SBA backs protest over facility clearance requirement for joint ventures
By
Nick Wakeman
The Small Business Administration supported a protestor after the Air Force tried to add extra security requirements into a joint venture that company was forming.
When the Small Business Administration weighs in and says that an agency misunderstands its regulations, we can be fairly certain that company’s bid protest will prevail.
That’s what happened to InfoPoint LLC, which protested provisions in an Air Force contract for command and control support services.
The Air Force required all joint ventures competing for the award meet certain secret facility clearance requirements on their own. Even when all the members of the JV met those requirements on an individual basis.
From the Air Force's perspective, the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required it.
But InfoPoint objected, citing provisions of the Small Business Act and SBA regulations in their protest with the Government Accountability Office. GAO then invited SBA to weigh in.
The Air Force said that there was nothing in the law or the regulations that prohibited the requirement that the JV meet the security requirements. But SBA countered by quoting the law and the regulations back to the Air Force.
It appears to be an easy decision for GAO, because the regulations were pretty explicit. If all members of a joint venture have already attained and meet secret facility clearance requirements, there is no need for the joint venture to go through the same process. It’s pretty straightforward.
GAO has told the Air Force to remove that requirement from the solicitation, which is for a five-year task order under the OASIS vehicle. The Air Force is looking to buy support services for command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.