[Protest of Interior Contract Award]

A firm protested a Department of the Interior contract award, contending that, since the procurement was advertised twice and the last advertisement indicated that the procurement was set aside for small business, the award should not have been made to a large business concern. Interior justified the award on the basis that the second advertisement was erroneous. GAO found that, although the second advertisement indicated that the procurement was restricted to small business, the request for proposals (RFP) did not contain such a restriction. GAO stated that the terms of an RFP govern the basis upon which an award is to be made and that it would be improper to base an award on a preference not stated in the RFP. GAO concluded that an award to other than a small business concern would not be improper under the circumstances. Accordingly, this basis of the protest was denied. The protester also contended that the awardee did not meet an RFP requirement. Interior admitted that it waived a definitive criterion of responsibility, because of the awardee's diversified capabilities. GAO has held that an agency cannot properly waive such criteria. Therefore, GAO concluded that the award was improper. Accordingly, this aspect of the protest was sustained. However, because of the advanced state of the contract, GAO did not recommend remedial action.