Carroll Gene Brewer, B-285484, August 22, 2000

B-285484 Aug 22, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Agency properly considered timber sale bid as a mishandled late bid where it was not discovered until after bids were opened due primarily to failure of procurement officials to check bid receiving official's desk for bids prior to bid opening. Should have rejected as late the high bid submitted by Travis Lumber Company under the Little Bigger Timber Sale. The facts here are undisputed. Bids were to be enclosed in a sealed envelope marked with "Bid for Timber" and the sale name or number and the date and time of bid opening. Since the contracting officer was away from his desk. Which was in a Federal Express envelope that was addressed to the contracting officer. (The contracting officer's desk is in the timber shop.). View Decision Matter of: Carroll Gene Brewer File: B-285484 Date: August 22, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Carroll Gene Brewer protests that the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, should have rejected as late the high bid submitted by Travis Lumber Company under the Little Bigger Timber Sale, Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, Arkansas. We deny the protest. The facts here are undisputed. The timber sale prospectus stated that bids would be opened on May 18, 2000 at 2 p.m., and provided the following mailing address: "Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, ATTN: Contracting Officer, 605 West Main Street, Russellville, AR 72801." Agency Report (AR), exh. A, Timber Sale Prospectus, at 1. Bids were to be enclosed in a sealed envelope marked with "Bid for Timber" and the sale name or number and the date and time of bid opening. AR, exh. A, Timber Sale Prospectus, Bid for Advertised Timber, Instructions to Bidders, at 7. At approximately 1:30 p.m. on May 18, an agency staff officer retrieved from the mailroom all of the mail addressed to the contracting officer and, at 1:40 p.m., since the contracting officer was away from his desk, placed it on the contracting officer's chair. The mail included Travis's bid, which was in a Federal Express envelope that was addressed to the contracting officer, but did not indicate that it contained a bid. AR, exh. C, Statement of David Craig Hilburn. Shortly before 2 p.m., the bid opening official accepted a bid from Brewer, and then checked the mailroom and the mail clerk's desk for other bids, but found none. She proceeded to the timber shop, where Travis's bid lay on the contracting officer's chair. (The contracting officer's desk is in the timber shop.) At 2 p.m., she opened the only known bid, Brewer's, and declared it to be the apparent high bid in the amount of $466,304.71. At approximately 2:10 p.m., the staff officer heard the bid opening official talking with a representative from Brewer in the hall, and thereby became aware that bid opening was concluded. The staff officer showed the bid opening official Travis's bid envelope on the contracting officer's chair; she hand-delivered the envelope to the contracting officer, who was still working in another office. At 2:14 p.m., the contracting officer opened the Federal Express envelope and removed an envelope addressed to "USDA--Forest Service." Upon opening this envelope, the contracting officer discovered Travis's bid in the amount of $494,751. After determining that Travis's bid was responsive, the contracting officer concluded that the bid was late as a result of mishandling by agency employees, and that it therefore could be considered. AR, exhs. B and C, Statement of David Craig Hilburn, and exh. E, Contracting Officer's Statement. Brewer challenges the agency's determination that the late discovery of Travis's bid was due to agency mishandling. Brewer maintains that Travis's failure to label its bid package as containing a bid was the cause of the lateness of the bid, and that there thus was no basis for considering it. Carolina Archaeological Servs., B-224818, Dec. 9, 1986, 86-2 CPD Para. 662 (late offer will not be considered where it was received at the agency mailroom prior to bid opening but was not transported to the proper designation specified in the solicitation on time due to mislabeling). The Forest Service's "Timber Sale Preparation Handbook," FSH 2409.18 Sec. 62.11, (AR, exh. F), which governs the treatment of late bids on timber sales, provides that a late bid shall not be considered unless receipt occurs before award and, relevant here, the contracting officer determines that the late receipt was due to mishandling by the Forest Service after receipt at the post office by the designated Forest Service installation. /1/ Where the record shows that a bid was not timely received in the bid opening location due primarily to the agency's failure to establish or follow reasonable procedures for receiving bids, the agency's actions constitute mishandling. Timber-Mart Southwest, Inc., B-274677, Jan. 22, 1997, 97-1 CPD Para. 38 at 3; Sun Int'l, B-208146, Jan.