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![handle is hein.gao/gaocrptapna0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
G A 0 Comptroller General
SIntegrity * Reliability of the United States
~ccountabthty Inert Rea iy
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
Decision
Matter of: Terra Surveys
File: B-294015
Date: August 4, 2004
Larry M. Whiting for the protester.
Lynn W. Flanagan, Esq., Department of Commerce, and Thedlus L. Thompson, Esq.,
General Services Administration, for the agencies.
Susan K. McAuliffe, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General
Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST
Protest of agency's failure to conduct procurement for upgrade of national water
level observation network under specialized procedures of the Brooks Act for
procurement of architectural-engineering services is denied where protester fails to
demonstrate that Act is applicable to required services.
DECISION
Terra Surveys protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. NCNT0000-4-
00014, issued by the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), for water level monitoring modernization services in
Alaska. Terra challenges the agency's intended procurement of the services under a
General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), arguing that
the services are architectural and engineering (A-E) in nature, and the agency thus
must procure them under the specialized procedures prescribed by the Brooks Act,
40 U.S.C. §§ 1101-1104 (2000).'
1 The Brooks Act requires federal agencies to select contractors for A-E work on the
basis of demonstrated technical competence and qualifications; the procedures do
not include price competition. Rather, under Brooks Act procedures, once a firm is
selected as the most highly qualified to provide the services, the agency is to
negotiate a contract at a fair and reasonable level of compensation. The Brooks Act
defines A-E services as, among other things, professional services of an A-E nature
required by state law to be performed by a professional certified to perform the
services, as well as other professional services of an [A-E] nature, or incidental
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