[Protest of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Contract Award]

A firm protested the award of a Navy contract contending that, as the lowest acceptable bidder, it should have been awarded the contract. Because a preaward conference showed a substantial discrepancy in the protester's calculation of its bid price, the protester decided the withdraw its bid if the error could not be corrected. The contracting officer determined that, because there was evidence that two mistakes had been made, but no evidence as to what price the protester had intended, the protester's bid could not be corrected but withdrawal could be permitted. Later, the protester advised the contracting officer that it decided not to withdraw its bid; however, the contracting officer declined to allow the protester to revoke its bid withdrawal and the contract was awarded to another firm. The protester contended that the contracting officer should have allowed it to retract the claim of error in its bid price, revoke its bid withdrawal, and accept award of the contract. GAO held that when a bidder claims a mistake affecting its low bidder status, followed by an attempt to waive the claim and remain low by verification, the contracting officer properly may decline to accept the bid. A bidder cannot be permitted to control its low bidder status after bid opening by claiming an error and later attempting to retract the claim. Accordingly, the protest was denied.