High Plains Computing, Inc. d/b/a HPC Solutions (B-422934)

You should not care.

Category: technical evaluation, price evaluation

Date: 6 December 2024

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422934

High Plains Computing protested VA's award of a task order to Veterans EZ Info for IT development and support services. The pro se protester challenged the awardee's size status and alleged unreasonable price and technical evaluations.

Key Issues: (1) Size status challenges are exclusively for SBA review; (2) Agencies cannot conduct price realism analysis for fixed-price contracts unless the solicitation provides notice; (3) Technical evaluation challenges require demonstrating prejudice; here, even without the challenged weaknesses and deficiencies, the protester's higher-priced, lower-rated proposal would not have prevailed.

GAO dismissed the size status and price evaluation challenges and denied the technical evaluation challenge. The decision reinforces established procurement principles regarding proper forums for size protests, price realism analysis requirements, and the necessity of demonstrating prejudice.

Digest

1. Protest challenging the size status of the awardee is dismissed because the issue is not for GAO's consideration.
2. Protest challenging the reasonableness of the agency's price evaluation is dismissed where, in this fixed price competition, the protester asserts the agency failed to conduct a price realism evaluation when the solicitation did not advise offerors that the agency would do so, and where the protester's allegation that the agency failed to conduct a reasonable unbalanced price evaluation is speculative and fails to state a valid basis of protest.
3. Protest challenging the reasonableness of the agency's technical evaluation is denied where the record demonstrates that the protester cannot establish that it was prejudiced by the alleged errors.