Protest Against Rejection of First-Step Proposal

The protester objected to the rejection of its first-step proposal under a two-step advertised procurement. The acceptability of a first-step proposal should not be affected by the proposal's failure to meet all specification details if the procuring agency is satisfied that the essential requirement of the specification will be met, but rejection of the first-step proposal was proper because the agency found that a critical element in the proposal did not comply with the essential performance requirements of the specifications and determined that a major redesign effort would be needed to bring the proposal into compliance with the requirements.