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B-418449 1 (2020-05-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaebge0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 



GO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G St. N.W.                                                    Comptroller General
Washington, DC 20548                                              of the United States
                                           ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
                                           The decision issued on the date below was subject to
Decision                                    a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has
                                           1been approved for public release.


Matter of:   Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

File:        B-418449

Date:        May 18, 2020

Gary J. Campbell, Esq., G. Matthew Koehl, Esq., Nathaniel J. Greeson, Esq., and Lidiya
Kurin, Esq., Womble Bond Dickinson-US, LLP, for the protester.
Ellen B. Clark, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency.
Lois Hanshaw, Esq., and Evan C. Williams, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO,
participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST

1. Solicitation requirement that prime contractor or its affiliate be an independent public
accountant is unduly restrictive of competition where the agency does not show that the
specifications are reasonably necessary to meet the agency's needs.

2. Protest that task order requirement for performance of audit services by an
independent public accountant exceeds the scope of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-
quantity, multiple-award contract for audit services is sustained where it was not
reasonably foreseeable that the task order would limit performance of services to
independent public accountants.
DECISION

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (Booz Allen), of McLean, Virginia, protests the terms of
request for quotation (RFQ) No. M95494-20-Q-0005, issued by the United States
Marine Corps for financial statement audit support services. Booz Allen contends that
the RFQ requirement that the prime contractor or its affiliate be an independent public
accountant (IPA) is unduly restrictive of competition, and outside the scope of the
underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The protester also
argues that the solicitation violates various procurement statutes and regulations.


We sustain the protest.

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