B-148079, AUG. 6, 1962
Highlights
INC.: RECEIPT IS ACKNOWLEDGED OF YOUR LETTER DATED JULY 17. WHEREIN WE HELD THAT THERE WAS NO LEGAL BASIS FOR AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE IN THE PRICE OF CONTRACT NO. WHICH YOU REQUESTED IN VIEW OF AN ERROR ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE BID UPON WHICH THE CONTRACT WAS AWARDED. YOUR REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION IS BASED PRIMARILY ON THE CONTENTION THAT PREVIOUS CORRESPONDENCE. INDICATES CLEARLY THAT AN ERROR WAS MADE. AS YOU WERE SPECIFICALLY ADVISED THEREIN THE QUESTION FOR CONSIDERATION IN A MATTER OF THIS KIND OF NOT WHETHER AN ERROR WAS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT NO ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE ERROR EXISTED PRIOR TO AWARD. WAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT YOU HAD NOT NOTIFIED THE CONTRACTING OFFICE OF THE ERROR UNTIL AFTER YOU BID HAD BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
B-148079, AUG. 6, 1962
TO ANCHOR METAL CO., INC.:
RECEIPT IS ACKNOWLEDGED OF YOUR LETTER DATED JULY 17, 1962, REQUESTING RECONSIDERATION OF OUR DECISION OF JULY 12, 1962, WHEREIN WE HELD THAT THERE WAS NO LEGAL BASIS FOR AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE IN THE PRICE OF CONTRACT NO. AF30/635/-26037, WHICH YOU REQUESTED IN VIEW OF AN ERROR ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE BID UPON WHICH THE CONTRACT WAS AWARDED.
YOUR REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION IS BASED PRIMARILY ON THE CONTENTION THAT PREVIOUS CORRESPONDENCE, TOGETHER WITH YOUR EXPLANATION AS TO THE METHOD USED IN CALCULATING YOUR BID, INDICATES CLEARLY THAT AN ERROR WAS MADE, AS ALLEGED.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES YOU REFER TO WOULD NOT JUSTIFY ANY CHANGE IN THE CONCLUSION REACHED IN OUR DECISION OF JULY 12, 1962. AS YOU WERE SPECIFICALLY ADVISED THEREIN THE QUESTION FOR CONSIDERATION IN A MATTER OF THIS KIND OF NOT WHETHER AN ERROR WAS, IN FACT, MADE IN YOUR BID ON ITEM NO. 5, BUT RATHER WHETHER THERE EXISTED ANY CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ESTABLISHED NOTICE, EITHER ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE, TO THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING OFFICER AS TO THE PROBABILITY OF AN ERROR PRIOR TO AWARD. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT NO ACTUAL NOTICE OF THE ERROR EXISTED PRIOR TO AWARD. WAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT YOU HAD NOT NOTIFIED THE CONTRACTING OFFICE OF THE ERROR UNTIL AFTER YOU BID HAD BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT. MOREOVER, FOR THE REASONS SET FORTH IN OUR DECISION OF JULY 12, 1962, WE FOUND NO BASIS FOR CHARGING THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING OFFICER WITH CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF PROBABILITY OF AN ERROR PRIOR TO THE ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR BID. YOU WERE ACCORDINGLY ADVISED THAT UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES IT MUST BE HELD THAT THE ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR BID WAS MADE IN GOOD FAITH AND THAT SUCH AN ACCEPTANCE CREATED A VALID AND BINDING CONTRACT WHICH FIXED THE RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES OF THE PARTIES.
IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, OUR DECISION OF JULY 12, 1962, IS AFFIRMED.