[Protest of Rejection of Low Bid Under Army IFB for Signal Kits]

A firm protested an Army contract award for signal illumination kits, contending that the Army: (1) improperly rejected its low bid as nonresponsive for failing to acknowledge a solicitation amendment; (2) did not comply with bid protest regulations in issuing its administrative report; and (3) should have waived its failure to acknowledge a solicitation amendment as a minor informality. The Army stated that GAO should dismiss the protest as untimely because it was not filed within 10 days after the protester knew the basis of its protest. GAO found that: (1) the protest was timely because a congressional aide from the protester's district had made inquiries into the bid rejection, which could reasonably be regarded as a timely agency-level protest; (2) the Army's noncompliance with a procedural requirement did not prejudice the protester; (3) although the protester acknowledged one aspect of the solicitation amendment, there was no indication that it had knowledge of other substantive changes; and (4) since the solicitation amendment was material because it would substantially affect product quality, acknowledgment could not properly be waived. Accordingly, the protest was denied.