Alleged Mistake in Bid

A firm requested cancellation of some items under a Department of Defense contract. The protester contended that it had made an error in its bid for the items and that it would suffer a loss if required to provide the items as required by the contract. It contended that the contracting officer should have been on constructive notice of the error. GAO has held that it would grant relief when a mistake in bid was alleged after contract award only if the mistake was mutual or if the contracting officer had actual or constructive notice of the error prior to contract award. In this case, the record indicated that the difference in price between the protester's bid and the second lower bid was insufficently great to conclude that the contracting officer should have been on constructive notice of a possible error. Therefore, it was held that acceptance of the bids consummated a valid and binding contract. Accordingly, the request for cancellation was denied.