TITLE:  	Buckeye Park Services Inc., B-282282, April 27, 1999
BNUMBER:  B-282282
DATE:  April 27, 1999
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Buckeye Park Services Inc., B-282282, April 27, 1999

Decision

Matter of: Buckeye Park Services Inc.

File: B-282282

Date: April 27, 1999

William Johnson for the protester.

Capt. Janice G. Inman, Department of the Air Force, for the agency.

Katherine I. Riback, Esq., and James Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the
General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Protest challenging award for grounds maintenance contract on the basis that
the awardee did not, prior to award, demonstrate compliance with certain
licensing requirements is denied where the solicitation did not require such
a demonstration; the solicitation provision regarding licensing was only a
contract performance requirement.

DECISION

Buckeye Park Services Inc. protests the award of a contract to Metcalfe
Grounds Maintenance under request for proposals (RFP) No. F22600-99-R-0057,
issued by the Department of the Air Force for grounds maintenance at Keesler
Air Force Base. Buckeye contends that the award to Metcalfe is improper
because the awardee failed to comply with the solicitation's licensing
requirements.

We deny the protest.

The agency had previously issued a solicitation for the grounds maintenance
at Keesler Air Force Base, but suspended action under that procurement due
to a protest filed in our Office. To cover these services in the interim,
the agency telephonically solicited five of the offerors (with a follow-up
fax) for a 3-month period with award to be made to the firm submitting the
lowest-priced, technically acceptable offer. This RFP incorporated the
performance work statement of the previous solicitation. Of significance to
this protest, the RFP required that the "Contractor shall make sure
employees have the following current and valid professional certifications
before starting work under this contract . . . ." RFP sect. C-1.2.2.2. (emphasis
added). With regard to these professional certifications, the RFP also
required "[t]he Contractor shall possess a current Commercial State of
Mississippi Pesticide License," RFP sect. C-1.2.2.2.3., and "Contractor shall
have at least one supervisor/work leader with a Tree Surgery and/or
Landscape Gardening License from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce." RFP sect. C-1.2.2.2.4.

The agency received four proposals by the March 8, 1999 closing date. On
March 10, the agency made award to Metcalfe Grounds Maintenance, as the firm
that had submitted the lowest-priced, technically acceptable offer. This
protest followed. Buckeye contends that Metcalfe's proposal should have been
rejected as technically unacceptable because it did not satisfy the RFP's
licensing requirements quoted above.

Contrary to Buckeye's interpretation, the solicitation simply did not
require that these licensing requirements be satisfied prior to award;
indeed, nowhere did the solicitation specifically direct offerors to address
compliance with these requirements in their proposals. Moreover, the
solicitation did not require offerors to submit evidence of compliance, but
instead required only the "contractor" to have the specified licenses before
starting work under the contract. In this regard, the use of the term
"contractor" generally indicates that the licensing requirements are general
performance requirements to be addressed by the successful awardee,
post-award. Heart of Dixie Mach. & Fabrication Co., Inc., B-271869, July 30,
1996, 96-2 CPD para. 49 at 3. Thus, there is no basis to reject Metcalfe's
proposal as unacceptable.[1]

The protest is denied.

Comptroller General

of the United States

Notes

1. These licensing requirements are contract performance requirements, and
compliance with them is a matter of contract administration, not subject to
review by our Office. 4 C.F.R. sect. 21.5(a) (1998).