Protest of Negotiated Contract Award

An incumbent contractor protested the award by the General Services Administration (GSA) of 90-day interim contracts for armed security guard services at GSA buildings, contending that, since procurements were negotiated, GSA should have considered the firm's offer to waive all training costs in evaluating the proposals although the requests for proposals (RFP) issued did not provide for such consideration. The contracting officer's refusal to consider the offer of waiver was proper, since the RFP evaluation plan did not provide for consideration of training costs in determining the low offerer. Award of a negotiated contract based on initial proposals was proper where insufficient time was available between solicitation and performance to conduct discussions. The agency should consider revision to future evaluation plans, as issuance of a contract without consideration of the training costs that would have to be reimbursed each offerer might not result in a contract at the lowest cost to the government.