[Request for Reconsideration of Untimely Protest]

A firm requested reconsideration of a decision which dismissed its protest against an Army Corps of Engineers' contract award and the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive. The prior protest was rejected as untimely because it was not filed within 10 working days of the protester's notice of the initial adverse agency action. The protester submitted evidence that there was an initial timely protest to the contracting agency. Accordingly, its protest was considered on its merits. The Army had rejected the bid as nonresponsive because it was unable to determine the bid price from the proposal submitted. The protester stated that this was due to a clerical error and that bid preparation worksheets would have enabled the Army to determine the price. GAO found that the protester's failure to submit enough information to enable the Army to determine the bid price could not be waived as a minor informality and that the Army properly rejected the bid as nonresponsive. Bid preparation worksheets cannot be used in determining the responsiveness of a firm's bid, and a mistake-in-bid correction procedures may not be used to correct a nonresponsive bid. Accordingly, the protest was denied.