Protest Based on Solicitation Requirements and Proposal Evaluation

A protester to a contract award asserted that the solicitation was defective and that the protester should have been included in the competitive range. The protest was denied because: the protester was not misled by an agency official's interpretation of the solicitation; the determination that the proposal was outside of the competitive range was in accordance with evaluation criteria; and there was no showing that the agency improperly evaluated proposed personnel. A claim for proposal preparation costs was denied since the agency's actions were not arbitrary or capricious.