Pond Security Service GmbH (B-423444; B-423444.2)

You should care.

Category: Technical evaluation, best value tradeoff

Date: 16 July 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423444%2Cb-423444.2

Pond, the incumbent, protested the Department of State’s local guard services award in Germany to Putz, arguing misevaluation and a flawed tradeoff. GAO denied the protest. The record showed State reasonably rated proposals and that any errors did not prejudice Pond. A key discriminator was transition: Putz secured the same CZ‑75 BD pistol, materially identical to the incumbent CZ‑75 BD Police, avoiding a forty‑hour firearms retraining burden for incumbents, resulting in a much shorter transition. State also reasonably viewed Pond’s added staff and equipment beyond RFP requirements as cost‑risk without commensurate benefit. Putz also had a roughly 30 percent price advantage.

• Transition and weapons platform: State reasonably treated CZ‑75 BD as materially identical to the incumbent model; no extra firearms training required. This allowed Putz to shorten ramp‑up while maintaining guard readiness, a concrete performance benefit that outweighed Pond’s incumbency.
• Excess staffing/equipment: Pond’s excess staffing increased cost risk and did not clearly improve performance. As the RFP emphasized efficiency tied to defined needs, layering nonrequired roles and kit was seen as added cost without measurable gain.
• Past performance: Any dispute over Putz relevancy would not change outcome given transition advantage and price. Even if downgraded to neutral, Putz’s technical and price position still demonstrated best value.

Protest denied. Putz’s lower price and stronger transition justified award.

Digest

Protest challenging various aspects of the agency's evaluation and award decision is denied where the record shows that the agency's evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation or, to the extent the agency committed any errors, such errors did not competitively prejudice the protester.