B-233863, Jan 11, 1989, 89-1 CPD 30

B-233863, Jan 11, 1989, 89-1 CPD 30

PROCUREMENT - Sealed Bidding - Bids - Responsiveness - Determination criteria DIGEST: A bidder's failure to conduct a pre-bid site inspection, even where the solicitation so requires, provides no basis to reject an otherwise responsive bid.

I.M.I., Inc:

I.M.I., Inc., protests the General Services Administration's (GSA) decision to find T&T Contractors bid responsive under invitation for bids (IFB) No. GS-11P-88-MKC-0254, issued by GSA for ventilation system repairs. I.M.I. claims that T&T's failure to certify that it performed a pre-bid site inspection as required by the IFB renders T&T's bid nonresponsive.

We dismiss the protest.

To be responsive, a bid must reflect an unequivocal offer to provide the exact product or service called for in the solicitation so that its acceptance will bind the contractor to perform in accordance with the material terms and conditions of the IFB. Community Metal Products Corp., B-229628, Jan. 15, 1988, 88-1 CPD Para. 41. A failure to conduct a pre- bid site inspection, even when one is required by the solicitation, is not a basis for rejecting an otherwise responsive bid. Todd Van & Storage, Inc., B-216420, Jan. 16, 1985, 85-1 CPD Para. 40. This is so because a bidder's failure to conduct a pre-bid site inspection does not limit the obligation undertaken by the bidder by its submission of an unqualified bid. See Edw. Kocharian & Co., Inc., 58 Comp.Gen. 214 (1979), 79-1 CPD Para. 20.

The protest is dismissed.