Vali Cooper International, LLC

B-424049 Feb 19, 2026 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Vali Cooper International, LLC (VCI), a small business of Covington, Louisiana, protests the award of a contract to Radise International L.C., of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W51DQV-25-R-0003, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for quality assurance services. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of VCI's proposal and the past performance proposal of the awardee, as well as the agency's best-value tradeoff determination. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. View Decision Decision Matter of: Vali Cooper International, LLC File: B-424049 Date: February 19, 2026 Nicholas Nazarko for the protester. Timothy A. Holliday, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Kasia Dourney, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging agency's consideration of price in its best-value tradeoff is denied where the agency reasonably determined that the protester's proposed price was unreasonably high, eliminating the protester's proposal from further consideration for award. 2. Protester is not an interested party to question the agency's remaining evaluation conclusions or source selection decision where its proposal was eliminated from award consideration based on its unreasonable price. DECISION Vali Cooper International, LLC (VCI), a small business of Covington, Louisiana, protests the award of a contract to Radise International L.C., of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W51DQV-25-R-0003, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for quality assurance services. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of VCI's proposal and the past performance proposal of the awardee, as well as the agency's best-value tradeoff determination. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. BACKGROUND The agency issued the solicitation on November 7, 2024, as a small business set-aside, seeking quality assurance services needed to monitor and oversee construction contractors building civil works facilities, military facilities, and interagency and international services facilities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Agency Report (AR), Tab B, RFP at 8. The RFP provided for the award of a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, on a best-value tradeoff basis, for a base year and four 1-year option periods. Contracting Officer's Statement (COS) at 1; RFP at 64. The solicitation advised offerors that proposals would be evaluated based on the following three factors: (1) technical; (2) past performance; and (3) price. RFP at 64. The technical factor consisted of two subfactors: work execution plan and contract management plan. Id. The RFP provided that the technical factor was more important than past performance; and the non-price factors combined were significantly more important than price. Id. The RFP provided that the agency would evaluate price for compliance, reasonableness, errors, and unbalanced pricing. RFP at 68. As relevant here, the RFP instructions for the price proposals advised offerors to submit two separate price subsections. Id. at 61; Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 3. In the first subsection, offerors were to propose a fixed price for a seed task order,[1] based on a performance work statement (PWS) included in the solicitation. MOL at 3. In the second subsection, offerors were to include their proposed labor rates for each of the job categories for the base year of the IDIQ contract, incorporating proposed escalation rates for the four option years, to be used for future task orders. Id. The agency received eight proposals, including those submitted by VCI and Radise, by the January 6, 2025, deadline for submission. COS at 3. In May, the Corps established a competitive range of all eight proposals and opened discussions. AR, Tab H, SSD at 2; AR, Tab E, VCI Discussions Letter at 1. In the discussion letter addressed to VCI, the Corps included the following item that “required response”: In comparison to the Independent Government Estimate [(IGE)], your price proposals for both the Price Exhibit and the Task Order reflect a consistent price premium across rates. It is recommended that you evaluate the requirements to ensure that your prices accurately reflect the necessary capabilities and complexity, and that all associated costs have been fully considered. AR, Tab E, VCI Discussions Letter at 5. In June, having received seven[2] revised proposals, including revised proposals from VCI and Radise, the agency closed discussions with the offerors. COS at 8.