[Protest of Air Force Exercise of Contract Option for Processing Technical Orders]

A firm protested the Air Force's decision to exercise a contract option for the preparation, processing, and storage of technical orders, contending that the: (1) Air Force should have issued a new solicitation, since its requirements changed since award; and (2) Air Force's informal market survey inadequately supported its determination that the contract option was the most advantageous method of fulfilling its needs. GAO held that the: (1) protester untimely filed its protest that the sole-source award to the awardee changed the contract's scope of work; (2) Air Force reasonably conducted an informal market survey to determine if lower prices were available; (3) Air Force reasonably determined that the continuity of services and potential costs of disrupting services outweighed the possibility of lower prices; and (4) Air Force properly exercised the contract option. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed in part and denied in part.