Protest of Proposal Rejection

A messenger-delivered proposal was rejected by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare because the proposal was received 68 minutes after the time set for receipt of proposals on February 22, 1979. The bidder, protesting that unusually severe weather conditions and a holiday had disrupted the normal flow of business, requested that the late proposal be considered for award. The protest was denied. Consideration of late proposals may be permitted only in the exact circumstances provided for in the solicitation; in this case, the solicitation contained no provision for acceptance of a late proposal resulting from unanticipated causes.