Protest Alleging Unreasonable Delay in Making Award

A firm protested the award of a contract by the Army. The protester asserted that it was the low bidder, but because the Army unreasonably delayed making the award after bid opening, it was unable to grant a requested bid extension at its initial bid price. Further, the protester asserted that the Army should cancel the award and resolicit the requirement. The protester's bid properly limited its acceptance period to 60 calendar days from the receipt of bids. However, as a result of several problems, award was delayed and the Army requested bid extensions. Although the protester granted three bid extensions, it declined to extend its bid a fourth time and indicated a desire either to negotiate a new price or participate in a resolicitation for the requirement. The Army subsequently awarded the contract to the only other bidder. The Army contended that once the protester refused to extend its offer, it was no longer an interested party under protest procedures. Generally, in determining whether a party is sufficiently interested under its bid protest procedures, GAO will review the party's status in relation to the procurement and the nature of the issues involved. In this case, GAO believed the protester to be a sufficiently interested party under its bid protest procedures. The rule regarding the permissibility of an agency request for a bid acceptance period extension is that, while the Government has no right to force a bidder to grant such an extension, it is appropriate to make such a request pursuant to regulations, where the bidder has offered the full acceptance period provided for in the solicitation and the agency experiences administrative delays. Thus, GAO could see no reason to assess each specific incident contributing to the delay. The record indicates that the delays were relatively brief, not unreasonable under the circumstances, and were occasioned by legitimate problems and associated concerns on the part of the Army. As such, they were administrative delays which may properly occasion a delay in making an award. Accordingly, the protest was denied.