Tag Archives: solicitation terms

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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Contractor Improperly Downgraded for Lack of Agency-Specific Experience, Says GAO

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A contractor bidding on a U.S. Department of State contract was improperly downgraded for failing to possess direct experience working with DOS, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

The GAO’s decision in Exelis Systems Corporation,  B-407111; B-407111.2; B-407111.3; B-407111.4 (Nov. 13, 2012) is notable because it is not unusual for procuring agencies to consider agency-specific experience as part of a past performance and/or experience evaluation.  According to Exelis Systems Corporation, such considerations may be deemed improper, unless they are spelled out in (or can be reasonably inferred from) the solicitation.

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GAO: Required Proposal Information Cannot Be Provided Post-Award

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“We’ll tell you how we’ll manage the contract–after you award it to us.”

That, in essence, appeared to be the position taken by one contractor recently in response to a Department of Defense solicitation.  The contractor in question failed to provide an operations and management plan required by the solicitation, pledging to provide it after award.  Not surprisingly, the agency assigned the contractor an “unacceptable” score.  And equally unsurprising, the GAO denied the contractor’s bid protest.

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Contractor Alters Agency’s Pricing Table, Gets Bounced From Competition

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During the NFL’s recent replacement referee debacle, the rules of the game sometimes seemed to be in flux.  San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh, for instance, convinced the replacement refs to give him two extra challenges by playing dumb about how the challenge process works.  But with the “real” referees back on the field, NFL teams now know that they once again need to play by the rules.

When it comes to proposals, contractors, too, need to play by the rules.  An agency solicitation sets forth the ground rules of the competition, and varying from those stated rules can result in an unacceptable offer–as one contractor recently discovered when it attempted to amend the solicitation’s pricing table.

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GAO: Post-Award Modifications Unfair; Protest Sustained

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An agency cannot make material changes to a solicitation after selecting a contractor for award without going back and giving all offerors the opportunity to compete on the revised solicitation.  In Diebold, Inc., B-404823 (June 2, 2011), the GAO sustained a bid protest because the agency failed to allow the protester to compete on the revised solicitation.

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GAO Sustains Another “Unreasonably Restrictive Solicitation” Bid Protest

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If a government solicitation contains a term that is unreasonably restrictive of competition, you may be able to successfully protest the matter to the GAO, which has sustained a number of such bid protests.  The GAO’s decision in Missouri Machinery & Engineering Co., B-403561 (Nov. 18, 2010) is a good example of a successful GAO bid protest based on an unreasonably restrictive solicitation term.

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GAO: Oral Advice Doesn’t Alter Solicitation Terms

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In negotiated procurements, contractors sometimes enter into discussions with agency representatives.  But contractors must understand that oral discussions don’t trump a solicitation’s terms.  If a government solicitation includes clear and specific requirements, the agency’s subsequent oral advice to the contrary doesn’t waive or alter the solicitation–a rule confirmed, to one contractor’s detriment, in a recent GAO bid protest decision.

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