Protest of Proposal Rejection as Nonresponsive

A company protested the rejection of its proposal submitted under a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of the Army. The contracting officer rejected the company's proposal as nonresponsive because, by submitting alternate proposals, the company changed the terms of the RFP. The Army subsequently recognized that the company's proposal should have been reviewed to determine whether it could have been made acceptable through negotiations. GAO held that, since one of the company's alternate proposals was the lowest priced technically acceptable offer, the failure of the contracting officer to make an award to the company on an initial proposal basis was unreasonable and contrary to the solicitation. However, since the contract had been awarded and the initial delivery order more than halfway completed, GAO agreed with the Army's determination not to disturb the award. The company also submitted a claim for proposal preparation costs. Since the Army's actions were unreasonable in rejecting the company's alternate proposal which should have been accepted for award, the company was entitled to recover its proposal preparation costs. Accordingly, the protest was sustained and the claim was allowed.