[Protest of Air Force Evaluation of Bids for Software Engineering Services]

A firm protested the Air Force's evaluation of bids for software engineering services, contending that: (1) the Air Force did not adequately consider price as a factor for the contract award; (2) the solicitation failed to provide the estimate of hours necessary to perform the contract; and (3) it was impossible for the Air Force to conduct a meaningful cost comparison without providing estimates of the amount of work for each labor category. GAO noted that the Air Force: (1) required offerers to submit fixed rates for the categories of labor needed to perform the engineering services; and (2) informed the protester that specific provisions in the solicitation indicated that price would be considered, but it would not be scored since it was not a weighted factor. GAO held that the protester untimely filed its protest 6 months after bid opening. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.