Protest of Proposal Rejection

A company protested the rejection of its proposal under a solicitation issued by the National Endowment for the Arts for a cooperative agreement to develop and test models for audience surveys. The company protested the agency's failure to use the numerical scoring method in ranking the proposals and to require that all members of the evaluation team read all proposals. The company also complained that, although the agency awarded a cooperative agreement, the agency actually conducted a procurement and failed to comply with procurement regulations. However, GAO found that the agency's solicitation procedures were consistent with Federal procurement requirements and that the company's complaint on this point was academic. GAO has held that, although a point scoring system may be useful as a guide to decisionmaking, the scoring method is not controlling in determining which competitor should receive an award. Further, where a large number of proposals must be considered, it is not improper or arbitrary to divide them among panel members for evaluation. The company also stated that the agency failed to take the low cost of its proposal into consideration. However, where a proposal is not technically acceptable, it is not relevant that its cost is lower than the cost of other acceptable proposals. Accordingly, the protest was denied.