Protest of Agency Rejection of Final Offer for Lateness

A firm protested the rejection of its bid by the Veterans Administration (VA). The protester submitted the bid to the contracting office by commercial carrier. When the bid was rejected as being late, the protester submitted evidence to the agency which showed that the bid had been received in a timely manner. VA disregarded the evidence and confirmed its refusal to consider the bid. This confirmation constituted adverse agency action and provided the basis for a protest. However, the protesting firm did not file its protest with GAO until a month later. Since statutes require that bid protests be filed within 10 working days after the basis of protest is known, the protest was untimely and not for consideration by GAO. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.