Protest Involving Conflict of Interest as Evaluation Criterion

A protester believed that the solicitation's evaluation criterion concerning conflicts of interest was misapplied. The protester's proposal was properly rejected on the basis of conflict of interest since its proposed project manager and principal investigator would have to evaluate a reliability standard which he originated under a prior contract; a major proposal alteration would have been required to eliminate the conflict. An estimated lower cost of contract performance should not be considered controlling for a cost-reimbursement type contract. Rejection of the protester's proposal without negotiation was not objectionable since it was outside of the competitive range. Although the awardee performed a literature search in support of another firm's prior contract to develop a standard which was to be evaluated under the awardee's subsequent contract with the agency, there was no objectionable conflict of interest in award of the subsequent contract. An allegation, filed after contract award, that consideration should have been given to a small business set-aside procurement was dismissed as untimely.