B-244243, Jun 5, 1991, 91-1 CPD ***

B-244243, Jun 5, 1991, 91-1 CPD ***

PROCUREMENT - Sealed Bidding - Bids - Acceptance time periods - Expiration DIGEST: Bid properly was rejected as nonresponsive where it offered 60-day acceptance period instead of required 90 days; offer of shorter than required acceptance period, even where allegedly due to typographical error, cannot be changed after bid opening.

Attorneys

Barnett Business Services, Inc.:

Barnett Business Services, Inc. protests the rejection of its bid under General Services Administration (GSA) invitation for bids (IFB) No. GS-11P -91-MJD-0014. GSA rejected Barnett's bid as nonresponsive because the IFB required a 90-day bid acceptance period, and Barnett's bid offered only a 60-day period.

A provision in a sealed bid solicitation requiring that a bid remain available for the government's acceptance for a specified amount of time is a material requirement, and therefore must be complied with at the time of bid opening for the bid to be responsive. Elevator Control Serv., Elcon Enters., Inc., B-239360, June 6, 1990, 90-1 CPD Para. 534.

Barnett asserts that its offer of 60 days was a typographical error- that it intended to offer the required 90-day acceptance period-- and concludes that the agency should waive the error and make award to Barnett based on its low price. It is well-established, however, that a nonconforming acceptance period specified in a bid is not a correctable minor irregularity in the bid that can be corrected after bid opening; rather, it is a fatal defect that renders the bid nonresponsive. Elevator Control Serv., Elcon Enters., Inc., B-239360, supra; General Elevator Co., Inc., B-226976, Apr. 7, 1987, 87-1 CPD Para. 385.

The protest is dismissed.