Master Pavement Line Corp. (693C73-20-B-000024)

B-419111 Dec 16, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Master Pavement Line Corporation, a disadvantaged small business located in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, protests the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under invitation for bids (IFB) No. 693C73-20-B-000024, issued by the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for repair services. The protester argues that the agency improperly rejected its bid as nonresponsive on the basis that it did not have an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration at the time of bid submission. We sustain the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Master Pavement Line Corporation File:  B-419111 Date:  December 16, 2020 Stuart Weinstein-Bacal, Esq., Weinstein-Bacal, Miller & Vega, P.S.C., for the protester. Milton Hsieh, Esq., Department of Transportation, 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 Protest challenging the rejection of protester’s bid as nonresponsive for failing to have an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration at the time of bid submission is sustained.  Compliance with the SAM registration requirements are matters of bidder responsibility, not bid responsiveness.  The agency should have provided the protester with the opportunity to correct the SAM registration, which the protester, in fact, did prior to award. DECISION Master Pavement Line Corporation, a disadvantaged small business located in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, protests the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under invitation for bids (IFB) No. 693C73-20-B-000024, issued by the Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for repair services.  The protester argues that the agency improperly rejected its bid as nonresponsive on the basis that it did not have an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration at the time of bid submission.  We sustain the protest.  BACKGROUND The solicitation was issued on July 10, 2020, as a small business set-aside, seeking a contractor to repair signs, guardrails, and other safety repairs as described in PR-52 and PR-53, Project No. PR ST ER PRMNT RPR (5), in Puerto Rico.  IFB at 2.[1]  The solicitation anticipated award of a fixed-price contract to the lowest-priced bidder whose bid conformed to the solicitation requirements.  Id. at 33.  Of relevance to the protest, the IFB’s checklist for bid submission included the following statement:  “THE FOLLOWING THREE ITEMS IF NOT SUBMITTED WITH THE BID; MUST BE COMPLETED ELECTRONICALLY PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD.”  IFB at 7.  One of the three items was registration in the System for Award Management.  Id.  The solicitation also incorporated by reference Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Oct. 2018).  Agency Report (AR) exh. C, Contract Clauses Index at 1.  As amended, FAR provision 52.204-7 requires bidders to be registered in SAM at the time an offer or quotation is submitted, and continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation.  FAR provision 52.204-7, see also 83 Fed. Reg. 48691 (Sept. 26, 2018).  The FAR explains that:  “Offerors and quoters are required to be registered in SAM at the time an offer or quotation is submitted in order to comply with the annual representations and certifications requirement” except in certain circumstances set forth in FAR 4.1102(a).[2]  Once completed, the required annual certifications and representations are then incorporated into the contract.  See FAR 4.1200(c).  The agency received 11 bids in response to the solicitation and opened these bids on August 18.  Master Pavement was the apparent low bidder.  Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law at 2.  Following review of Master Pavement’s bid, the agency found that the firm’s SAM registration had expired on June 28, 2013, and determined that Master Pavement’s bid was nonresponsive because Master Pavement was not registered in SAM when it submitted its bid, as required by FAR provision 52.204-7.  Id.  The record reflects that the protester submitted its SAM registration for processing on August 20, 2020, two days after bid opening.[3]  AR exh. D, Protester’s Email to Agency at 2.  On September 1, the contracting officer notified the protester that its bid was nonresponsive and would not be considered for award based on the SAM registration requirement set forth in FAR provision 52.204-7.  Protest exh.