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![handle is hein.gao/gaobaecrd0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
1O o U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
G A O A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work
441 G St. N.W. Comptroller General
Washington, DC 20548 of the United States
Decision
Matter of: Jade Excavation, Inc.
File: B-419515
Date: March 18, 2021
John White, for the protester.
Milton Hsieh, Esq., Department of Transportation, for the agency.
Christopher An, Evan Wesser, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General
Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST
Protest arguing agency was required to reject low bid because the bidder did not have
an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration at the time of bid
submission as required by solicitation is denied. Compliance with SAM registration
requirements are matters of bidder responsibility, not bid responsiveness, therefore the
agency correctly allowed the awardee to cure its SAM registration prior to award.
DECISION
Jade Excavation, Inc. (Jade), a small business of Powell Butte, Oregon, protests the
award of a contract to York Bros Excavation, LLC (York), a small business of Bend,
Oregon, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. 69056720B000022, which was issued by the
Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for paving work
in the South Shore recreation area in Oregon. Jade asserts that the agency should
have rejected York's low bid because York did not have an active registration in the
System for Award Management (SAM) at the time of bid submission as required by the
IFB.
We deny the protest.
BACKGROUND
On October 16, 2020, FHWA requested sealed bids for paving work within the South
Shore recreation area in Oregon. The IFB was issued in accordance with Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 14. Relevant here, the IFB incorporated by reference
FAR provision 52.204-7, System for Award Management (SAM) (Oct 2018). IFB
at B-10. In relevant part, the provision dictates that [a]n Offeror must be registered in
SAM when submitting an offer or quotation and establishes that SAM registration must](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobaecrd0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)