Source: http://www.gaobidprotests.com/timeliness/
Timestamp: 2018-01-23 00:18:31
Document Index: 594478213

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 21', 'art 15', '§ 6', '§ 35', '§ 21', '§ 21']

DEADLINES | Government Contract Attorney Lawyers Bid Protest Claims Disputes Changes REA Terminations Delays
Missing a bid protest deadline may result in a loss of legal rights.
GAO Bid Protest Rule § 21.2 sets forth the deadlines for filing a protest:
Deadline for Filing a Pre-Award GAO Bid Protest
If a protest is based on problems with the terms of the solicitation, it must be filed before the bid opening date or the date for receipt of initial proposals in negotiate procurements. Examples of improprieties apparent before bid opening include:
The solicitation unduly restricts competition
The solicitation specification favors a particular product
The evaluation criteria is unclear
Deadline for Filing a Post-Award GAO Bid Protest
Improprieties apparent after bid opening or receipt of initial proposals must be filed within ten (10) days after the bidder first became aware of "adverse agency action." Examples of "adverse agency action" include:
The Government' award did not follow the evaluation criteria
The Government wrongly rejected a bid or proposal as nonresponsible
The Government improperly cancelled a solicitation
The Government failed to conduct meaningful discussions
Unsupported trade-off decisions
Improper best value determinations
In United Health Military & Veterans Services, LLC, B-401652.8 (June 14, 2011, 2012), the GAO refused to consider an argument that could have been made in an earlier protest, but was not. The GAO held that “allowing the protester to argue – after agency corrective action – in a manner flatly contradicted by arguments in the earlier proceeding undermines the overriding goals of our bid protest forum to produce fair and equitable decisions based on consideration of all parties’ arguments on a fully developed record. Accordingly, such subsequently raised arguments will not be considered by our Office, whether presented in a request for reconsideration, or in a new protest.”
Debriefing Extends Time to File Protest
If your contract was awarded under FAR Part 15, Negotiated Procurement, you are entitled to a debriefing under FAR 15.506. You must ask for a post-award debriefing within three (3) days of the award date. This is an opportunity to understand the Government’s award decision and determine if there you have reasonable grounds to protest.
Protest must be filed within ten (10) days after award, or ten (10) days after debriefing (if required by law), whichever date is latest. However, Government not required to stay performance unless Agency receives notice of the protest from the GAO within ten (10) days after award, or within five (5) days after the debriefing, whichever date is later. It is therefore recommended that the protest be filed within five (5) days after the debriefing whenever possible.
Be careful. Not all procurements require a debriefing. In Millennium Space Sys., Inc., B-406771, Aug. 17, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 237, a debriefing in a procurement conducted as a Broad Agency Announcement pursuant to FAR § 6.102(d)(2) and FAR § 35.016 did not fall within the exception to GAO’s general timeliness rules at 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(a)(2), because such a procurement was not a procurement conducted on the basis of competitive proposals, under which a debriefing was requested and, when requested, was required.
Significant Issue Exception to Timeliness Rule
Where a protest raises an untimely issue that has not been previously decided and is potentially of widespread interest to the procurement system, GAO may consider the issue pursuant to the significant issue exception in its timeliness rules, 4 C.F.R. § 21.2(c) (2012). Cyberdata Techs., Inc., B-406692, Aug. 8, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ 230 [GAO invoked the significant issue exception and sustained the protest; however, since the protester did not raise the issue in a timely manner--when it clearly could have done so--GAO did not recommend reimbursement of protest costs.]