[Protest of Air Force Rejection of Bid for Civil Engineering Services]

B-280921: Dec 7, 1998

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A firm protested an Air Force contract award for civil engineering services, contending that the Air Force: (1) improperly evaluated its technical proposal; and (2) failed to conduct discussions with it. GAO held that: (1) the Air Force reasonably determined that the protester's proposal did not comply with the solicitation's requirement to demonstrate that its proposed staffing represented an adequate number and appropriate allocation of qualified employees and job categories for each task; and (2) since the bidders were on notice that the Air Force might award the contract without conducting discussions, its decision to do so was unobjectionable. Accordingly, the protest was denied.