Tag Archives: GAO bid protests

GAO: Proposal Deadline Need Not Be Extended If Solicitation Amended

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The GAO has held that the deadline for offerors to submit proposals need not be extended when an agency issues an amendment to the solicitation, unless the failure to extend adversely affects competition or was a deliberate attempt to exclude an offeror.

In a recent GAO bid protest decision, the GAO rejected the protester’s contention that the agency should have extended the proposal deadline to allow offerors more time to respond to two amendments–which were issued three days and one day, respectively, before the proposal due date.

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GAO: Agency Failed To Identify Proposal Weaknesses In Discussions

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A procuring agency failed to conduct meaningful discussions where it merely asked a contractor to clarify its understanding of a certain portion of the solicitation, rather than informing the contractor of specific proposal weaknesses relating to that same portion of the solicitation.

The GAO’s bid protest decision in Nexant, Inc., B-407708, B-407708.2 (Jan. 30, 2013) demonstrates that when an agency has identified specific weaknesses in a contractor’s proposal, discussions must be sufficiently detailed to enable the contractor to understand the agency’s concern and have the opportunity to improve its proposal.

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GAO Bid Protest Jurisdiction And Contract Modifications

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The GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction typically does not extend to reviews of contract modifications.

In a recent GAO bid protest decision, Cornische Aviation & Maintenance, LTD, B-405013.4 (Jan. 25, 2013), the GAO held that the protester’s allegations regarding a contract modification were not within the scope of the GAO’s bid protest function.  The Cornische Aviation GAO bid protest decision demonstrates the GAO’s limited ability (or willingness, depending on one’s point of view) to decide bid protests involving contract modifications.

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GAO: Task Order Discussions Must Identify Weaknesses

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An agency must identify weaknesses or deficiencies in an offeror’s proposal when the agency conducts discussions as part of a task order competition, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

In Mission Essential Personnel, LLC, B-407474, B-407493 (Jan. 7, 2013), the GAO held that a procuring agency erred by failing to inform an offeror of two weaknesses or deficiencies in its proposal.  The GAO concluded that discussions must include this information even when the procurement is a task order competition conducted under FAR part 16.

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GAO Task Order Jurisdiction: “Scope” Exception Is Narrow

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As I have previously written, the GAO lacks authority to hear bid protests of task orders valued at less than $10 million, except if the protester can show that the order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the contract against which the order was issued.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that the “scope” exception applies only if the task order changes the underlying scope of work–denying the protester’s argument that any task order that is not evaluated in accordance with the contract’s requirements necessarily goes beyond the contract’s scope.

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GAO: Low Price Not Evidence of Technical Unacceptability

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An awardee’s low price, by itself, is not evidence that the awardee cannot meet the solicitation’s technical requirements, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

In Midwest Tube Fabricators, Inc., B-407166, B-407167 (Nov. 20, 2012), the protester argued that the awardee could not meet the solicitation’s requirements at the awarded price.  The GAO dismissed the protest, holding that the protester’s allegation did not present a valid basis of protest.

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GAO Bid Protests Rise 5% In FY 2012

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Contractors filed 2,475 GAO bid protests in Fiscal Year 2012, a five percent increase from the prior year, according to the GAO’s annual bid protest report to Congress.  The GAO’s annual report indicated that “sustain” decisions were up slightly from the prior year, while the overall “effectiveness rate” of protests–a combination of sustain decisions and agency corrective actions–held steady at 42%.

Meanwhile, the VA was the only procuring agency to ignore GAO recommendations–something the VA did repeatedly in the Aldevra line of cases.

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