Protest of Contract Award for Supply of Spare Parts by Army Corps of Engineers

A firm protested the award of a contract to a competitor for the supply of spare parts for dishwashers to be purchased by the Government of Saudi Arabia. The dishwashers for which these parts were necessary were supplied by the protester in an earlier contract with the agency. The contract contained a provision which required that within 20 days after award of the contract, the protester submit a preliminary spare parts list for the dishwashers parts list. Accordingly, the protester submitted its preliminary spare parts list with its price. A determination was made that this price was too high. Thereafter the agency orally solicited a quotation from a competitor for the spare parts. The competitor quoted a price and a purchase order was issued. The protester contended that it had a contractual right to negotiate with the agency for an acceptable price. The protester did not have a contractual right to supply the spare parts to the agency. The contract indicated that the agency was required to approve the preliminary list within 20 days but approval never took place because the agency considered the protester's prices to be too high. The protester also contended that it was effectively denied an opportunity to compete for the contract with the competitor. Statutory requirements for maximum competition are not applicable in this case since the procurement did not exceed $10,000. The protest was denied.