[Protest of Any Navy Contract Award for Hangar Deck Cranes]

A firm protested any Navy contract award to another offerer for hangar deck cranes, contending that: (1) its intended low bid price could be clearly established; (2) correction of its error would not change the relative ranking of the offerers; and (3) the Navy improperly refused to request another round of best and final offers (BAFO) or allow it correct the bid error. GAO noted that: (1) after BAFO, but prior to award, the protester discovered that it had made a mistake in its proposed bid price; (2) the Navy determined that correction of the error would require reopening discussions with all offerers in the competitive range because the error was material and, since meaningful discussions with the protester enabled it to detect its error, it would not be in the government's best interest to request a second round of BAFO. GAO found that: (1) there was no basis to fault the Navy's failure to discuss a bid error with the protester when the firm was specifically requested to review its pricing in the particular area of the alleged mistake; (2) when a bid error is not discovered until after discussions have been completed, and there is no evidence that the agency was on actual notice of the claimed mistake, the agency is not required to reopen negotiations; (3) a contracting officer should not reopen discussions after BAFO unless it is clearly in the government's best interest; (4) on two separate occasions, the Navy requested the protester to thoroughly review its proposal for possible errors; and (5) correction of a bid error is only appropriate where the intended bid can be clearly established from the proposal itself. Accordingly, the protest was denied.