Allegation of Conflict of Interest

The protester objected to the award of a contract, alleging a conflict of interest on the part of an employee of the low bidder. A conflict of interest was not created by a situation where an engineer whose firm had designed the project specifications was requested by the agency to answer technical questions at a prebid conference and was subsequently hired by the successful bidder as project engineer. The individual, who voluntarily and without compensation answered questions at the conference regarding specifications he had prepared for the government, was not a special government employee as defined in 18 U.S.C. 202(a). Although the evidence did not support a finding of actual conflict of interest, the agency should develop regulations regarding conflicts of interest to preclude even the appearance of a conflict of interest.