Opinion ID: 776737
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duty to verify

Text: 37 We finally address whether McCarthy's qualified bid gave rise to a duty of the government to verify that no other bids contained the same mistaken interpretation. We conclude the government had no such duty. 38 When the government has notice of a mistake in a particular bid, the government may have a duty to verify that bid by calling attention to the specific error suspected. Giesler v. United States, 232 F.3d 864, 869 (Fed.Cir.2000); Ruggiero v. United States, 190 Ct.Cl. 327, 420 F.2d 709, 716 (1970); see also FAR § 14.407-1 (1996). This doctrine promotes fairness and good faith dealing by preventing the government from knowingly awarding a contract to a bidder whose bid contained a mistake of which the government was aware. But, even if this doctrine were applicable here, 3 the government, when confronted with one bidder's unreasonable interpretation of the contract, does not have an obligation to verify other bids to ensure that no other bids incorporated the same unreasonable contract interpretation. We are not aware of any binding authority obligating the government to verify all bids, where another bidder made a mistake in interpreting the provisions of an unambiguous contract. We decline to so hold, and we specifically disapprove of BCM Corp. v. United States, 2 Cl.Ct. 602, 609-10 (1983), to the extent that it appears to hold the contrary. 39 In sum, where a contract is unambiguous, the government has no duty to notify bidders about a contrary interpretation by one of the bidders, or to verify the other bids.