Protest Against Exclusion From Competitive Range

The protester objected to the agency's determination to exclude its bid from the competitive range under a request for proposals. The initiation of preaward surveys prior to final evaluation of proposals and referral to the Small Business Administration (SBA) of the contracting officer's finding of nonresponsibility did not indicate that the agency regarded the proposal as acceptable or that the subsequent finding of technical unacceptability was the result of bad faith or an attempt to circumvent the SBA role. The solicitation required informational submissions to demonstrate that the offerers' products would conform with the essential requirements of the specifications, but the offerer responded to the agency's request for additional clarifying information with only a blanket offer to conform. The agency properly rejected the proposal due to informational deficiencies in the proposal which indicated a lack of understanding of the specification requirements.