Patent ambiguities present in the solicitation for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity procurement must be protested prior to the close of proposal submission for the base contract—waiting to protest at the task order level may be too late.

A recent GAO decision shows that when an IDIQ solicitation contains an obvious ambiguity, the rule is “speak now or forever hold your peace.” By the time task order competitions get rolling, the chance to protest will likely be gone.

In Draeger, Inc., B-414938, __ CPD ¶ __ (Comp. Gen. Sept. 21, 2017), the Defense Logistics Agency was conducting an IDIQ procurement for various medical monitoring devises, including anesthesia monitoring systems. The base contract was originally awarded in 2007, but provided an open season at the end of each contract period where DLA would consider products from new offerors.

Draeger was awarded a base contract during the 2013 open season. Before submitting its proposal, Draeger expressed uncertainty as to whether it had the capacity to provide anesthesia equipment to meet the agency’s needs due to ambiguities in the RFP. Nevertheless, Draeger was awarded a base contract and later received task order awards.

On July 12, 2016, DLA issued a new task order to offerors for anesthesia machines. After reviewing proposals from offerors, including GE and Draegar, DLA awarded the task order to GE. Draeger filed a GAO bid protest challenging the award.

Draeger alleged the task order was outside the scope of the IDIQ Base Contract. According to Draeger, an anesthesia monitor is different from an anesthesia machine. Since the base contract did not expressly mention anesthesia machines, Draeger alleged that the DLA could not order those machines off the Base Contract.

GAO dismissed Draeger’s protest as untimely. Under 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a), “[p]rotests based upon alleged improprieties in a solicitation which are apparent prior to bid opening or the time set for receipt of initial proposals shall be filed prior to bid opening or the time set for receipt of initial proposals.” In the unique context of open season contracts that reopen based on contract amendments, GAO explained that “a protest based upon alleged improprieties apparent on the face of the solicitation must be filed no later than the time set for receipt of proposals under the amendment.”

According to GAO, Draeger identified ambiguities regarding the anesthesia equipment in the RFP for the Base Contract; therefore, it should have protested the alleged ambiguities prior to the close of proposals for the Base Contract. GAO was particularly unimpressed with Draeger’s arguments because Draeger had previously received task order awards under the RFP for anesthesia machines. Accordingly, GAO concluded that “Draeger should have protested any apparent ambiguity regarding the type of anesthesia equipment contemplated under the ID/IQ RFP, prior to the January 6, 2014, deadline . . . for submission of proposals for the 2013 open season.”

GAO’s decision in Draeger is a cautionary tale to offerors—if there are ambiguities apparent on the face of an IDIQ RFP, the proper time to challenge those ambiguities is prior to proposal submission for the base contract. Challenges at the task order level regarding patent ambiguities present in the RFP for the base contract will likely be untimely.