GAO Review of Subcontract Awards by Grantee

A company requested that GAO review the award of a subcontract on behalf of a grantee and complained that a provision of the bidding document was ambiguous. GAO will review contract awards by grantees upon the request of prospective contractors if significant federal funds are involved. Such reviews will not place undue burdens upon grantees or grantors because: (1) grantees are generally familiar with local procurement law; (2) federal procurement law will not be mechanistically applied; (3) basic federal principles of competitive bidding are intended to produce rational decisions; and (4) multiple layers of government in grant review situations will not make grantor reporting too burdensome. GAO will consider requests for review of contracts awarded by or for grantees; the grantee's participation in this procurement resulted in an award for the grantee. The grantee's decision to give greater weight to long-range operating cost than to initial capital cost in bidder selection was rational. A questioned specification was not shown to be ambiguous.