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FAR
14.208: Bidding Time After Amendment |
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Comptroller
General - Key Excerpts |
Turning to the merits of the protest, under
section 14.202-1 of the FAR, contracting agencies are to allow a
reasonable period of time for prospective bidders to prepare and
submit their bids. A bidding time (the time between the issuance
of the solicitation and the opening of bids) of at least 30
calendar days shall be provided. FAR § 14.202-1(a). Further,
when specifications must be changed, agencies are required to
accomplish this by amendment. FAR § 14.208(a). Before issuing an
amendment, contracting officials must consider the period of
time remaining until bid opening and whether there is a need to
extend it. FAR § 14.208(b). Where a protester contends that the
agency allowed insufficient time, we require a showing that the
time allowed was inconsistent with statutory or regulatory
requirements or otherwise unreasonable, or that it precluded
full and open competition. See Coyol International Group,
B‑408982.2, Jan. 24, 2014, 2014 CPD ¶ 40 at 2-3. What
constitutes a reasonable opportunity to respond will depend on
“the circumstances of the particular acquisition, such as
complexity, commerciality, availability, and urgency.” FAR §
5.203(b); see Latvian Connection, LLC, supra, at 5-6 (less than
2 business days prior to revised closing date not sufficient
time to respond).
Here, we conclude that Eastern Forestry was not allowed
sufficient time to submit its bid. The after-hours publication
of amendment No. 2 effectively left Eastern Forestry with only a
very limited, unreasonably short time on the morning of July
30‑‑whether counted from the time of its discovery of amendment
No. 2 on FBO at 9:15 a.m. or from earlier that morning‑‑to amend
its bid as necessary and to deliver the amended bid, in hard
copy and on a CD, to the base contracting office on a secure[4]
military base some distance from its office. In this regard, we
find unpersuasive the Army’s contention that the fact that the
protester was able to email its acknowledgement of amendment No.
2 and attempted to submit its bid by email prior to the
deadline, showed that Eastern Forestry had a reasonable
opportunity to submit its bid after the posting of amendment No.
2 on FBO. AR at 5. As an initial matter, we note that the
protester’s acknowledgment of amendment No. 2 was a two-sentence
email, delivered five minutes before bid opening, and its
efforts to submit its bid by email were unsuccessful,
encountering problems that could not be resolved within the time
available. AR, Tab 7. Neither of these communications serves to
demonstrate that Eastern Forestry had a reasonable opportunity
to deliver a hard copy revised bid, with CD, to the base
contracting office on a secure military base in the limited time
available
The Army also argues that amendment No. 2, which corrected a
“typographical error” in two line items, changing the unit of
measure from “Horsepower days” to “Hours,” did not require
Eastern Forestry to “substantially alter[]” its bid. AR at 7.
Nevertheless, the amendment clearly did require revision of
Eastern Forestry’s bid, and given the requirement for a bidder
to deliver a hard copy revised bid, with CD, to the base
contracting office on a secure military base, the agency failed
to allow a reasonable period of time for prospective bidders to
prepare and submit their revised bids after the posting of the
amendment on FBO. We note in this regard that Eastern Forestry’s
office is in Spring Grove, Virginia, approximately 26 miles by
road from Fort Lee. A commonly-used internet application advises
that the travel time between Spring Grove and Fort Lee, “without
traffic,” is 35 minutes. https://www.google,com/maps.
(Eastern Forestry B-411848: Nov 9,
2015) (pdf) |
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Comptroller
General - Listing of Decisions |
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For
the Government |
For
the Protester |
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Eastern Forestry B-411848: Nov 9,
2015 (pdf) |
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