[Request for Investigation of GSA Actions in Connection With Contract]

A firm asked GAO to investigate the actions of the General Services Administration (GSA) in connection with a contract award. Prior to the contract award, the firm had protested that the awardee's bid was not responsive to the solicitation's Buy American Act requirements because it listed a proposed foreign subcontractor that does not manufacture its equipment in this country. The protester also complained that the subcontractor had not yet obtained a required Underwriters Laboratories listing. GAO had denied the protest because it found that the awardee had not taken exception to the act's requirements and, therefore, was bound contractually to comply with the act. Whether the awardee was able to comply with the act's requirements and whether it obtained an Underwriters Laboratories listing were matters of responsibility and contract administration which GAO generally does not review. The protester then requested an investigation of the solicitation because it believed that GSA had granted an awardee's request for a waiver of the Buy American Act and Underwriters Laboratories listing requirements. It felt that the investigation would substantiate its earlier protest. Since the protester failed to allege fraud or bad faith or that definitive responsibility criteria were not met, GAO again refused to review the Buy American Act question. Further, once the government awards a contract, issues involving specification waivers are matters of contract administration. GAO will review matters of contract administration only in response to allegations that, at the time of award, the agency intended to make changes after award or that the modifications are beyond the scope of the original contract and, therefore, should have been the subject of a new procurement. Since the protester did not allege that GSA awarded the contract with the intention of later modifying it and failed to show that the contract as modified was essentially different from that for which the competition was held, there was no basis for GAO to question the administration of the contract. Finally, GAO does not conduct investigations for the purpose of establishing the validity of a protester's assertions. Accordingly, the request for investigation was denied.