[Protest of Forest Service Contract Award]

A firm protested the award of a contract by the Forest Service for building construction. The protester objected to the contracting officer's decision to cancel the original invitation for bids (IFB) and negotiate the procurement after determining that all bid prices received were excessive. The protester also stated that it submitted the low negotiated price within the approximate time period specified by the contracting officer while the awardee's bid was received after that time; therefore, it should have received the award. Finally, the protester objected to the contracting officer's determination that the awardee was a responsible business. GAO held that: (1) the contracting officer's cancellation of the IFB because the bids were excessive and the subsequent negotiation of the contract were proper, since the low bid exceeded available funds; (2) the contracting officer's informal request by telephone for submission of final price proposals implied an approximate time period for submission of offers and did not establish a firm closing time for receipt of proposals, so that any offer submitted was timely; and (3) a contracting officer's signing of a contract constitutes an affirmative determination of responsibility, which GAO will not review in the absence of a showing of fraud on the part of procuring officials or an allegation of failure to apply definitive responsibility criteria. GAO noted that participation in a follow-on negotiated procurement need not be limited to participants in the advertised procurement. Accordingly, the protest was denied in part and dismissed in part.