Two protesters objected to the past performance evaluation. GAO didn’t find their arguments convincing. Protester 1 received marginal CPARs on its references. Protester 2 had been Protester 1’s subcontractor on the low-rated references and was thus tainted by Protester 1’s shoddy performance.
BLM Companies, LLC; Innotion Enterprises, Inc., GAO B-420846.7, B-420846.8
- Two Protests – Two protesters, BLM and Innotion, challenged the award of a property management contract.
- Marginal Past Performance – BLM objected to the marginal and satisfactory rating it received for its past performance references. BLM argued it should have received higher ratings because the contracting officer for those references had stated on BLM CPARs that they would recommend the company for future requirements. GAO did not find this argument compelling. The contracting officer had simply checked a box with boilerplate language. The CPARs themselves still reflected subpar performance. BLM had not shown how checking a box with boilerplate language was any indication that BLM’s performance was good.
- Transitive Past Performance – Innotion also objected to the evaluation of its past performance. Innotion has been BLM’s subcontractor on some of BLM’s references. Innotion argued it should not be tainted by BLM’s shoddy performance, and that the agency should not have considered BLM’s performance when assessing Innotion’s. But GAO noted that Innotion had not distinguished the work it performed as a subcontractor from BLM’s work as a prime. If Innotion wanted the agency to separate its performance from BLM’s, it should have distinguished its performance in its proposal.
The protesters are represented by Douglas P. Hibshman, Jung Hyoun Han, and Dana L. Molinari of Fox Rothschild LLP. The intervenor is represented by Antonio R. Franco, Eric A. Vallee, Katherine B. Burrows, Jacqueline K. Unger, and Kelly A. Kirchgasser of Piliero Mazza PLLC. The agency is represented by Jose Montalvo-Rodriguez, Julie K. Cannatti, Justin D. Haselden, and Richard A. Marchese of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. GAO attorneys Heather Weiner and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail participated in the decision.
–Case summary by Craig LaChance, Editor in Chief
