Protest Against GSA Cancellation of Solicitation

A firm protested the General Services Administration's (GSA) cancellation of a solicitation contending that: (1) the contracting officer had executed a formal contract with the protester before attempting to cancel the solicitation, and (2) GSA was estopped to deny the existence of a contract because of the course of dealings between the protester and GSA. GAO determined that, where the GSA procurement of coal was set aside for a Small Business Administration (SBA) program and no award documents were executed by GSA or SBA, the protester's signature alone on the solicitation documents did not bind the Government. Further, the Government was not estopped to deny the existence of the contract since: (1) the record did not show that Government officials intended their conduct to be acted upon by the protester or that Government officials acted in a manner which reasonably led the protester to believe that their conduct was so intended, and (2) the solicitation documents were expressly conditioned upon the official written notice of the award and such notice was never given to the protester. Accordingly, the protest was denied.