Protest of Proposal Rejection for Late Delivery

A company protested the rejection of its proposal by the Department of the Navy because it was considered late. The protester maintained that the Navy acted unreasonably in failing to notify it of a 24-hour closing date extension and for failing to extend the closing date for a period sufficient to permit delivery in extreme adverse weather conditions. The Navy contended that it had the authority to reschedule the closing date in the manner that it did, and that the 24-hour extension was fair because the Government was completely closed for only 24 hours. The Navy explained that it only became apparent on the day of the deadline that so few personnel would report to work as to preclude the possibility of informing prospective offerors of the extension. GAO held that in the absence of urgency or premature disclosure of other proposals, the Navy abused its discretion by extending the closing date without informing prospective offerors of that fact. It would have been preferable for the Navy to extend the closing date at least until the restoration of normal business conditions and offerors could be notified of the extension. The protest was sustained.