Reconsideration of Protest Involving Overlapping Awards

Consideration was requested of the following issues raised in a prior decision: whether award under a solicitation could be made in light of an existing requirements-type term contract for certain items of work that overlapped with the solicitation; and whether the agency fulfilled its statutory requirement to secure maximum competition by denying the contractor a copy of the solicitation. The prior decision recommended that the solicitation be canceled and the term contract utilized to satisfy work requirements. There was no longer a compelling reason to cancel the solicitation and resolicit since there was no deliberate attempt to preclude the firm from competing, and adequate competition and reasonable prices were obtained. The prior recommendation for cancellation did not indicate that issuance of the solicitation was illegal but was made to avoid possible consequences of overlapping awards; elimination of the overlap removed the impediment to award. A contention that failure to utilize the term contract for work covered by the solicitation should result in a directed award was untimely filed.