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Caddell Constr. Co. v. United States

Caddell Constr. Co. v. United States

United States Court of Federal Claims

April 30, 2013, Filed

No. 13-20C

Opinion

 [*53]  REDACTED OPINION

HORN, J.

Plaintiff Caddell Construction Co., Inc. (Caddell) filed a post-award bid protest in this court on January 10, 2013, challenging the United States Department of State's award of a $156 million  [**2] contract to intervenor Desbuild Incorporated-REC International Joint Venture (Desbuild-REC) for the construction of a new annex building at the United States Embassy in Moscow, Russia, pursuant to Solicitation No. SAQMMA-12-R-0117 (the Solicitation). Plaintiff alleges that, but for defendant's arbitrary and capricious evaluation of the proposals and violation of statutes and regulations in awarding the construction project to Desbuild-REC, Caddell would have been evaluated as the lowest-priced, technically acceptable offeror. Plaintiff seeks permanent injunctive relief, as well as damages, including bid preparation and proposal costs. The parties have filed, and fully briefed, cross-motions for judgment on the administrative record, and oral argument was held.

FINDINGS OF FACT

On January 31, 2012, defendant issued a "Notice of Solicitation of Submissions for Construction of the New Annex Office Building at U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia," (Pre-qualification Notice) 2 via a posting on FedBizOpps. 3 The Pre-qualification Notice explained that defendant was requesting submissions to pre-qualify offerors to construct an annex office building within the United States Embassy compound in Moscow.  [**3] The Pre-qualification Notice indicated that "[t]he project solicitation will consist of two phases:" 1) Pre-Qualification of Offerors, and 2) Requests for Proposals from Pre-Qualified Offerors. In Phase I, defendant would determine which offerors pre-qualified for the contract, then, those firms which had pre-qualified would be invited to submit a Phase II proposal. The Pre-qualification Notice also stated:

DOS [Department of State] anticipates that a tradeoff process (see FAR 15.101-1) is in the best interest of the Government. The Government will consider award to other than the lowest price offer or other than the highest technically rated offer. DOS anticipates that evaluation of technical and past performance considerations will play a significant role in the selection process.

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111 Fed. Cl. 49 *; 2013 U.S. Claims LEXIS 475 **

CADDELL CONSTRUCTION CO., INC., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant, DESBUILD INCORPORATED—REC INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURE, Defendant- Intervenor.

Subsequent History:  [**1] Redacted Version Issued for Publication: May 22, 2013. 1

CORE TERMS

redacted, Percy Amendment, Phase, offerors, Pre-qualification, procurement, Recommendation, protest, proposals, contract award, Solicitation, projects, pre-qualified, joint venture, contracting, rated, Notice, bid, firms, decisions, eligibility, contractor, qualify, documentation, Certification, reversal, intervenor, partner, Subfactor, trade-off

Civil Procedure, Justiciability, Standing, General Overview, Public Contracts Law, Dispute Resolution, Bid Protests, Governments, Courts, Courts of Claims, Administrative Law, Judicial Review, Standards of Review, Arbitrary & Capricious Standard of Review, Evidence, Burdens of Proof, Preponderance of Evidence, Bids & Formation, Authority of Government Officers, Contracting Officers, Presumptions, Particular Presumptions, Regularity, Administrative Record, Offer & Acceptance, Acceptances & Awards, Injunctions, Grounds for Injunctions, Remedies, Permanent Injunctions, Irreparable Harm, Balance of Hardships, Public Interest