(Editor’s Note.  The following decision highlights two interesting points – (1) an agency needs to modify a solicitation when it adds work and (2) a protest should not just assert a change affects one’s rates but quantify how it does.)

Three weeks after it awarded a contract for facilities operation and maintenance, NASA modified the contract to add work.  NASA admitted it knew prior to award that work would be added to the contract but argued additional work would not exceed 10% and hence was immaterial. An unsuccessful bidder protested the award arguing that had the  increased workload been included in the solicitation, it would have substantially reduced its G&A rates and award fee resulting in a winning lower price.  The GAO agreed the solicitation should have been modified but still did not overturn the award because generalized assertions about decreases in G&A rates and fees were not persuasive enough to show the competitive standing of the two offerors would have changed (NV Services, GAO B-284119.2).

{TAG_FORM_TITLE}