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[Protest of VA Rejection of Bid as Nonresponsive]

B-213591 Published: Apr 17, 1984. Publicly Released: Apr 17, 1984.
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Highlights

A firm protested the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under an invitation for bids (IFB) issued by the Veterans Administration (VA) for medical instruments. The protester complained that VA improperly determined that its bid was nonresponsive on the ground that it did not furnish bid samples with its bid. The protester stated that it did not furnish the samples because it had previously furnished VA with equal products. The IFB required bid samples unless the bidder stated that it was offering to furnish the same product which it had offered to supply VA on a previous procurement and that such product was previously complied with the requirements. VA determined that the product which the protester had previously supplied did not comply with the requirements of this solicitation. Therefore, VA rejected the protester's bid since it did not supply bid samples for testing. A failure to supply a required bid sample is a material deviation which renders a bid nonresponsive. GAO found no basis to question the contracting officer's determination that the protester did not qualify for a waiver of the bid sample requirement. Accordingly, the protest was denied.

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Bid rejection protestsBid responsivenessBid samplesMedical equipment