Louis Berger Services, Inc. protest contract awarded for base operating services in Spain
U.S. Government Accountability Office — Louis Berger Services, Inc. (LBS), of Morristown, New Jersey, protests the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. N33191-14-R-1010, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, for base operating support services at Naval Station Rota, Spain. LBS specifically challenges the RFP's inclusion of a definitive responsibility criterion relating to possession of certain Spanish "Certificates of Classification."
U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the contract protest stating:
We deny the protest.
The agency issued the RFP on June 2, 2014, with a proposal submission date of July 2. Thereafter, the agency issued six amendments to the solicitation which modified the performance work statement and sections L and M of the RFP, conducted questions and answers, and ultimately extended the proposal submission date to August 29.
As relevant to the protest allegations, section L of the RFP, as amended, included a definitive responsibility criterion requiring offerors to provide certain Spanish Certificates of Classification at the time of proposal submission, as follows:
- Certificates of Classification
- All offerors shall, at the time of proposal submission, hold current Certificates of Classification identified below. If any part of the work is to be subcontracted, the offeror must submit the subcontractor’s certificates with their proposal. The offeror or subcontractor performing the actual work must be the one holding the respective Certificate of Classification required per activity.
- Offerors shall submit a certified copy of the updated Certificate of Classification with their price proposal. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in rejection of the offer, as a failure to meet a material requirement. Classifications for this solicitation are identified below: Registro Oficial de Contratistas, Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda (Registro Central de Empresas Consultoras o de Servicios):
Read more on the decision of the contract protest here ⇒