[Protest of Air Force Rejection of Offer To Supply Aircraft Components]

A firm protested the Air Force's rejection of its bid, contending that: (1) it was an approved qualified source for the contract; (2) the Air Force's refusal to evaluate its proposal and initiate qualification procedures disregarded a certain clause of the solicitation and violated federal procurement policy; and (3) the Air Force violated the Small Business Act when it failed to refer the question of its responsibility to the Small Business Administration for possible issuance of a Certificate of Competency. The Air Force argued that: (1) discussions would have been necessary to determine whether the protester's proposal was acceptable since the protester failed to submit a complete proposal; (2) although the solicitation specified that nonapproved sources might be considered for award, the clause stated that only an offerer that had been approved in accordance with the applicable procedures could receive the award; and (3) it never made a determination concerning the protester's responsibility since the protester was not an approved source. GAO has held that, when a contracting agency restricts an award to an approved source, nonapproved sources must be given a reasonable opportunity to qualify. GAO found that: (1) the solicitation invited nonapproved sources to submit proposals provided they also submitted evidence of prior experience that the Air Force was able to evaluate before award; (2) the Air Force issued a solicitation that encouraged nonapproved sources to spend time and money preparing proposals it did not intend to consider; (3) the Air Force should have begun the procurement process early enough to allow adequate time to evaluate any offers submitted by nonapproved sources; and (4) when an agency makes a finding that an offer from a small business concern is not technically acceptable because it is not an approved source, the Small Business Act does not apply. Accordingly, the protest was denied.