Sea Box, Inc., B-291056, October 31, 2002

B-291056 Oct 31, 2002 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest that agency improperly rejected proposal as late is denied where proposal was submitted electronically. Was not received at the initial point of entry to the government infrastructure by 5:00 p.m. 1 working day prior to the deadline for submitting proposals. The exception that permits consideration of late proposals that are received at the government installation. Is inapplicable to proposals submitted electronically. Offerors were to submit proposals to a specified e-mail address. Withdrawal of proposals. (i) Offerors are responsible for submitting proposals. If no time is specified in the solicitation. The time for receipt is 4:30 p.m. For the designated Government office on the date that proposal or revision is due. (ii)(A) Any proposal. View Decision Sea Box, Inc., B-291056, October 31, 2002 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Sea Box, Inc. protests the rejection of its proposal as late under request for proposals (RFP) No. DAAE07-02-R-S104, issued by the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) for a quantity of container roll-in/out platforms. We deny the protest. The RFP required offerors to submit proposals by 1:00 p.m. local time, July 15, 2002, in an electronic format, and provided that they could be delivered either by hand (for example, on floppy discs or CD ROMS) or by electronic means such as e-mail or datafax. In the case of e-mail submissions, offerors were to submit proposals to a specified e-mail address. The RFP specifically referred to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sec. 52-215-1, Instructions to Offerors, and, in particular directed offerors' attention to paragraph (c)(3) of that provision, which in relevant part provides: (3) Submission, modification, revision, and withdrawal of proposals. (i) Offerors are responsible for submitting proposals, and any modifications or revisions, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. If no time is specified in the solicitation, the time for receipt is 4:30 p.m., local time, for the designated Government office on the date that proposal or revision is due. (ii)(A) Any proposal, modification, or revision received at the Government office designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt of offers is "late" and will not be considered unless it is received before award is made, the Contracting Officer determines that accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the acquisition; and- (1) If it was transmitted through an electronic commerce method authorized by the solicitation, it was received at the initial point of entry to the Government infrastructure not later than 5:00 p.m. one working day prior to the date specified for receipt of proposals; or (2) There is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received at the Government installation designated for receipt of offers and was under the Government's control prior to the time set for receipt of offers; or (3) It is the only proposal received. The facts of this case are not in dispute. The record shows that approximately 11 minutes before the 1:00 p.m. deadline for submitting proposals, the protester commenced the transmission of seven e-mail messages comprising its proposal. All seven messages arrived at the agency's initial point of entry (a Unix mail relay host server) between 8 and 10 minutes before the deadline. The e-mail messages were held at the initial point of entry for periods ranging from approximately 17 to 33 minutes, at which point they were forwarded to an Internet virus scanning server, then to a mail distribution server, and finally to the e-mail address specified in the solicitation. The proposal ultimately arrived at the e-mail address between approximately 7 and 24 minutes after the 1:00 p.m. deadline for submitting offers, and the agency therefore rejected it as late. Sea Box does not dispute that its proposal could not be accepted under the first exception, FAR Sec. 52.215-1(3)(ii)(A)(1), since it was not transmitted by 5:00 p.m. the working day before the due date. See PMTech, Inc., B-291082, Oct. 11, 2002, 2002 CPD Para. __ at 2-3 (electronic proposal transmitted 13 minutes prior to deadline for submitting proposals properly rejected). Sea Box argues, however, that its proposal nevertheless could be accepted under the second exception, FAR Sec. 52.215-1(3)(ii)(A)(2). In this regard, the protester notes that its entire proposal arrived at the initial point of entry for electronic proposals prior to the deadline for submitting offers, and was out of the protester's control and in the government's control approximately 8 to 10 minutes prior to the deadline for submitting proposals.