[Protest of Air Force Rejection of Bid as Nonresponsive]

A firm protested the Air Force's rejection of its bid as nonresponsive, contending that: (1) it properly interpreted the solicitation specifications when it submitted its low bid price; (2) its interpretation of the specifications was reasonable; (3) the rejection of its bid was improper; and (4) at best, the specifications were ambiguous and the procurement should be resolicited. The Air Force had interpreted the specifications as requiring more work than the protester offered under its low bid price and concluded that award to the protester at its offered price would be unfair. GAO found that the Air Force interpreted the specifications properly and has held that an agency can properly reject a bid based on a misinterpretation of a specification where the bid was substantially below the government estimate and acceptance would be unfair in view of unreasonableness of bid price. Accordingly, the protest was denied.