[Protest of Air Force RFP Alleging Defective Provisions]

A joint venture protested an Air Force request for proposals for civil engineer service support, contending that the solicitation contained numerous defects including a lack of construction-related provisions, such as minimum wage rates, and that the awardee was improperly permitted to adjust its proposal after submission of offers. Bid protest procedures require that protests based upon alleged improprieties in a solicitation be filed before closing date for receipt of initial proposals and that protests involving other improprieties be filed within 10 days of knowledge of the protest. Since the allegations of deficiencies in the solicitation were not filed before the closing date,they were untimely and not for consideration. The protest alleging improper adjustment of the awardee's proposal was not filed until 3 months after contract award. The protester claimed that it learned of the basis for protest only a few days before it was filed; however, the contracting agency's statement that a copy of the contract award was furnished to a principal of the joint venture months earlier was uncontested. GAO viewed this as notice to the joint venture and dismissed the protest as untimely. The protester further contended that, even if its protest was untimely filed, it should be considered under the "significant issue" exception. GAO stated that, to be considered significant, the issue in protest must be a matter of widespread interest to the procurement community which has not been the subject of prior decisions. Accordingly, there was no basis for considering the protest under the significant issue exception, and the protest was dismissed.