The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a bid protest PilieroMazza brought on behalf of J2A² Joint Venture, LLC (J2A²).  The protest, which challenged the Department of Veterans Affairs’ award of a construction contract to another offeror, was upheld because GAO found that the agency’s evaluation had been unreasonable and improper.

The protest centered on the terms of the Request for Proposals (RFP), which included a “corporate experience” factor calling for the general contractor to possess at least five years of experience.  Despite this black-and-white requirement, the agency made award to a contractor with less than two years of experience.  PilieroMazza argued that the agency had violated the RFP’s evaluation scheme by making award to an insufficiently experienced offeror. 

The GAO agreed with the protest, writing in its decision that because the awardee had been in business for less than two years, it “does not have 5 years of experience as a general contractor.”  Accordingly, “the contracting officer could not reasonably conclude” that the awardee satisfied the RFP’s experience requirements.