Responsiveness of Bid Involving Affirmative Action Plan

A firm objected to the determination that its bid for a subcontract was nonresponsive for failure to commit itself to the affirmative action plan specified in the solicitation. The protester's submission of its own affirmative action plan, which contained an estimate of minority employees below the minimum goal stated in the solicitation, created ambiguity with regard to its affirmative action commitment and rendered the bid nonresponsive. The protester's noncompliant affirmative action plan could not be disregarded because its submission may have been gratuitous since all bid documents must be accorded equal weight in determining bid responsiveness.