Protest of IFB Cancellation

A firm protested the proposed cancellation of a General Services Administration (GSA) invitation for bids (IFB). The solicitation was to be canceled because of an ambiguity with respect to the required minimum bid acceptance period. Award of the 93 bid items was to be made on an item-by-item basis. Page 1 of the solicitation advised bidders that the bid acceptance period would be 60 calendar days from bid opening unless the bidder inserted a different period in the space provided. However, a clause on page 4 stated that bids offering acceptance periods of less than 90 days after bid opening would be rejected as nonresponsive. The provisions were not cross-referenced so that a bidder would be aware that leaving blank the acceptance period on page 1 or inserting a period shorter than 90 days would cause the rejection of a bid. GSA contended that the determination to cancel the IFB was proper in that it was founded on a previous GAO decision involving identical bid acceptance provisions which were not cross-referenced. In that case, GAO recommended that the solicitations under which award had not been made be canceled and the procurements resolicited with clear bid acceptance period requirements. In this case, GAO believed that although the solicitation was misleading in the same manner, the IFB need not be canceled in its entirety. According to regulations, the rejection of all bids after opening discourages competition because it publicly discloses bids without award and causes bidders to incur bid preparation costs without the possibility of acceptance. However, in another previous decision GAO stated that without a showing of competitive prejudice the cancellation of a defective IFB after bids were opened may be inappropriate if award would serve the Government's actual needs. In this case, it was held that award should be made to the bidders who offered bid acceptance periods of 90 days or more on 40 percent of the items, if other wise appropriate, and the firms were still willing to accept awards at the bid prices. On the remaining 60 percent of the items, where the low bidder was a nonresponsive firm, the procurement was to be canceled and the procurement resolicited. The protest was sustained.