Protest of Sole-Source Contract Award

A firm protested the award of a sole-source contract. The awardee had submitted an unsolicited proposal to an agency to improve an electrical management system which it maintained for the agency. The agency announced the sole-source negotiations and then awarded the contract. Upon seeing the announcement of the sole-source procurement, the protester requested proposal documents so that it could submit a proposal. When informed of the award, the protester contended that the award of the contract on a sole-source basis prior to public notice deprived it of the opportunity to compete. Procurements must be conducted on a competitive basis to the maximum practical extent. Procurement on a noncompetitive basis is authorized when the legitimate needs of the Government so require. The agency stated that the proposal was proprietary-original in concept, unique to its proposer and, thus, precluded formal advertising. The awardee's proposal contained little technical information and bore no proprietary identification or marking. GAO saw no basis for concluding that the awardee's proposal was unique or proprietary. The record did not support the conclusion that competitive procurement was precluded. The agency also stated that the awardee was best qualified to install the system since it was already working with the system, and it is reasonable to have one contractor maintain sole responsibility for the function of a system. However, the fact that a contractor could perform the services with ease than any other contractor does not justify a noncompetitive procurement. A sole-source award may not be justified on the basis of costs to be incurred as a result of a change in contractors. In the absence of a definite timeframe and evidence that there was only one source, the other agency reasons for the sole-source procurement were unacceptable. The sole-source procurement was improper, therefore, the protest was sustained. The agency was advised to assess the feasibility of conducting a competitive procurement for the work and award of the contract to the bidder who offers the proposal most advantageous to the Government.