Request for Reconsideration

A firm requested reconsideration of a decision in which a protest concerning alleged restrictiveness of the specifications of a prime contract was dismissed as untimely. In its request for reconsideration, the protester alleged that during a pre-bid meeting, an agency official led a protester's representative to believe that the specifications would eventually be altered because they were considered unduly restrictive, and that it had relied on this advice in not filing a protest until it received notice that its initial submittal had been rejected. This information did not warrant reversal of the prior decision. Since the protester knew of the basis for protest prior to bid opening, the protest was still untimely. The protester also asserted that an agency may approve a nonconforming item furnished under a prime contract. GAO dismissed any objection in regard to this because approval is a matter of contract administration, which is the responsibility of the agency, and not for review under the GAO Bid Protest Procedures. The prior decision was affirmd.