Loch Harbour Group, Inc. (B-423384.2)

You should not care.

Categories: Compliance, Multiple Award Schedule

Date: 12 September 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423384.2

Loch Harbour Group, of Fairfax, Virginia, protests its elimination from a competition under an RFQ issued by the Defense Logistics Agency for application deployment and maintenance support for the DLA Enterprise Platform. The RFQ, issued under the GSA Multiple Award Schedules using FAR subpart 8.4 procedures, contemplated a blanket purchase agreement for IT services set aside for small businesses. After corrective action from a prior protest challenging Loch Harbors eligibility, DLA sought revised quotations and asked Loch Harbour to include its GSA schedule—a material solicitation requirement. Loch Harbour failed to submit it by the deadline.

GSA Schedule requirement: GAO found the requirement clearly stated and material. The agency required submission of Schedule catalogs to verify proposed labor rates did not exceed GSA rates. Loch Harbour argued the agency could have accessed its catalog through GSA's eLibrary, but GAO held that vendors bear the burden of compliance and agencies are not required to search for omitted information.

Price disclosure: Loch Harbour also alleged the agency improperly disclosed its price before seeking revised quotations, but GAO found no prejudice because the firm's quotation was already ineligible.

The protest is denied.

Digest

Protest challenging elimination from award is denied where agency reasonably found protester's quotation failed to comply with a material solicitation requirement.