Pacific Tank Cleaning Services, Inc., B-279111.2, July 1,

B-279111.2 Jul 01, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Agency improperly considered a late bid under the government mishandling exception where the evidence of record does not establish that the bid was timely received and remained under the government's control until it was first discovered 6 days after bid opening. The protester alleges that the record does not establish that Cal Marine's bid was timely received and remained under the government's control until it was discovered 6 days after bid opening. Was issued on December 9. Bidder representatives convened in a reception area in Building 291 in which the bid depository ("bid box") is located. The technician then announced that the time for bid opening had arrived and directed bidder representatives to an adjacent conference room where bid opening was to occur. View Decision Matter of: Pacific Tank Cleaning Services, Inc. File: B-279111.2 Date: July 1, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Pacific Tank Cleaning Services, Inc. (Pac Tank) protests the decision of the Department of the Navy to consider a late bid from California Marine Cleaning, Inc. (Cal Marine) under invitation for bids (IFB) No. N63387-96-B-3145, a total small business set-aside for hazardous waste pumping and transportation services in the San Diego, California area. The protester alleges that the record does not establish that Cal Marine's bid was timely received and remained under the government's control until it was discovered 6 days after bid opening. We sustain the protest. The IFB, which contemplated an indefinite-quantity contract for a base year with four 1-year options, was issued on December 9, 1997. It provided that hand-carried bids would be received at the depository located in Building 291 of the Naval Station in San Diego until 10 a.m. on January 8, 1998. Shortly before 10 a.m. on January 8, bidder representatives convened in a reception area in Building 291 in which the bid depository ("bid box") is located. At 10 a.m., a procurement technician and a contract specialist entered the reception area; the technician then announced that the time for bid opening had arrived and directed bidder representatives to an adjacent conference room where bid opening was to occur. The technician states that she then unlocked the bid box and removed all loose bid envelopes--leaving only one package marked "old bids," which was bound with a rubber band, in the bid box. She then sorted through the bids for no more than half a minute and set aside the five which were marked for the instant procurement. She states that, after checking to see that none of the remaining envelopes were for this bid opening, she then returned at least two, but not more than four, envelopes to the bid box, relocked the box and carried the bids to the bid opening officer who was in the conference room. Five bids, including Pac Tank's but not Cal Marine's, were opened and read. The protester's bid was low at $2,891,185. A representative of Cal Marine signed in the Building 291 log at 8:37 a.m. on January 8 and signed out at 9:40 a.m. Cal Marine did not send a representative to the bid opening. On the afternoon of January 8, Cal Marine's president left a voice mail message with the contract specialist designated in the IFB as the agency's point-of-contact, which simply inquired whether the bid results had been posted. The call was not returned because the point-of-contact was on emergency leave from work. Six days later on January 14, a representative of Cal Marine signed the Building 291 log at 2:30 p.m. and left at 2:35 p.m. On January 14, Cal Marine left another message indicating that the bidder had examined the contracts department's "Bid Board" at the Naval Station and was surprised that Pac Tank could be listed as the apparent low bidder when Cal Marine's price was lower than the posted price. Because the point-of-contact was still on leave, on January 14, Cal Marine's president spoke to another contracting specialist who had been designated as an alternate point-of-contact, between 2:44 p.m. and 3 p.m. He repeated his concern about Pac Tank's bid being higher than Cal Marine's, as a result of which the agency states that for the first time it learned that Cal Marine claimed to have submitted a bid in response to the IFB. The technician and the designated alternate point-of-contact opened the bid box about 3 p.m. and discovered, on the bottom of a stack of at least three loose bids, a bid envelope from Cal Marine bearing a time/date stamp of 8:38 a.m. on January 8. The envelope was opened and the bid price contained in the schedule of items was $2,587,250--approximately $300,000 lower than Pac Tank's. In conjunction with an agency-level protest /1/ filed by Pac Tank following the agency's decision to accept Cal Marine's late bid, the contracting officer conducted an investigation during which Cal Marine's president and an employee provided sworn statements.