The Navy's Award of a Contract for Appraisal Services

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a Navy contract award for professional forester appraisal services.

GAO found that a firm had requested and been refused an opportunity to submit a proposal for this solicitation. The refusal was based on the fact that the Navy used a rotating bidders list system to select which contractors would be solicited; under this system, solicitations are not sent to firms other than those on the original list. Further, the Navy stated that the firm in question had received an earlier contract for similar services, and Navy policy is to spread work among qualified appraisers. GAO has held that using rotating lists of potential bidders is proper if the agency strictly adheres to the requirement of placing a synopsis of all proposed procurements over $10,000 in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD). In addition, it has held that procuring agencies must provide a copy of the solicitation to potential offerers, upon request, and must consider proposals submitted by all offerers on the prequalified lists. GAO found that the firm in question was on the Navy's qualified appraisers list. Therefore, it should not have been denied the solicitation or consideration of its proposal. In addition, GAO found that the Navy did not publish the proposed procurement in CBD as required by Defense Acquisition Regulations. The Navy has concurred with GAO suggestions to correct the aforementioned problems.