[Protest of Treasury Contract Award for Microfiche Services]

A firm protested a Department of the Treasury contract award for microfiche services, contending that Treasury: (1) failed to suspend contract performance in response to the protest; (2) conducted discussions solely with the awardee, since it improperly allowed the awardee to revise its bid price; (3) improperly approved the awardee's proposed personnel substitutions; (4) failed to evaluate the awardee's price reasonableness; and (5) did not have sufficient qualified personnel to perform a proper evaluation. GAO held that Treasury: (1) was not required to suspend contract performance, since the protester did not file its protest within 10 calendar days of award; (2) properly communicated with the awardee about a matter relating to its responsibility, which neither constituted discussions nor required revised proposals; (3) properly clarified an error in the awardee's bid, without opening discussions, since the intended price was apparent from the awardee's bid; and (4) properly evaluated the awardee's bid, which was lower than both the government estimate and the other bids. GAO would not review the: (1) proposed personnel substitutions, since that was a matter of contract administration; and (2) adequacy of Treasury evaluation personnel absent a showing of fraud, conflict of interest, or bias. Accordingly, the protest was denied in part and dismissed in part.