B-255281,B-255281.2: Feb 17, 1994

A firm protested the Army's rejection of its bid for communications shelters, contending that the Army: (1) improperly influenced the Small Business Administration's (SBA) evaluation of its responsibility; and (2) failed to refer it to SBA for a second responsibility determination. GAO held that the: (1) Army was not precluded from communicating with SBA during its certificate of competency (COC)...

B-255281,B-255281.2: Feb 17, 1994

Contracting agency and SBA personnel are encouraged by applicable regulations to engage in complete exchange of information during SBA's review. Contracting officer reasonably declined to refer firm's nonresponsibility to SBA for a second time (after denial of certificate of competency) where only additional information provided in support of request that agency reconsider the matter was a letter...