SDVOSBs participating in the VA’s Veterans First Contracting Program are required to maintain a Vendor Information Page (“VIP”) profile which contains a significant amount of information about the company, such as ownership structure, financial data, and capabilities. Making sure this information is current and accurate is critical to your verified SDVOSB status, as a recent OHA decision demonstrates.
In CVE Appeal of Supreme Cleaning, Inc., SBA No. CVE-114 (2019), the appellant, Supreme Cleaning, Inc. ("Supreme Cleaning"), appealed the VA Center for Verification and Evaluation's ("CVE") denial of its recertification in the VIP database of eligible SDVOSBs. The denial was based on a determination by CVE that the veteran owner, who had ultimate managerial and supervisory control over the company, did not possess the state-required license necessary to supervise engineering and architectural services. And, because Supreme Cleaning's VIP profile included both engineering and architectural services NAICS codes, CVE denied Supreme Cleaning's application to the VIP database.
On appeal, Supreme Cleaning argued that it had previously certified under the engineering and architectural NAICS codes but had been teaming with a licensed architectural company at the time. And, once that teaming arrangement ended, it removed the engineering and architectural NAICS codes from its SAM profile. OHA upheld CVE’s denial decision stating, "the issue here is with appellant's CVE VIP profile, not Appellant's SAM profile," and Supreme Cleaning never updated its VIP profile to remove the engineering and architectural NAICS codes. As such, OHA found that it was reasonable for CVE to conclude that the veteran owner could not legally supervise the work Supreme Cleaning's registration stated it would perform based on its VIP profile.
To be eligible for VA SDVOSB set-aside contracts, a company must have a visible VIP profile both at the time of offer and time of award. Stale information can lead to an otherwise eligible company falling out of the VIP database. Therefore, it is important for SDVOSBs to conduct a regular review of their VIP profile and make any necessary changes.
