Deadlines to Submit Bids on Federal Government Contracts

Builders and Contractors Exchange
Weekly Bulletin: 6 july 2010

Deadlines to Submit Bids on Federal Government Contracts
By: John Lockard

In the current struggling financial climate, contractors cannot afford to lose work because of procedural defects in their bids or proposals for government work. The failure to submit a bid by the deadline established by the government agency will almost certainly result in a rejection of the bid, even if the bid was delivered only one minute after the deadline.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) only allows the acceptance of late bids or proposals under limited circumstances. The government can accept a late bid if the bid was sent via electronic means (if allowed by the bidding documents) and received at the “initial point of entry to the government infrastructure” by 5:00 p.m. one working day before the bids were due. The FAR also allows the acceptance of late bids if there is “acceptable evidence” that the bid was received at the “government installation” and was under government control prior to the deadline. Finally, the agency may accept a late proposal for work procured through competitive negotiation if it was the only proposal received. In any event, the bid or proposal must actually be received before award of the contract and the contracting officer must determine that accepting the late bid would not unduly delay the acquisition.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) had also allowed contracting officers to accept late proposals for work procured through competitive negotiation in order to “enhance competition.” In essence, the GAO decided that the contracting officer had the authority to amend the due date for acceptance of proposals to cure a late delivery, but the decision is within the discretion of the contracting officer. More recently, however, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has issued a ruling that would appear to invalidate the exception created by the GAO.

Contractors should not wait until the last minute to assemble subcontractor quotes and to finalize bids. A contractor should not expect any relief if the bid is delayed by traffic or technical problems, even if the problems are beyond the contractor’s control. Contractors should take equal care to make sure their bids for Virginia government projects are delivered on time.