Protest of Contract Award by Department of Agriculture

A firm submitted the only bid to the Department of Agriculture for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) units, but the solicitation was canceled because the firm's bid price exceeded the price paid the previous year by 8.5 percent. Upon readvertisement another firm submitted the only bid, which was accepted. The first firm protested for the following reasons: (1) the specifications in the invitation for bid (IFB) were copied from the awardee's HVAC catalogue; (2) the price paid the previous year for the equipment should not be used as a basis for comparison with the present purchase; and (3) since the first IFB was canceled because of lack of competition, the second IFB should have been canceled as well. The protest was denied because: (1) the allegedly restrictive nature of the specifications was apparent when the protester received the initial IFB, but the protest was untimely; (2) the contracting officer may exercise discretion in determining reasonableness of price when only one bid is received; and (3) since the second procurement resulted in a reasonable bid price, the fact that only one bid was received was not sufficient basis for cancellation.