QED Systems, LLC (B-423634)

You should not care.

Categories: Small business participation, proposal requirements, compliance

Date: 16 September 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-423634

QED Systems, a small business, protests its elimination from a competition under a solicitation issued by the Army for support services under the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services IDIQ contract. The solicitation evaluated quotations in two parts: part 1 assessed gateway criteria and a small business participation plan on an acceptable/unacceptable basis; part 2 consisted of oral technical presentations. The solicitation warned that incomplete quotations would not be considered and that vendors rated unacceptable in part 1 would not proceed.

QED concedes it failed to submit the required small business participation plan. The firm argues the agency should have credited information about small business subcontractors contained in its cost narrative. GAO disagreed. The solicitation explicitly stated the agency would not evaluate cost quotations for firms rated unacceptable in part 1. Agencies evaluating one section of a quotation are not required to search other sections for information a vendor failed to provide where required.

The protest is denied.

Digest

Protest challenging protester's elimination from the competition is denied where agency reasonably found protester's proposal unacceptable for failing to comply with solicitation requirement.