued the RFQ as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) set-aside in eBuy and instructed SDVOSB FSS contract holders to submit quotations on or before July 3. COS at 2. The agency received only one quotation. Id. In accordance with FAR section 8.405‑3(b)(2)(v), the agency considered whether additional vendors were capable of fulfilling its requirements because the agency did not receive three quotations in response to the RFQ. Id. The agency concluded that other vendors, non-SDVOSB vendors, could fulfill the requirements and cancelled the RFQ set‑aside for SDVOSBs. Id. On July 3, HHS reissued the solicitation as a small business set-aside under a different eBuy ID number‑‑eBuy ID RFQ 1706871‑‑to all small business FSS contract holders. Id. By the August 9 deadline for receipt of quotations, the agency received two quotations, including FRS’s quotation. Id. Again, the agency failed to obtain three quotations and considered whether additional contractors were capable of fulfilling its requirements pursuant to FAR section 8.405‑3(b)(2)(v). Id. at 3. The agency determined other firms were able to fulfill its requirements and cancelled the small business set‑aside. Id. On August 13, 2024, the Agency reissued the FSS procurement to all contract holders without restrictions under eBuy ID RFQ No. 1717903. Id. Concurrently, HHS notified FRS and the other vendor that because the agency “didn’t get enough interest” in the procurement from small businesses, the agency had canceled the small business set-aside and reissued the RFQ as “full and open.” AR, Tab 10, Email Communications between HHS and FRS at 2. In response, FRS contacted the agency and asked how many quotations had been received, whether the agency had evaluated any of the quotations, and what, if any, results there were of the agency’s evaluation of FRS’s quotation. Id. at 1-2. HHS informed FRS that two quotations had been received and that no quotations had been evaluated.