[Protest of HUD Contract Award for Area Management Broker Services]

A firm protested a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contract award for area management broker services, contending that HUD: (1) improperly applied unspecified criteria in evaluating its technical proposal; and (2) failed to refer the matter to the Small Business Administration under certificate-of-competency (COC) procedures. GAO held that: (1) HUD reasonably evaluated the protester's bid according to the specified criteria; (2) HUD reasonably determined that the awardee's technically superior bid outweighed the protester's low bid; and (3) COC procedures did not apply to the HUD application of responsibility-type factors in evaluating technical proposals. Accordingly, the protest was denied.