Jana Construction Contracting LTD Company (B-423061, B-423062, B-423063)

You should not care.

Category: Foreign contracting, base access, responsibility

Date: 9 December 2024

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423061%2Cb-423062%2Cb-423063

Jana Construction protested the Army Corps of Engineers' rejection of its proposals for three separate design-build construction projects at Erbil Air Base in Iraq. The Corps found Jana nonresponsible based on the firm's ineligibility for base access as reflected in the Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS). Jana argued it was properly registered and active in JCCS, but the underlying reasons for base access denial were classified national security information that could not be disclosed to contractors.

GAO held that contracting officers may reasonably rely on military command decisions regarding base access, even when the underlying reasons are classified and not disclosed to contractors. The protest was denied. GAO reaffirmed that base access determinations are within military commanders' discretion and that traditional due process requirements must yield to national security concerns.

Digest

Protests arguing that the agency unreasonably rejected its proposals for design-build services in Iraq are denied where the agency reasonably found the protester non-responsible based on the protester's ineligibility for base access as reflected in the Joint Contingency Contracting System.