Richard Group, LLC (B-422701.2)

You should care.

Category: SDVOSB, size status

Date: 18 September 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422701.2

Richard Group, of Chicago, protests its exclusion from the competition and the award of a contract to Billy W. Jarrett Construction for construction of a VA replacement outpatient clinic at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. The solicitation was originally issued as a full and open competition but was amended to a service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside after a prior protest. Richard Group, which was a certified SDVOSB when it submitted its initial proposal in 2024, concedes it became a large business as of 1 January 2025. The firm argues its eligibility for award should be determined solely at the time of proposal submission.

GAO found VAAR clause 852.219-73 unambiguously requires a vendor to be a certified SDVOSB "at the time of submission of offer(s) and at the time of award." The VA awarded the contract to Jarrett on 12 June 2025. Richard Group's own System for Award Management representations confirmed it was no longer a small business. GAO rejected the protester's argument that SBA regulations—which generally determine size status at the time of initial offer—supersede the VAAR, noting that the clause expressly provides that the Veterans First Contracting Program takes precedence over inconsistent SBA regulations. Interpreting the VAAR to require eligibility only at proposal submission would render superfluous the clause's explicit reference to eligibility "at the time of award."

The protest is denied. The decision is a clear reminder to SDVOSBs competing for VA set-asides under the Veterans First Contracting Program: eligibility is measured at both proposal submission and contract award. Firms approaching size thresholds should factor anticipated procurement timelines into their bid decisions.

Digest

Protest challenging protester's elimination from the competition is denied where the protester was not a certified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses at the time of award, as required by the solicitation.