[Protest of Bid Rejection and Subsequent Contract Award]

A firm protested the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office's rejection of its bid for repair work. The agency found the protester's bid to be nonresponsive for failure to acknowledge receipt of an amendment to the solicitation. The protester contended that it did not learn of the amendment until it was too late for acknowledgment. The protester further contended that, since the agency was aware prior to bid opening of the late delivery of some copies of the amendment, the bid opening date should have been extended. The amendment was of such importance that it merited being sent by special delivery or some other method, ensuring verification by the bidders. GAO held that: (1) once an agency has dispatched an amendment in sufficient time to permit all prospective bidders to consider the information, prospective bidders bear the risk of untimely receipt unless they can show that a conscious and deliberate effort to exclude them existed; and (2) the propriety of a particular procurement depends on whether the Government obtained adequate competition and reasonable prices and, in this instance, it had four responsive bids. Accordingly, the protester's bid was considered nonresponsive, and the protest was denied.