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![handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaeea0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Comptroller General
of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20548
Decision
Matter of: PBM Construction, Inc.
File: B-271344
Date: May 8, 1996
David J. Bader, Esq., Dillin & Bader, Inc., for the protester.
Sherry Kinland Kaswell, Esq., and Justin P. Patterson, Esq., Department of the
Interior, for the agency.
Jacqueline Maeder, Esq., and Paul Lieberman, Esq., Office of the General Counsel,
GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST
Where facsimile bid modification was unacceptable because it was not authorized
by the solicitation, agency determination to award on the basis of the unexpired
original bid is unobjectionable.
DECISION
PBM Construction, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Dunton Construction
Co., Inc. under invitation for bids (IFB) No. FWS 1-96-014 issued by the Department
of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, for certain construction at the Coleman
National Fish Hatchery, Anderson, California. PBM contends that the agency
improperly accepted the awardee's bid.
We deny the protest.
Bid opening was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on February 6, 1996. The IFB required
bidders to offer a 75-calendar-day government acceptance period and included the
clause at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 52.214-5, which provides in
relevant part that [f]acsimile bids, modifications, or withdrawals, will not be
considered unless authorized by the solicitation. The IFB did not contain such an
authorization.
The agency received Dunton's original bid of $491,796 on February 2. By facsimile
transmitted on February 5, Dunton increased its bid by $42,700 to a total of
$534,496. PBM's bid was second low at $544,780. Both bidders agreed to offer a
75-day government acceptance period. On February 6, PBM filed a pre-award
agency-level protest, asserting that because facsimile bid modifications were not
allowed under the solicitation, Dunton's bid should be rejected.
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