[Complaint Against Specification in Solicitation for HUD-Funded Project]
Highlights
A firm protested the use of a brand name specification by a Department of Housing and Urban Development grantee. The protester contended that it offered a product that was found to be equal to the specified brand name and that the grantee deleted its product from the solicitation because the protester failed to follow certain administrative procedures to obtain approval for the product. GAO held that, since the protester's product was found to be equal to the specified brand name by the project architect and the product was listed on a previous solicitation for the same type of product, the product should have been included in the solicitation. Accordingly, the protest was sustained. GAO noted that the contract had been substantially performed, but recommended that future grantee solicitations using brand name or equal specifications include all brand names known to qualify as equal, without the imposition of additional administrative requirements.