A firm protested a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contract award, contending that HUD should have rejected the awardee's proposal as unrealistically low and arguing that the awardee's offer was a buy-in and nonresponsive to the request for proposals' realistic cost requirement. HUD awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with an 18-month option because the awardee's technical sco...

IS SUSTAINED WHERE: (1) AGENCY WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE REALISM OF THE AWARDEE'S COSTS. (2) AGENCY'S COST REALISM ANALYSIS FAILS TO ASSURE THAT THE AWARDEE'S PROPOSED COSTS ARE REALISTIC. (3) AGENCY'S ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE QUESTION OF COST REALISM BY CAPPING AWARDEE'S DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS IS OF QUESTIONABLE EFFICACY IN VIEW OF RFP PROVISION WHICH GIVES THE AWARDEE THE RIGHT TO REJECT. NEGOTIATE A...