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B-186786 1 (1976-09-20)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadcyx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL DECISION\ OF THE UNITED STATES t ; WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 FILE: B-186786 DATE: September 20, 1976 MATTER OF: Service Enterprises, Inc. q 9 DIGEST: 1. Protest against alleged improprieties in solicitation not filed prior to bid opening with either contracting agency or GAO is untimely. 2. There is no legal principle on which an award may be disturbed merely because a bidder might have submitted below cost bid. 3. GAO does not review protests against affirmative determinations of responsibility by contracting officials except in cases of fraud or misapplication of definitive responsibility criteria set out-in solicitation. While it is doubtful whether special. standard of responsibility relative to manning charts was such definitive criterion, it was nevertheless applied. Service Enterprises Inc. (Service), has protested the award of a con- tract made by the Naval Regional Procurement Office (NRPO), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under invitation for bids (IFB) No. N00140-76-B-6536. Bids were opened on May 26, 1976. An award was made to Artistic Caterers, Inc. (Artistic), on June 21, 1976. By mailgram dated June 21, 1976, Service protested the award to this Office on the following grounds: 1. The IFB was defective by omitting monitoring guidelines in the Food Service Rating Sheet and the Sanitation Rating Form. 2. The price by Artistic is grossly insufficient to meet the intent and purpose of subparagraphs C53 and C56 of section C of the IFB. The first allegation goes to the adequacy of the specifications. In this regard, section 20.2(b) of our Bid Protest Procedures, 4 C.F.R. part 20 (1976), provides in pertinent part: - 1 -