Wright & Morrissey

B-417105 Feb 15, 2019 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Wright & Morrissey, of South Burlington, Vermont, protests the award of a contract to Stewart Construction Inc., of Essex Junction, Vermont, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. W912LN-18-B-5001, issued by the Department of the Army, Vermont Air National Guard for construction services. The protester alleges that the agency improperly allowed Stewart to correct a mistake in its bid, displacing the protester as the low bidder. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Wright & Morrissey File:  B-417105 Date:  February 15, 2019 Marc Heath, Esq., Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, for the protester. Scott N. Flesch, Esq., Brian Habib, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Paula A. Williams, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Correction of a bid that results in the displacement of a lower bid was reasonable where the existence of the mistake and the intended bid is ascertainable from the hand written information on the bid itself. DECISION Wright & Morrissey, of South Burlington, Vermont, protests the award of a contract to Stewart Construction Inc., of Essex Junction, Vermont, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. W912LN-18-B-5001, issued by the Department of the Army, Vermont Air National Guard for construction services.  The protester alleges that the agency improperly allowed Stewart to correct a mistake in its bid, displacing the protester as the low bidder. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The IFB, issued on April 20, 2018, was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website.  The IFB sought bids for the renovation of building 385, the aircraft shelter and fuel cell located at the Vermont Air National Guard Base in South Burlington, Vermont.  IFB at 2.  The required renovations, as specified in the IFB plans and drawings, were described in eight contract line item numbers (CLINs):  CLIN 0001, the base bid for building 385; CLIN 0002, for contract manpower reporting (CMR); CLIN 0003, for communications and cabling equipment (CCE); CLIN 0004, option 1, aircraft cooling unit; CLIN 0005, option 2, aircraft 270 VDC converter; CLIN 0006, option 3, compressed air system; CLIN 0007, option 4, lower roof replacement; and CLIN 0008, option 5, upper roof replacement.  Id. at 3-6.  Bidders were to provide unit prices for each CLIN.  The IFB was amended five times.  Of relevance here, is the agency’s response to a potential bidder’s question concerning installation of fire pumps: Question (Q):  Drawing FX001-Rev C note 7 under general notes calls for (2) fire pumps to be installed, but there are no details or specs for the pumps.  Spec section 211313 1.2.1.1 notes that the calculations shall be based on fire pumps in Building 360.  Please clarify.  Are the pumps existing in B360? Answer (A):  Fire Suppression General Note 7 on FX001 is in error, and should be deleted.  Currently there is one pump in B385, which feeds B385 and B360.  This pump is not adequate for the new pressures.  Two new fire pumps will be provided in B360 to serve B360 and B385 through the existing underground. IFB amend. 5, Q&A No. 24 at 6 (June 19, 2018). The agency received eight bids, which it opened as scheduled on June 21, 2018.  When Stewart’s bid was opened, the contracting officer observed that the bid included handwritten notations directly below Stewart’s bid price for CLINs 0001, 0002, and 0003, respectively.  Specifically, below the bid amount for CLIN 0001, the notation read “Note: Fire Pumps Excluded From B360.”  Agency Report (AR) exh. 9, Stewart’s Bid at 3 (emphasis in original).  Under its bid amounts for CLINs 0002 and 0003, the notation read “Note: Included In Our Base Bid; We Assume This Is A Breakout.”  Id. at 3-4; Contracting Officer’s Statement at 1 (Nov. 19, 2018). Upon review of Stewart’s bid, the contracting officer immediately noticed the handwritten notations and their potential for a bid mistake.  Because he expected that he would need further legal guidance regarding the matter, he did not disclose the presence of these notations during bid opening and did not take account of the handwritten notes when calculating Stewart’s bid.[1]  Contracting Officer’s Statement at 1 (Nov. 19, 2018).  In calculating Stewart’s total bid price, the contracting officer added the prices listed for each of the eight CLINs, and used the same calculation methodology to determine the total bid price for the other bidders.  Wright & Morrissey submitted the apparent low bid of $5,172,000.00, and Stewart submitted the second low bid of $5,220,950.00.  AR exh.