Request for Reformation of Contract

A company requested reformation of a contract because of an alleged mistake in its bid discovered before award. The contracting officer had notified the low bidder of a suspicion of error in its bid and requested verification. Accordingly, the acceptance of the verified bid resulted in a valid and binding contract. Therefore, no legal basis existed for reformation of the contract based on a subsequent claim by the contractor of a unilateral mistake in bid. The "time limitation" aspect was brought up by the Navy and since GAO rejected it as unnecessary and inapplicable it can be left out. The company also suggested that several provisions of the solicitation were unduly complex and ambiguous. However, the protest against alleged solicitation defects which were apparent prior to bid opening was untimely.