Fidelity Contract Flooring, LLC (B-423730)

You should not care.

Categories: SAM, small business, NAICS code, Veterans First

Date: 30 September 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423730

Fidelity Contract Flooring, an SDVOSB, challenges the VA's award of a contract to VA-TRAK for vinyl flooring materials. Fidelity argues VA-TRAK was ineligible because its SAM profile did not list the solicitation's NAICS code (326199, All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing). The RFQ was set aside for SDVOSBs under the Veterans First Contracting Program.

GAO denied this ground, consistent with its prior decisions in S4, Inc. (B-299817) and HPC Solutions (B-409736.2). Neither the VAAR nor the solicitation conditions eligibility on whether a specific NAICS code appears in a vendor's SAM profile. VAAR clause 852.219-73 requires the firm to qualify as a small business under the size standard corresponding to the solicitation's NAICS code and be listed in the SBA certification database. The contracting officer confirmed VA-TRAK was a certified SDVOSB and had represented fewer than 750 employees—well under the applicable size standard.

Fidelity's separate argument that VA-TRAK could not comply with the nonmanufacturer rule was raised for the first time in comments and dismissed as untimely, as it relied on publicly available information the protester should have known within 10 days of learning of the award.

The protest is dismissed in part and denied in part.

Digest

Protest that awardee was ineligible for award because its System for Award Management record did not list the solicitation's North American Industry Classification System code is denied where record shows the contracting officer reasonably determined that the awardee was eligible under the solicitation.