Size Appeal Untimely When Procurement was Stayed but Not Cancelled-Be Wary of the Timer Running

By: Christine V. Williams on 03/17/2018

In Size Appeal of Chenega Support Services, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-5874, the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeal (OHA) affirmed an area office finding that a size appeal was untimely for a procurement where the procurement was suspended/stayed but not cancelled.  Appellant, represented by Piliero Mazza, unsuccessfully argued that the agency had undertook a new source selection, during a GAO protest and agency corrective action (even though the agency did not cancel the procurement) and that previous OHA case law was incorrect.  Dismissing this argument, OHA cited a long line of cases that stood in opposition to that assertion and reaffirmed its reasoning that when a procurement award is stayed but not cancelled (in this case due to GAO protest and agency corrective action) the time to file a size protest runs during the stay.  OHA found that its position was not only supported by its own precedence but also by SBA regulations.  For a link to this case, please click here: Chenega Size Appeal