Protest of Exclusion of Proposal

A firm protested the exclusion of its proposal from consideration for the award of a contract issued by an Army contractor. The protester received a refusal from the Army to evaluate its proposal or to compensate it for the cost of preparing its proposal. If a protest is initially filed with the contracting agency, any subsequent protest to GAO must be filed within 10 working days of the protester's receipt of notice of the agency's first adverse action on that protest. Although GAO reviews the award of subcontracts made for the Government by Government prime contractors which operate and manage Federal facilities, GAO did not receive the protest within 10 working days of the protester's receipt of the Army's initial adverse action. Therefore, the protest was untimely and not for consideration on its merits. Further, GAO will not consider a claim for the cost of preparing a proposal submitted in connection with an untimely protest. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed, and the claim for costs was denied.