Great Plains Asbestos Control, Inc.

B-271841 Jul 15, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Was properly rejected since improper government action was not the sole or paramount cause of the bid's late arrival. Great Plains's bid was not included among those presented and opened at the scheduled bid opening. The protester's bid was not received at the bid opening location until Monday. Great Plains states that its bid was timely received by the Air Force and should be considered for award since it was delivered by United Parcel Service (UPS) to Warren AFB's Transportation Building. Because the base was under a security exercise procedure at the time of delivery and. Delivery at the Transportation Building of UPS packages during such an exercise is an acceptable and customary practice. View Decision Matter of: Great Plains Asbestos Control, Inc. File: B-271841 Date: July 15, 1996 Where commercial carrier, on its own initiative, left bid package at military installation's freight terminal during an installation security exercise -- where security exercise did not impede delivery to proper location specified in solicitation -- and carrier made no attempt to deliver the parcel to the proper location, the bid, when received late at the required location, was properly rejected since improper government action was not the sole or paramount cause of the bid's late arrival. Attorneys DECISION Great Plains Asbestos Control, Inc. protests the rejection of its bid as late under invitation for bids (IFB) No. F48608-96-B-0001, issued by the Department of the Air Force for asbestos abatement services. We deny the protest. The IFB, which established bid opening for Friday, March 15, 1996, at 2 p.m., instructed bidders to address their bids to "90th Contracting Squadron, 7505 Marne Loop" at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (AFB), Wyoming. Great Plains's bid was not included among those presented and opened at the scheduled bid opening; the protester's bid was not received at the bid opening location until Monday, March 18 at 2:15 p.m. Great Plains states that its bid was timely received by the Air Force and should be considered for award since it was delivered by United Parcel Service (UPS) to Warren AFB's Transportation Building, the installation's freight terminal, at 10:13 a.m. on March 15. The protester explains that the UPS driver delivered the bid package to the Transportation Building, rather than the specified address of the 90th Contracting Squadron, because the base was under a security exercise procedure at the time of delivery and, according to the UPS driver, delivery at the Transportation Building of UPS packages during such an exercise is an acceptable and customary practice. In support of its contentions, the protester provides a copy of March 15 delivery records obtained from UPS (which include the package's UPS shipping number and a computerized signature of the Air Force airman who allegedly accepted the package) and an affidavit from the UPS driver. The protester contends that government mishandling of the bid package -- which package was properly addressed to the 90th Contracting Squadron and was marked "BID OPENING 2:00 PM Deliver Immediately" -- was the sole or paramount cause of the bid's late receipt at the location specified in the solicitation for the delivery of bids. The Air Force reports that, according to agency delivery records (Form 3135), the protester's bid package was not delivered to the Transportation Building until Monday, March 18. The agency states that, in accordance with its standard procedures, a Form 3135 was prepared shortly after receipt of the package and the contracting officer (to whom the package was addressed and who had been notified by Great Plains after bid opening that the firm had submitted a bid) was notified that the protester's package was available to be picked up at the Transportation Building. Upon return to his 90th Contracting Squadron Office, the contracting officer date/time stamped the protester's bid package as received at 2:15 p.m. on March 18. The agency contends that the paramount cause of the bid's late receipt at the proper bid depository location was the failure of the protester's commercial carrier to deliver the package, as addressed, to the proper location identified in the solicitation. The agency explains that while it will accept delivery at the Transportation Building where a commercial carrier is unable to deliver the package to the addressed location, there is no agreement between the agency and UPS that packages may be delivered to the Transportation Building instead of the 90th Contracting Squadron during security exercises. The agency states that on March 15, an Air Force airman accepted several packages from the UPS driver at the Transportation Building, but the airman does not specifically recall whether Great Plains's bid package was among them.