Harvey Honore Construction Company, Inc.

B-262071.2 Jan 31, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Which was modified by an amendment to increase the estimated quantity of dirt to be excavated. Is nonresponsive because the bid is ambiguous regarding whether the bidder intends to be bound to the original or amended estimate. The contractor will be required to clear the construction area and to dispose of the debris. The contractor will also be required to excavate and transport large quantities of dirt for use as fill in constructing the levee and to dispose of excavated material that is unsuitable for use. Five bids were received by the June 14 bid opening. 250 was the lowest bid. 500 was the second lowest. The government estimate was $4. While there was sufficient evidence that the bid was mistaken. View Decision Matter of: Harvey Honore Construction Company, Inc. File: B-262071.2 Date: January 31, 1996 Bid that acknowledges all amendments to an invitation for bids (IFB), but which contains only the original version of the bid schedule, which was modified by an amendment to increase the estimated quantity of dirt to be excavated, is nonresponsive because the bid is ambiguous regarding whether the bidder intends to be bound to the original or amended estimate. Attorneys DECISION Harvey Honore Construction Company, Inc. (Honore) protests the Corps of Engineers' rejection of its bid submitted in response to invitation for bids (IFB) No. DACW29-95-B-0051 as nonresponsive. We deny the protest. Issued on April 27, 1995, the IFB solicited bids for constructing 8 miles of hurricane protection levee. Among other things, the contractor will be required to clear the construction area and to dispose of the debris. The contractor will also be required to excavate and transport large quantities of dirt for use as fill in constructing the levee and to dispose of excavated material that is unsuitable for use. Five bids were received by the June 14 bid opening. Honore's bid of $4,155,250 was the lowest bid; Dragon Limited's bid of $4,651,500 was the second lowest; the government estimate was $4,160,011. By letter of June 19, Honore notified the contracting officer that it had made a mistake regarding the extended price of one line item in its bid. Honore explained that its bid erroneously included the IFB's original schedule instead of the revised schedule provided with amendment 0002. For line item 0003, Embankment, Semicompacted Fill, the original bid schedule required both a unit price per cubic yard of material and an extended price based upon an estimated quantity of 290,000 cubic yards. Thus, Honore's bid contained a unit price of $8.67 per cubic yard and an extended price of $2,514,300 for this line item. However, amendment 0002 changed the estimated quantity for line item 0003 to 320,000 cubic yards, an increase of 30,000 cubic yards. Honore asked permission to correct the mistake by increasing its extended price for line item 0003 by $260,100 (30,000 additional cubic yards of fill times its original bid price of $8.67 per cubic yard). The correction would increase Honore's total bid price to $4,415,350. Initially, the contracting officer recommended that the Corps' Division Office allow Honore to withdraw its bid because, while there was sufficient evidence that the bid was mistaken, there was no convincing evidence that Honore's unit price of $8.67 was its intended price for the greater quantity of fill represented by amendment 0002. Subsequently, after discussions within the Corps, the contracting officer determined that Honore's bid was nonresponsive because it was ambiguous regarding whether the firm was committed to excavating and using only the original estimated quantity of 290,000 cubic yards or the amended quantity of 320,000 cubic yards in building the levee. Honore protested to our Office and the agency reports that it will not award the contract until the protest is resolved. Honore argues that, despite including the original bid schedule, its bid was responsive. Honore states that its bid specifically acknowledged that Honore had received amendment 0002 and thus acknowledged that the firm was aware of and would be bound by the amendment, including the increase in the estimated amount of fill for line item 0003. Honore points out that the quantities in both the original and amended bid schedule were merely estimates of the amount of fill, that the difference between the original and amended estimate for line item 0003 was only about 10 percent, and that the contractor will be required to perform all work necessary to complete the entire levee project regardless of the actual amount of fill required.