Quantech Services, Inc. (B-422624.10)

You should not care.

Category: Professional compensation plan, price realism

Date: 5 June 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422624.10

Quantech Services, Inc., protested GSA’s issuance of a task order to Credence Management Solutions, LLC, under a solicitation for command staff support services for the US Space Force, Space Systems Command, challenging the reasonableness of the agency’s evaluation of Credence’s professional employee compensation plan under FAR 52.222-46. Specifically, Quantech argued GSA failed to properly evaluate whether Credence’s proposed compensation was unrealistically low or inferior to incumbent compensation, potentially risking continuity of services.

The procurement involved the consolidation of five legacy task orders into a new requirement under OASIS Small Business Pool 5B, awarding on a best-value basis. A prior protest led GSA to take corrective action, reevaluate cost proposals—including compensation plans—and reaffirm the prior award to Credence. Quantech then protested again, focusing on alleged flaws in GSA's evaluation of the professional compensation plan.

Quantech argued the agency should have compared Credence’s proposed compensation to incumbent rates, as instructed by FAR 52.222-46 for follow-on procurements. GAO agreed with the agency that, due to the consolidation and expansion of requirements, this was not a direct recompetition for “essentially the same professional work.” Thus, a comparison with incumbent rates was not mandatory, and the agency’s conclusion that it was a new requirement was found reasonable.

Quantech additionally asserted the agency’s realism assessment was inadequate. GAO found GSA’s methodology—benchmarking labor rates against Bureau of Labor Statistics data, performing impact analyses on low rates, comparing fringe rates (supported by DCAA approval), and incorporating technical evaluation strengths regarding recruitment and retention—to be reasonable, consistent with the solicitation, and compliant with FAR 52.222-46.

The protest was denied. GAO found the agency’s evaluation reasonable, with no requirement to directly compare to predecessor compensation in the context of a consolidated, restructured requirement.

Digest

Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s professional employee compensation plan is denied because the record demonstrates that the agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation and the requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulation provision 52.222-46.