RB Construction Company (36C25021B0022)

B-419894.2 Oct 22, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights RB Construction Company, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), of Mount Clemens, Michigan, protests the award of a contract to Freedom Contracting Group, an SDVOSB of New Hudson, Michigan, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. 36C25021B0022, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a construction project at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The protester alleges that the agency improperly allowed Freedom to correct a mistake in its bid. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  RB Construction Company File:  B-419894.2 Date:  October 22, 2021  Cindy R. Victor, Esq., Kus Ryan & Associates, PLLC, for the protester. Brian R. Reed, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Christopher An, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Agency reasonably concluded that awardee submitted a responsive bid when it acknowledged mandatory amendments and took no exception to the terms of the solicitation. 2.  Agency reasonably permitted upward correction of awardee’s low bid where the record included clear and convincing evidence of both the mistake and the intended price. DECISION RB Construction Company, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), of Mount Clemens, Michigan, protests the award of a contract to Freedom Contracting Group, an SDVOSB of New Hudson, Michigan, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. 36C25021B0022, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a construction project at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The protester alleges that the agency improperly allowed Freedom to correct a mistake in its bid.  We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On March 24, 2021, the agency issued the IFB as a set-aside for SDVOSB concerns seeking sealed bids for the construction of Site Prep Angio OR-6 for the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center.  Protest, exh. 1, IFB at 1.  Before the due date for submission of bids, the agency issued three amendments to the IFB.  The first amendment, issued on April 20, 2021, extended the bid opening date to May 6, 2021, and informed bidders that they would need to include the cost to furnish and install two listed brand name high-tech medical equipment systems within their bids.  Protest, exh. 2, IFB, amend. 1 at 1-2.  To ensure that all bids would be based on the installation of the two required brand name systems, namely, an AirFRAME ceiling system (AirFRAME) and a Skytron surgical lights and booms system (Skytron), the VA sought quotations from a supplier of the systems--Stevens Moon and Associates.  Protest, exh. 3, IFB amend. 2 at 1.  On May 5, 2021, the VA issued a second amendment, which provided bidders with quotations from Stevens Moon for the two systems (AirFRAME and Skytron).  Id.  at 1.  The amendment went on to instruct bidders that the “two quotes from Stevens Moon [] must be included with your bid.”  Id. at 1; Req. for Dismissal, attach. 2, Stevens Moon AirFRAME System Quotation; Req. for Dismissal, attach. 3, Skytron System Quotation.   Shortly after issuing the second amendment, the VA issued a third amendment to provide updated pricing for the AirFRAME system and the Skytron system to include sales tax values that were inadvertently omitted from amendment 2.  Protest, exh. 4, IFB amend. 3 at 1.  The agency required bidders to acknowledge these amendments.  IFB at 5.  The final provided price quotation for the AirFRAME system was $280,800.39 and the price for the Skytron system was $370,922.32.  Id. at 2; Req. for Dismissal, attach. 4, Revised AirFRAME Quotation at 1; Req. for Dismissal, attach. 5, Revised Skytron Quotation at 4. On May 6, 2021, the VA opened four timely bids submitted in response to the IFB.  The bid prices were as follows: Bidder Value of Submitted Bids RB Construction Company $1,182,651 Freedom Contracting Group $747,000 Daniel Building Co. $1,185,000 CAVU Roncelli LLC $1,333,000   Req. for Dismissal, attach. 7, Determinations and Findings at 2, 7-8.  Later, that same day, Freedom contacted the contracting officer by telephone, explained that it had mistakenly omitted the cost of the Skytron system from its bid, and asked permission to make an upward correction to account for the error.  Id. at 2.  The contracting officer requested documentary evidence of the mistake and advised that the agency would review the request for correction in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) section 14.407-3(a). Id. at 2; Req.