Protests Involving Evaluation of Proposals

Two companies protested the evaluation of proposals, alleging that the agency failed to: (1) negotiate with all offerers in the competitive range; (2) communicate changes in the government's requirements to all offerers; and (3) communicate changes in the basis for evaluation. In the course of final discussions, it became obvious that the contract requirements being negotiated with the sole bidder remaining in the competitive range had significantly changed from the solicitation requirements under which the competitive range had been determined. Changes in the government's requirements should have been communicated to the other offerers. The contracting officer should take action to amend the solicitation regarding requirements and to seek new offers.