[Protest of Acquisition of Sevices at Two Job Corps Sites]

A firm protested the acquisition of guard services by a prime contractor under a cost reimbursement contract with the Department of Labor. The protester alleged that the acquisition was set aside for minority businesses but that the prime contractor failed to award the subcontract to such an enterprise. GAO noted that it only considers protests against subcontract awards when the prime contractor operates or manages a Government-owned facility and, in this instance, it assumed that was the case. A contract must be awarded on the same basis upon which offers are solicited and, since GAO found that the solicitation did not set aside the acquisition for minority businesses, the prime contractor had no legal basis for giving preferential treatment to such enterprises in the selection and award process. To the extent that the protester's complaint involved impropriety in the competition process, GAO determined that the protest was untimely because it was filed after the bid closing date. Accordingly, the protest was summarily denied.