Eastern Technical Enterprises, Inc., B-281319; B-281320,

Eastern Technical Enterprises, Inc., B-281319; B-281320, BNUMBER: B-281319; B-281320 DATE: January 22, 1999 TITLE: Eastern Technical Enterprises, Inc., B-281319; B-281320, January 22, 1999 ********************************************************************** Matter of:Eastern Technical Enterprises, Inc. File: B-281319; B-281320 Date:January 22, 1999 Michael J. Gardner, Esq., Clark & Stant, for the protester. Kenneth A. Lechter, Esq., Department of Commerce, for the agency. Susan K. McAuliffe, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Cancellation of an invitation for bids after bid opening is proper where solicitation does not reflect changed requirements in work and award under the solicitation would not serve the government's actual needs. DECISION Eastern Technical Enterprises, Inc. protests the cancellation of invitation for bids (IFB) No. 51-EANA-8-00076, issued by the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for the drydocking and repair of NOAA Ship ALBATROSS IV. The protester's challenge is based upon the terms of the agency's resolicitation of the procurement through the issuance of request for proposals (RFP) No. 52-EANA-9-00002. Eastern contends that the RFP did not contain sufficient changes in requirements to support the agency's cancellation of the IFB. We deny the protest. The IFB was issued on July 22, 1998 to 16 firms. Three bids were received by the September 8 bid opening. Eastern's bid of $599,469 was the apparent low bid received; bids of $848,682 and $1,097,402 were received from two other firms. On September 22, the agency canceled the IFB due to changes in its requirements. The protester received notice of the cancellation on October 6. On the same day, Eastern received the RFP, the agency's resolicitation of the canceled requirement. After comparing the two solicitations' requirements, Eastern filed its current protest, contending that the changes in requirements were minor and do not support the agency's cancellation of the IFB.[1] Preservation of the integrity of the competitive bidding system dictates that after bids have been opened, award must be made to that responsible bidder which submitted the lowest responsive bid, unless there is a compelling reason to reject all bids and cancel the IFB. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) sec. 14.404-1(a)(1); Zwick Energy Research Org., Inc., B-237520.3, Jan. 25, 1991, 91-1 CPD para. 72 at 2-3. However, an IFB may be canceled after bid opening, and all bids rejected, where award under the IFB would not serve the government's actual needs, and the specifications therefore need to be revised. FAR sec. 14.404-1(c)(1), (2); I.T.S. Corp., B-243223, July 15, 1991, 91-2 CPD para. 55 at 3-4. We conclude that the cancellation here was proper. As discussed below, the record shows that the agency's needs have materially changed since the issuance of the IFB, as evidenced by the significantly relaxed requirements contained in the RFP.[2] The agency cites several examples of changes it believes are sufficiently significant to justify the cancellation. For example, in basic item No. 1 of the IFB's performance requirements, regarding drydocking and routine drydock work, the agency has deleted two requirements: (1) the requirement that the single section floating drydock be capable of leveling the ship within +/-2 minutes of arc with reference to the horizontal gravity plane (IFB Detail Specifications (DS) sec. 3.1.3(c)); and (2) the requirement that the ship be drydocked on 60-inch minimum height keel blocks (Id. sec. 3.1.3(b)). The Lead Port Engineer explains that these two requirements--which pertain to certain ship transducer and underwater body work not required under the IFB--were mistakenly included in the IFB, and that they exceed the agency's actual drydocking needs. Specifically, he explains the restrictive nature of the unnecessary requirements, and the materiality of their deletion as follows: Eliminating the tight-tolerance ship leveling requirement provides contractors with the option of performing the work in a graving dock or marine railway instead of only in a single section floating drydock. Eliminating the 60-inch minimum keel block height requirement allows the ship to be drydocked on more common 48-inch block heights, and in facilities with limited draft capabilities, further increasing competition. These requirements were needed when the ship had transducer work scheduled in conjunction with underwater body work in drydock. Transducer work was not scheduled for this drydock and repair period and the requirements should not have been included in the specification. Declaration of James B.