Decision Released: Sustainment of DHS TSA property management support requirement protest

DIGEST

Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s proposal is sustained where the record is insufficiently documented to demonstrate that the agency reasonably evaluated the prior experience evaluation factor in a manner consistent with the solicitation.

DISCUSSION

The protester alleges that the agency unreasonably evaluated Strativia’s proposal, resulting in an improper best-value determination.  Protest at 2-5; Comments & Supp. Protest at 5-8.  For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the agency failed to adequately document its evaluation of Strativia’s proposal under the prior experience factor and sustain the protest on that basis. It is a fundamental principle of federal procurement that an agency must evaluate proposals consistent with the terms of the solicitation and, while the evaluation of offerors’ proposals generally is a matter within the procuring agency’s discretion, our Office will question an agency’s evaluation where it is unreasonable, inconsistent with the solicitation’s stated evaluation criteria, or undocumented.  Tantus Techs., Inc., B-411608, B-411608.3, Sept. 14, 2015, 2015 CPD ¶ 299 at 6; Vertex Aerospace, LLC, B-420073, B-420073.2, Nov. 23, 2021, 2022 CPD ¶ 5 at 9.  It is well-established that contracting agencies do not have the discretion to announce in the solicitation that they will use one evaluation plan, and then follow another.  The Emergence Group, B-404844.7, Feb. 29, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 133 at 7.  Once offerors are informed of the criteria against which proposals will be evaluated, the agency must adhere to those criteria in evaluating proposals and making its award decision or inform all offerors of any significant changes made in the evaluation scheme.  Id.  Further, where an agency fails to document its evaluation or retain evaluation materials, it bears the risk that there may not be adequate supporting rationale in the record for GAO to conclude that the agency had a reasonable basis for the source selection decision.  Tantus Techs., supra at 6; Vertex Aerospace, supra at 9.  Here, the RFP required the agency to consider the size of offerors’ prior experience examples as compared to that of the solicited requirement in determining the relevancy of those efforts.  As discussed above, the RFP’s instructions directed offerors to provide a detailed description of their relevant prior efforts, including, in part, a description of both the size and the scope of those efforts.  The RFP further instructed offerors to demonstrate how those efforts were similar to the requirement here.  Also discussed above, the RFP stated that the agency would evaluate proposals under the prior experience factor based on the agency’s confidence that the offeror had provided a detailed description of prior efforts that were, among other things, similar in size and scope to the property management support services being procured here…

DECISION

SierTeK-Peerless JV LLC, an 8(a) small business of Beavercreek, Ohio, protests the issuance of a task order to Strativia LLC, an 8(a) small business of Largo, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 70T01023R7668N001, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for support services to maintain TSA’s property management program.1  The protester contends that the agency unreasonably evaluated Strativia’s proposal and improperly determined that it offered the best value to the agency.  We sustain the protest.

See the decision here.

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