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B-182337 1 (1976-11-09)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadegi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 9pTHE CONIPTROLLEIR GENERAL C: DECISION O . F THE UNITED BTATES WASHINGTON. D. C. 20546 FILE: B-182337 DATE; November 9, 1976 MATTER OF: Department of Agriculture's Use of Master Agreemnents DIGEST: Department of Agriculture's proposed use of master agree- ments for prequalifying firms to compete for agency con- sulting requirements is tentatively approved since it is not unduly restrictive of competition but may actually enhance competition in situations where small firms other- wise might not be able to compete. The Department of Agriculture has requested an advance decision concerning the propriety of its proposed procedure for prequalifying offerors in connection with the procurement of consulting services. ThE current proposal reflects a modifica- tion of a previously propoced system which was adjudged by this Office to be unduly restrictive of competition -in Department of Ariculture's Use of Master Agreements, 54 Comp. Gen 606 (1975), 75-1 CPD .0. Under the Department's original proposal, 1-year master agreements for corsulting requirements would be entered into with the 10 firms which, based on their proposals, were found to bi the most qualified in eich of eight subject matter areas, Each agreement awarded would not obligate a firm to provide any particular services, but only firms having such agreements would be eligible to submit proposals to fulfill the Department's con- sulting needs in the particular subject matter areas. Since other firms would be ineligible to compete, the Department would be assured of receiving ri more than 10 proposals for any require- ment from offerors possessing the capability to perfarm satisfac- torily. We found that the Department's sole justification for use of the Master Agreement was administrative expediency, and that this was not a legitimate basis for restricting competition by prequalification. The Department now proposes to modify its previous proposal in the following fashion: 1. all qualified firms in each of the desired skill areas will receive an award of a master agreement. - 1- .2*

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