[Protest of Navy Contract Award for Small Cranes and Monorail System]

A firm protested a Navy contract award, contending that the awardee's low bid should have been rejected as nonresponsive because it was qualified by unsolicited literature which described products that did not comply with the solicitation specifications. GAO noted that the solicitation warned that, if a bid included any identifying data in connection with the description of the equipment, the bid would be considered nonresponsive unless it clearly indicated that the equipment offered was in complete conformance with the specifications. GAO found that: (1) the awardee's bid took no exceptions to the specifications and made no reference to the brochures submitted in its standard bid form; (2) the literature was only submitted to show the awardee's past experience and general capabilities; and (3) the literature could not be interpreted as describing equipment the awardee intended to deliver. Accordingly, the protest was denied.