A solicitation was issued and on the Pricing Schedule the vendor added a line item. To read
17. MISC and gave a price.  This bid should be rejected. The vendor altered the bid. Where is this clause in the FAR, or better yet how would you respond to this?

By Anonymous on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 03:52 pm:

Not necessarily. Is he the apparent low bidder?

By Anonymous on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 04:39 pm:

He was the only bidder. Would you explain why not. Thanks

By joel hoffman on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 11:37 pm:

The FAR does allow you to reject the sole, non-conforming bid and continue the acquisition, using negotiated procedures (See portion of FAR 15.404-1, below).
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"e) Under some circumstances, completion of the acquisition after cancellation of the invitation for bids may be appropriate.

(1) If the invitation for bids has been cancelled for the reasons specified in subparagraphs (c)(6), (7), or (8) of this subsection, and the agency head has authorized, in the determination in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the completion of the acquisition through negotiation, the contracting officer shall proceed in accordance with paragraph (f) of this subsection.

(2) If the invitation for bids has been cancelled for the reasons specified in subparagraphs (c)(1), (2), (4), (5), or (10) of this subsection, or for the reasons in subparagraphs (c)(6), (7), or (8) of this subsection and completion through negotiation is not authorized under subparagraph (e)(1) of this subsection, the contracting officer shall proceed with a new acquisition.

(f) When the agency head has determined, in accordance with paragraph (e)(1) of this subsection, that an invitation for bids should be canceled and that use of negotiation is in the Government's interest, the contracting officer may negotiate (in accordance with Part 15, as appropriate) and make award without issuing a new solicitation provided--

(1) Each responsible bidder in the sealed bid acquisition has been given notice that negotiations will be conducted and has been given an opportunity to participate in negotiations; and

(2) The award is made to the responsible bidder offering the lowest negotiated price. "
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The complication with negotiating with a sole source (offeror) is that you will need cost or pricing data , if the offer exceeds $550,000, and you must use the cost/price negotiation techniques in FAR Part 15. It makes for a lot of work on both parties' part. Sometimes, it may be in the best interest of the project to try to find out 1) why only one bidder responded and 2) why did they qualify their bid? It looks like the solictiation terms might be the problem. You can certainly ask the sole bidder what problems they found in the solicitation to cause them to add a CLIN. You may then decide it would be prudent to cancell, fix and re-advertise for bids.
Happy Sails! joel

By Anonymous on Thursday, May 31, 2001 - 09:53 am:

Thanks Joel, for the information. I am a beginner and I need a lot of help. Other than the FAR (which I find to be very confusing at times) is there any other material I could use to become more familiar with the process of procurement?

By joel hoffman on Thursday, May 31, 2001 - 03:40 pm:

Anon, there are numerous sources, and I hope everyone chips in, here.

Some good ones are:

"Formation of Government Contracts" by Nash and Cibinic

"Administration of Government Contracts" by Nash and Cibinic (The Bible for Contract Admin)

"Nash and Cibinic Reports" Monthly Periodical

GAO Homepage will take you to the Protests page. New Protests are posted several times a week.

Your agency may have a Board of Appeals Home Page, like the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. There is an ASBCA Home Page with all published decisions - updated regularly

There are several other good periodicals, such as The Government Contractor and Construction Contractor Claims Monthly.

Check out all the links at the Wifcon Homepage. They are excellent!
Chime in everyone! Happy Sails!

By Harley Hartley on Wednesday, June 13, 2001 - 11:36 am:

Did your solicitation include FAR 52.214-10? If so, you may be able to accept the bid for the first 16 items without accepting the bidder's item 17 unless the bidder included an "all or none" qualification. Your attorney should be able to advise you regarding wisdom of trying this approach.

By Anonymous on Wednesday, June 13, 2001 - 12:14 pm:

TO HH fr anon 352
That was exactly what I was thinking when I responded.