Protest Concerning Cancellation of Invitation For Bids

The second low bidder protested the cancellation of an invitation for bids (IFB) and the reprocurement of the identical requirement under another IFB. The contracting officer cancelled the original IFB because the low bidder failed to submit the required bid bonds, making it nonresponsive, and the second low bidder exceeded the Government's estimate by 72 percent. The bids received under the resolicitation were greatly in excess of the Government's estimate, but the regional engineer for the contracting activity reviewed the estimate and recommended award to the low bidder under the resolicitation. Upon receiving the bids under the resolicitation, the contracting officer determined that the Government's estimate was too low. The contracting officer's decision to cancel the original IFB was reasonable. The fact that the recompetition did not result in substantially lower prices than those obtained in the original solicitation had no bearing on the propriety of the original cancellation. Accordingly, the protest was denied.