[Protest of Army Cancellation of Solicitation for Barracks Construction]

A firm protested the Army Corps of Engineers' cancellation of a solicitation for barracks construction after bid opening and resolicitation, contending that: (1) to reduce the scope of the contract, the Corps could have made the award to it and then terminated portions of the contract; (2) confusion and lack of timely notification regarding the cancellation and initiation of negotiations did not allow it adequate time to prepare its proposal; (3) the Corps did not conduct negotiations on an equal basis; and (4) the Corps did not state that it wanted best and final offers. GAO held that: (1) the Corps' determination that adequate funds were not available for the procurement was sufficient reason to cancel the original solicitation; (2) the use of oral negotiations was proper since the Corps had determined that the requirement was urgent; and (3) although there was confusion about the decision to negotiate, the Corps acted reasonably to ensure that both offerers received the same information and opportunity to conduct negotiations. Accordingly, the protest was denied.