[Protest of Army Corps of Engineers Rejection of Bidder as Nonresponsible]

A firm protested the Army's rejection of its bid for electrical system alterations as nonresponsible, contending that: (1) its individual sureties had net worth sufficient to satisfy the regulation requirements; (2) other federal agencies had accepted its sureties; and (3) the Army failed to respond to its offer to substitute a corporate surety. GAO held that: (1) the Army properly found the protester nonresponsible, since it failed to provide sufficient information to permit a finding that the sureties were acceptable; (2) other agencies' acceptance of the sureties did not compel the Army to accept them; and (3) the protester could not substitute an acceptable corporate surety for unacceptable individual sureties, since the surety liability was an element of responsiveness that could not be changed after bid opening. Accordingly, the protest was denied.