Discount Renders Bid Nonresponsive for Failure To Submit a Definite Fixed Price

The Navy issued an invitation for bids (IFB) for an indefinite quantity of domestic library books required by the Naval War College. The IFB required bidders to submit a single discount as a percentage. The protester's bid listed a range of discounts from 0 to 25 percent instead of a definite price, and the contracting officer rejected the bid as nonresponsive. GAO agreed that the discount range made the offeror's bid nonresponsive. GAO recognized that it would be possible to interpret the offer to mean no discount in cases where no discount was possible, and under this interpretation the bid would be responsive. However, GAO requires the rejection of a bid that is subject to two reasonable interpretations, with only one being responsive. The protest, therefore, was denied.