Category Archives: GAO Bid Protests

GAO bid protest decisions, commentary on GAO bid protest regulations, and related topics.

Bond Mistake Sinks Contractor’s Bid

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Check your bid bonds, then check them again–especially if you are bidding on multiple procurements at the same time.

That’s the lesson to be learned from a recent GAO bid protest decision, in which a contractor’s bid was rejected because its bid bond referenced the wrong solicitation number and bid opening date.  Reading between the lines, it seems that a simple mistake occurred, confusing the solicitation with another procurement.  But assuming that to be the case, the simple mistake (and the contractor’s failure to catch it) cost the contractor an award.

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SDVOSB Set-Asides: VA Properly Limited Market Research By Region, Says GAO

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs properly limited its SDVOSB market research to firms located in the geographic area where the contract would be performed, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

In an era in which many contractors bid on procurements nationally, the GAO’s rationale is debatable–but should serve as a reminder that SDVOSBs cannot take VA set-asides for granted, even when the VA does not use the Federal Supply Schedule.

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GAO: “5-7 Days” Is Not “7 Days”

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“What a Difference a Day Makes,” goes the classic song.

For one contractor, a day–or rather, two days–made a  big difference in its proposal evaluation.  Although the solicitation called for offerors to save laboratory specimens for 7 days, the offeror’s proposal stated that it saves specimens “5-7 days.”  Not surprisingly, the GAO found that the procuring agency properly assigned the offeror a weakness.

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GAO: Agency Reasonably Required Resumes, Signed Employment Letters

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How easy would be for you to obtain resumes and signed letters of intent from your competitor’s employees?

If you answered “not very,” you’re not alone.  A small business contractor, Maritime Institute Inc., recently protested the terms of a Navy solicitation, complaining that the solicitation unreasonably forced Maritime to obtain resumes and signed commitment letters from prospective employees, including any incumbent personnel Maritime intended to hire.  According to the GAO, however, the Navy’s requirement was perfectly reasonable–notwithstanding any competitive advantage to the incumbent.

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GAO: Agency Properly Upped Contractor’s Proposed Labor Rates

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Here’s hoping that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of relaxation, family time, football and lots of food.

For one Arizona contractor, the holiday was a little less festive this year, after the contractor lost out on a Navy cost-reimbursement contract–in part because the Navy unilaterally upped some of the contractor’s proposed labor rates.  The GAO found nothing wrong with the agency’s decision, holding that the Navy reasonably determined that the contractor’s proposed labor rates were unrealistically low.

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GAO: Agencies Have Broad Discretion On Conducting Discussions

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I don’t have a tag for “bad grounds for a GAO bid protest,” but if I did, challenging an agency’s decision not to conduct discussions would fall in that category–at least (as is typically the case), when the solicitation does not state that discussions will be conducted.

This issue comes up often enough in GAO bid protest decisions (with the same predictable result nearly every time) that it’s worth taking a quick look at one such recent case in which this particular issue arose.

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GAO: Protester’s “Scant” Past Performance Descriptions Justified Low Score

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If your high school teacher or college professor had asked you to compose an essay up to five pages in length, would you expect an “A” for writing a single paragraph?

Probably not, and the same principle applies when it comes to proposals.  In a recent GAO bid protest decision, the agency gave contractors up to five pages to describe each past performance reference.  Not surprisingly, the GAO held that it was reasonable for the procuring agency to downgrade an offeror’s past performance score when that offeror only provided a one-paragraph write-up of each project.

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