Request for Relief From Mistake in Bid

The contractor requested relief in the form of deletion from its surplus sales contract of an item for which it alleged a mistaken bid after award of the contract. Because the erroneous bid was more than eight times the current market appraisal, more than 100 times the only other bid for the item, and out of sequence with the other bids submitted by that bidder, there was clear and convincing evidence of a mistake in bid. Since the contracting officer should have detected the mistake and requested verification, there was no objection to the administrative recommendation for rescission of that part of the contract.