Federal procurement rules provide an inherent incentive for agencies to maximize their use of supply schedule or simplified acquisition procedures, streamlined purchases that are generally exempt from many of the rules covering negotiated procurements.  Negotiated procurements (those covered by FAR Part 15) can be time-consuming and process-heavy.  Sometimes, agencies will issue task order requests for proposals under multiple-award contracts that are outside the scope of the original procurement and thus unfairly limit competition.    

In one new decision issued this March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest in which a potential offeror challenged the Army’s use of task order requests for proposals under multiple ID/IQ contracts for the supply of materially different services than originally procured.    

DynCorp International protested the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command’s decision to issue two task order RFPs (TORPs) under multiple indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts held by several competitor companies.  The ID/IQ contracts were limited to providing counter-narcoterrorism support services worldwide.  The ID/IQ support services specifically covered technology development and application of new counterdrug technologies, and related training, operations and logistics for the Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and partner nations in counterdrug activities.   

By contrast, through the task orders, the Army sought to acquire mentoring, training, facilities, and logistics support services for the Ministry of the Interior and Afghan National Police in general law enforcement and counter-insurgency activities.  Neither of the task orders contemplated activities specifically related to counterdrug technologies or support services.  Sustaining the protest, the GAO determined that the scope of work under the TORPS was not reasonably contemplated under the ID/IQ contracts, and was thus outside the scope of the underlying multiple-award contract.   

The GAO is authorized to hear protests of task orders issued under multiple-award contracts (or protests of the solicitations for those task orders) over $10 million, or where the task order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract under which the order is issued.  Tasks orders that materially differ from the original procurement may be improper, such as when a task order changes the type of work, the performance period, and the costs between the contract as awarded and as modified by the task order.  In addition, the GAO will consider whether the original contract solicitation adequately advised offerors of the potential for the type of task order issued. 

The GAO’s decision is docketed as In re DynCorp International, LLC, B-402349, March 15, 2010. 

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