The Building People, LLC (89503125QWA000337)

B-423896 Nov 20, 2025 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The Building People, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests its exclusion from the competition and the issuance of an order to Transpacific Technologies Inc., a small business of Pasadena, California, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 89503125QWA000337, issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the General Services Administration's (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract for technical support services. The protester contends that the agency erred in excluding it from the competition for several reasons related to its size status. We dismiss the protest because it, in effect, challenges the Small Business Administration's (SBA) determination of the protester's size status, which is outside of our bid protest jurisdiction. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: The Building People, LLC File: B-423896 Date: November 20, 2025 Damien C. Specht, Esq., James A. Tucker, Esq., Alissandra Y. McCann, Esq., and Brian E. Doll, Jr., Esq., Morrison & Foerster LLP, for the protester. Stephanie D. Wilson, Esq., Rachael C. Haley, Esq., Charles L. Bonani, Esq., Berenzweig Leonard, LLP, for Transpacific Technologies, Inc., the intervenor. Kevin R. Hilferty, Esq., and Stephanie B. Young, Esq., Department of Energy, for the agency. Michael Willems, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest alleging that the agency erred by excluding the protester from the competition for an 8(a) small business set aside because the Small Business Administration (SBA) concluded the protester was not an eligible 8(a) small business is dismissed because GAO does not consider as part of our bid protest function challenges to SBA's determinations with respect to a firm's small business or socio-economic status. 2. Protest alleging that the agency applied an unstated evaluation criterion by deferring to SBA's conclusion that the protester was not an eligible 8(a) small business is dismissed where the protester fails to demonstrate any legal prohibition on the agency's consultation with the SBA and SBA's acceptance of the procurement was predicated on the agency submitting the putative awardee to SBA for an eligibility determination. DECISION The Building People, LLC, a small business of Leesburg, Virginia, protests its exclusion from the competition and the issuance of an order to Transpacific Technologies Inc., a small business of Pasadena, California, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 89503125QWA000337, issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the General Services Administration's (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract for technical support services. The protester contends that the agency erred in excluding it from the competition for several reasons related to its size status. We dismiss the protest because it, in effect, challenges the Small Business Administration's (SBA) determination of the protester's size status, which is outside of our bid protest jurisdiction. BACKGROUND The agency issued the RFQ on April 30, 2025, and the RFQ was set aside for 8(a) small businesses.0F[1] Agency Report (AR), Tab A.1, RFQ at 2.1F[2] In response to questions and answers concerning 8(a) eligiblity, the agency clarified that contractors were not required to certify their 8(a) status at the time of proposal submission, but were only required to verify their 8(a) status on their GSA MAS contracts. AR, Tab A.11, Questions and Answers, Q&A No. 24. Relevant to this protest, the agency submitted an 8(a) offering letter to the SBA for this procurement on June 11, 2024, and SBA accepted the procurement as an 8(a) procurement on June 27. RFQ at 2; Decl. of Contracting Officer at 2. The SBA's acceptance letter expressly required DOE to notify the SBA of the apparent successful offeror in order for the SBA to conduct an eligibility determination prior to making award. Specifically, the SBA's acceptance letter stated: You are authorized to announce the acquisition as 8(a) Competitive utilized the GSA MAS 8(a) pool and issue a solicitation. Upon conclusion of your evaluation, please notify the servicing District Office of the apparent successful offeror (or offerors). This notice should include the initial date specified for receipt of offers contained in the solicitation so that SBA may assess the eligibility of an apparent successful offeror whose 8(a) [business development] program has expired, 13 C.F.R. § 124.507(d). Within five (5) business days of this notification, SBA will determine the apparent successful offeror's eligibility to receive the contract award and inform your office, in writing, of its determination.