Red John's Stone, Inc., B-280974, December 14, 1998

B-280974 Dec 14, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Bid on road repair project on the Blue Ridge Parkway is nonresponsive. The bid schedule included 42 line items covering all of the work required under the contract and stated the estimated quantities of such work where other than lump-sum prices were required. The IFB supplemented and amended the requirements to state that seed was to be applied during the growing season of "April 1 to September 30.". Bid opening was on July 29. 937.55 was lowest. The next lowest bid price was $342. The agency notified Red John that its 98 day performance period was considerably lower than the agency's estimate and stated: It is necessary for us to ensure that Red John's Stone can complete the project work within 98 days. View Decision Matter of: Red John's Stone, Inc. File: B-280974 Date: December 14, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Red John's Stone, Inc. protests the rejection of its bid under invitation for bids (IFB) No. DTFH71-98-B-00019, issued by the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, for roadway reconstruction and other related work on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Alleghany and Ashe counties, North Carolina. We deny the protest. The IFB, issued on June 26, 1998, contemplated the award of a fixed-price construction contract. The IFB stated that award would be based on lowest total cost to the government, which would be the sum of the bid price plus the contract administrative cost associated with the length of the performance period stated in the bid. IFB at B-1. The IFB stated an administrative cost of $500 per day. Id. The bid schedule included a summary page on which each bidder had to state the number of calendar days it would take to complete all project work from a construction start date of November 16. IFB at B-8. The IFB required that bidders offer a performance period not to exceed 180 calendar days for completion of all contract work. IFB at A-4, B-1. The bid schedule included 42 line items covering all of the work required under the contract and stated the estimated quantities of such work where other than lump-sum prices were required. The line items included hot asphalt concrete pavement, pavement markings, furnishing and placing topsoil, and turf establishment. IFB at B-2 - B-7. The IFB incorporated the project plans/drawings and the agency's Standard Specifications for Construction of Roads and Bridges on Federal Highway Projects, FP-96, 1996, which stated the requirements for the work to be performed under the contract. IFB at A-1. These requirements included the minimum temperature requirements for placement of hot asphalt concrete mix (FP-96 Sec. 401.07 at 241), the minimum temperature requirements for painting pavement markings (FP-96 Sec. 634.05 at 636), the required ground conditions for placing topsoil (FP-96 Sec. 624.04 at 609), and the turf establishment season (FP-96 Sec. 625-03 at 611). Although FP-96 did not state the dates of the local growing season for turf establishment, the IFB supplemented and amended the requirements to state that seed was to be applied during the growing season of "April 1 to September 30." IFB at J-14. Bid opening was on July 29. The agency received four bids. Red John's bid price of $299,937.55 was lowest. The next lowest bid price was $342,514.75. Red John also bid the shortest performance period of 98 days. All of the other bids offered performance periods of 180 days. Because of its short performance period, Red John's bid represented the lowest evaluated cost to the government by an even wider margin (over $80,000). Agency Report, Tab 8. By fax transmission of July 30, the agency notified Red John that its 98 day performance period was considerably lower than the agency's estimate and stated: It is necessary for us to ensure that Red John's Stone can complete the project work within 98 days. As a means to verify your contract time, please provide a copy of any documentation, such as a draft [critical path method (CPM)] schedule, that you used to determine your contract time for the work . . . . Agency Report, Tab 13. Red John responded by providing the agency with its CPM schedule. Consistent with the 98-day performance period, Red John had scheduled completion of all work by the third week of February 1999 (based on the required November 16 start date). Agency Report, Tab 14. The agency determined that the average temperatures for the repair areas were too low to permit placing hot asphalt concrete, painting pavement markings, and placing topsoil in accordance with the minimum requirements stated in FP-96, and that seeding for turf establishment would be performed prior to April 1, the specified start of the growing season. Agency Report, Tab 7. The agency thus determined that Red John's bid proposed work that was noncompliant with the solicitation requirements and that the work could not be performed within 98 calendar days.