What are the common reasons for an agency-level protest to be denied?

Agency-level protests are often denied when the protestor does not clearly demonstrate a violation of procurement law or regulation, or when the agency's decision is found to be reasonable. A common pitfall is failing to articulate how the agency's actions violated a specific FAR part or a term of the solicitation. For your situation, arguing the independent government estimate (IGE) was flawed requires showing the agency's price analysis was unreasonable, not just that your price was higher.

Ensure your protest explicitly references the solicitation, the NAICS code, and the specific sections of the FAR you believe were violated. For example, if you believe the price evaluation was unreasonable, you would refer to FAR 15.404, which covers proposal analysis. The agency will review the entire procurement record to determine if their contracting officer's decision was well-documented and consistent with the solicitation's evaluation criteria. You must also file your protest no later than 10 days after the basis of protest is known or should have been known, as per FAR 33.103(e).