![]() ![]() The headquarters attorney participated in the call for the agency, but the contracting officer and local attorney did not.ĭuring the call, the GAO attorney established an August 20 due date for the supplemental agency report. After reviewing the comments, the GAO attorney handling the protest scheduled a conference call to discuss the supplemental agency report. On July 25, ADS filed comments on the agency report that included supplemental protest claims. The combined contracting officer’s statement and memorandum of law (COS/ML) accompanying the report was signed by a separate Army attorney (the “local attorney”) and the contracting officer. The report was filed by an Army headquarters attorney (the “headquarters attorney”). On July 16, the agency filed a report with our Office in response to ADS’s protest. By that date, PBE, an other-than small business under the solicitation’s size standard, submitted a proposal. On June 30, the agency further amended the solicitation by extending its closing date to July 18. On June 19, the agency amended the solicitation to remove the set-aside provisions. (ADS) filed a protest with our Office challenging the agency’s decision to withdraw the solicitation’s set-aside status. AR, Tab 10, Notice of Set-Aside Withdrawal, at 1. On June 5, the agency notified industry of its intent to withdraw the solicitation’s set‑aside status. From this, she decided that there was not an expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small businesses, and, therefore, the requirement should not be competed as a small business set‑aside, but, rather, on an unrestricted basis. Tab 11, Withdrawal of Set-Aside Memorandum, ¶¶ 3.b - 3.d. Based on that, and the finding that the hard armor component represented approximately 75 percent of the system’s cost, the contracting officer concluded that only one small business could comply with the Limitations on Subcontracting clause. AR, Tab 11a, Updated Market Research Report, ¶ 5. The agency’s market research showed only one small business as being capable of producing the hard armor component of the system. This analysis showed that the hard armor component represented approximately 75 percent of the system’s cost. AR, Tab 11b, Updated Independent Government Cost Estimate, ¶ 3. Because of these questions, an agency assistant product manager for soldier protective equipment analyzed the separate costs of the three components of the system. Agency Report (AR), Tab 9, RFP Questions and Answers, at 3-4. On May 9, the agency received three questions from industry, asking whether purchasing the hard armor component from an other-than small business would violate the Limitations on Subcontracting clause. The solicitation also incorporated a statement of work, which described the body armor system being procured as consisting of three components: an outer carrier hard armor inserts and soft armor inserts. 2011), and 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (Nov. at 1.īecause the solicitation was issued as a total small business set-aside, it incorporated the clauses at Federal Acquisition Regulation §§ 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (Nov. The solicitation contemplated the award of up to three fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with ordering periods of three years. The agency originally issued the solicitation on April 11, 2014, as a total small business set-aside. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. PBE also asserts that it would be improper for the agency to reissue the solicitation as a small business set-aside. PBE asserts that the agency unreasonably decided to cancel the solicitation as part of corrective action taken in response to a prior protest challenging the agency’s determination to remove the solicitation’s small business set-aside provision. d/b/a Protective Products Enterprises (PBE), of Pompano Beach, Florida, protests the cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. W91CRB-14-R-0015 issued by the Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, for ultra low visibility concealable body armor systems. ![]()
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