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B-275956 1 (1997-04-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptafwn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: oComptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 Decision Matter of: Ruchman and Associates, Inc. File: B-275956 Date: April 23, 1997 Anita M. Cream, Esq., and Scott M. Heimberg, Esq., Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., and Neal H. Ruchman, for the protester. Curtis Price, Jr., for C. Price & Associates, an intervenor. Jesse E. Lasken, Esq., National Science Foundation, for the agency. Behn Miller, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Contracting offic er's decision to procure complex publications clearinghouse requirement on an unrestricted basis, and not through a small business set-aside, is not an abuse of discretion where the market survey conducted by the agency did not support the expectation that small business concerns could provide the required services at a fair market price. DECISION Ruchman and Associates, Inc. (RAI) protests the decision of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to issue request for proposals (RFP) No. DAS 96041 for a publications clearinghouse on an unrestricted basis. RAI contends that the solicitation should have been issued as a small business set-aside. We deny the protest. Under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 19.502-2(b) (FAC 90-44), a procurement with an anticipated dollar value of more than $100,000, such as the one at issue here, must be set aside for exclusive small business participation when there is a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small business concerns and that award will be made at a fair market price. Unless such a determination can be made, a total small business set-aside should not be issued. FKW Inc., B-249189, Oct. 22, 1992, 92-2 CPD 270, at 2. The use of any particular method of assessing the availability of small businesses is not required so long as the agency undertakes reasonable efforts to locate responsible small business competitors; in this regard, factors that may constitute adequate grounds for not setting aside a procurement include prior procurement history, nature of the contract, market surveys, and/or advice from the agency's technical specialists. Id. 105643

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