Peers Health

B-413557.3 Mar 16, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Peers Health, of Chicago, Illinois, protests the rejection, as late, of the quotation it submitted in response to request for quotations (RFQ) No. N00189-16-T-Z197, issued by the Department of the Navy, for occupational health disability and treatment guidelines. Peers contends that it submitted a timely quotation that the agency improperly rejected. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Peers Health File:  B-413557.3 Date:  March 16, 2017 Jon Seymour, MD, Peers Health, for the protester. David H. Turner, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Mary G. Curcio, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging agency’s decision not to consider vendor’s quotation is denied where the quotation was not timely received by the agency in a manner consistent with the terms of the solicitation. DECISION Peers Health, of Chicago, Illinois, protests the rejection, as late, of the quotation it submitted in response to request for quotations (RFQ) No. N00189-16-T-Z197, issued by the Department of the Navy, for occupational health disability and treatment guidelines.  Peers contends that it submitted a timely quotation that the agency improperly rejected. We deny the protest. Quotations were due by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 28, 2016.  RFQ amend. 4, at 3.  The solicitation included detailed instructions for the preparation and submission of proposals, as well as the evaluation criteria and basis for award.  As relevant here, vendors were required to submit their quotations via email to the named point of contact at the email address provided in the solicitation, or by regular or overnight mail.  Id. at 6. The solicitation included Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items, which provides, in relevant part, that: (f) Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offers: (1)  Offerors are responsible for submitting offers . . . so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the time specified in the solicitation. . . (2)(i) Any offer . . . 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 (A) 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 offers; or (B) 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. . . . FAR provision 52.212-1(f); RFQ amend. 4, at 4.  At 11:59 a.m. EST on November 28, one minute before the quotations were due, Peers transmitted its quotation, via email, to the address provided in the solicitation for the receipt of quotations. Protest at 5; see also Protest, Attach. 16, Email from Peers to Navy.  The email was received on a government server at 11:59 a.m. EST, but did not reach the location designated in the solicitation for the receipt of quotations until 3:49 p.m. EST.  Request for Dismissal, Attach. 8, Navy Forensic Report, Dec. 28, 2016, at 3; Email from Agency, Jan. 18, 2017, 2:21 p.m.Theagency rejected Peer’s quotation as late, and this protest followed. Peers asserts that its proposal was properly and timely submitted because it was received at a government server at 11:59 a.m. EST, prior to the 12:00 p.m. EST deadline for the receipt of quotations.  The Navy disagrees that the quotation was timely received.  According to the Navy, the quotation was late because it was submitted electronically, but was not received at the location designated in the solicitation prior to the 12:00 p.m. EST deadline, and was not received before 5:00 p.m.