[Protest of NRC Rejection of Bid as Nonresponsive]
Highlights
A firm protested the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under a solicitation for signal cables and connectors, contending that, while it made a clerical error in its bid and listed the wrong part number for one connector, the bid made clear the part it intended to offer. GAO held that: (1) when read in its entirety, it was clear that the bid proposed to supply the required part, since the incorrect part number the protester entered referred to a part that NRC was not procuring and the text associated with the part number correctly described a responsive part; and (2) NRC should terminate the awarded contract and award the remainder to the protester, if otherwise appropriate, or reimburse the protester for its bid and protest preparation costs if termination was not feasible. Accordingly, the protest was sustained.