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GAO: Solicitation Terms Trump Standard Industry Practice


Koprince Law LLC

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An offeror’s proposal must conform to all technical requirements of an agency’s solicitation–even if the offeror believes those requirements to differ from standard industry practice.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that an agency appropriately rated an offeror’s proposal as technically unacceptable because the offeror failed to conform to certain material solicitation requirements; the offeror’s insistence that those requirements varied from standard industry practice was irrelevant.

In Wilson 5 Serv. Co., Inc., B-412861 (May 27, 2016), the VA issued a SDVOSB set-aside RFQ seeking facility maintenance support operations at the VA’s Capitol Region Readiness Center (CRRC). The CRRC operates on a 24-hour per day, 7-day per week, 365-days per year (24/7/365) basis and serves a mission-critical role in the VA National Data Center Network.

The RFQ’s PWS required offerors to “determine the appropriate onsite staffing levels to support a 24/7/365 operations.” In written responses to vendor questions, the VA confirmed that “t is a requirement for staff to work onsite in support of the CRRC 24/7/365.”

Wilson 5 Service Company, Inc. (“Wilson 5”) was one of three offerors to submit quotations. Wilson 5’s staffing plan included on-site staffing from 7am to 5pm and emergency “on-call” services after hours, with an ability to call back personnel to the facility if necessary.

The VA determined that Wilson 5’s “lack of off-hours onsite support represents a material failure to meet the Government’s requirement . . ..”  The VA rated Wilson 5’s quotation as unacceptable, and excluded Wilson 5 from the competitive range.

Wilson 5 filed a GAO bid protest. Wilson 5 acknowledged that its quotation did not provide for 24/7/365 onsite support. Wilson 5 argued, however, that the RFQ did not require vendors to provide onsite off-hours staffing. Wilson 5 noted that it is “standard industry practice for a contract to provide 24/7/365 coverage by calling back personnel to the facility for an emergency,” rather than staffing the facility onsite during off-hours.

GAO wrote that, when a protester and agency disagree over the meaning of a solicitation, GAO will read the solicitation “as a whole and in a manner that gives effect to all of its provisions.” In this case, GAO held, “the agency’s interpretation of the RFQ, when read as a whole, is reasonable, and the protester’s interpretation is not reasonable.” The GAO noted that various portions of the solicitation “advised vendors of the responsibility to provide onsite staffing to support the 24/7/365 operation.” GAO found that there was no indication that the solicitation could be interpreted to permit call back service as an alternative to the on-site staffing requirement. GAO denied Wilson 5’s protest.

This decision serves as a reminder that offerors must meet the Government’s technical requirements, even if those requirements appear to vary from standard industry practice. As Wilson 5 learned the hard way, the plain terms of a solicitation will trump standard industry practice.

Megan Connor, a summer law clerk with Koprince Law LLC, was the primary author of this post.


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