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Matter of: Envirotox Technologies, Inc. File: B-250091 Date: September 17, 1992

B-250091 Sep 17, 1992
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Highlights

PROCUREMENT Sealed Bidding Bid guarantees Sureties Acceptability Bid accompanied by bid bond executed by corporate surety not listed in Treasury Department Circular 570 is nonresponsive. Was not listed in the Treasury Department Circular 570. A bidder is on notice that not all sureties will be considered adequate and it is incumbent upon a bidder to determine which sureties are acceptable to the government. Envirotox's corporate surety was not listed in Treasury Circular 570 at the time of bid opening. Envirotox's bid was properly rejected as nonresponsive. While the protester states that the failure to secure a listed surety is a minor informality that should not affect a bid's responsiveness.

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Matter of: Envirotox Technologies, Inc. File: B-250091 Date: September 17, 1992

PROCUREMENT Sealed Bidding Bid guarantees Sureties Acceptability Bid accompanied by bid bond executed by corporate surety not listed in Treasury Department Circular 570 is nonresponsive.

Attorneys

DECISION

Envirotox Technologies, Inc. protests the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under invitation for bids (IFB) No. DACA05-92-B-0057, issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the removal of underground storage tanks.

We dismiss the protest.

The Corps of Engineers rejected Envirotox's low bid as nonresponsive because Old American Insurance Company, the surety on the bid bond submitted with Envirotox's bid, was not listed in the Treasury Department Circular 570, "Companies Holding Certificate of Authenticity as Acceptable Sureties on Federal Bonds and as Acceptable Reinsuring Companies."

Under Federal Acquisition Regulation Sec. 28.202(a)(1), all corporate sureties offered for bonds furnished with contracts to be performed in the United States must appear on the list contained in Treasury Circular 570. Where, as here, a solicitation provides that failure to provide a bid bond may be a basis for rejection of a bid, a bidder is on notice that not all sureties will be considered adequate and it is incumbent upon a bidder to determine which sureties are acceptable to the government. American Asbestos Abatement, Inc., B-237613, Nov. 29, 1989, 89-2 CPD Para. 504. As a result, the absence of a bidder's corporate surety from Treasury Circular 570 renders the bid nonresponsive, even if the solicitation does not specifically mention this requirement. Siska Constr. Co., Inc., B-218428, June 11, 1985, 85-1 CPD Para. 669.

Here, as conceded by the protester, Envirotox's corporate surety was not listed in Treasury Circular 570 at the time of bid opening. Therefore, Envirotox's bid was properly rejected as nonresponsive.

While the protester states that the failure to secure a listed surety is a minor informality that should not affect a bid's responsiveness, the failure to provide an acceptable surety may not be waived or excused as a minor irregularity. See General Coms. & Elecs., Inc., B-197471, Aug. 12, 1980, 80-2 CPD Para. 108.

The protest is dismissed.

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