Sorry to hit your button Joel, but the statement is still true. The original question was about a price reasonableness determination, not cancellation of bids. Note that my last sentence ends with "assuming there are no errors in the solicitation". Your assumptions revolve around an error in the specs or some kind of hang up surrounding the solicitation, which may or may not be the case. The poster didn't mention whether this was a $50K project or a $50M project, and didn't make a reference to any known problems with the solicitation, so your assumptions are being made in the dark. This situation could just as easily been a bad estimate. I have worked in construction contracting and I stand by my statement that many government estimates aren't worth the paper they are written on. At least that has been my experience... perhaps you have been more fortunate. Neither of us know the intricacies of the poster's specific situation.
Contracting officers in ANY area should be using their professional judgement and experience in ALL of their decisions... and they shouldn't have warrants if they don't have the judgement or the experience. Cancelling bids should not be done lightly. If there isn't a legitimate reason for doing it, then it is wasteful and unfair treatment to the contractors who have invested their resources in preparing a responsible bid.
In accordance with FAR 14.408-2 Responsible bidder?reasonableness of price.
(a) The contracting officer shall determine that a prospective contractor is responsible (see Subpart 9.1) and that the prices offered are reasonable before awarding the contract. The price analysis techniques in 15.404-1( may be used as guidelines.
And here is FAR 15.404-1((2)(i) regarding proposal price analysis... the very first one listed:
"Comparison of proposed prices received in response to the solicitation. Normally, adequate price competition establishes a fair and reasonable price (see 15.403-1©(1))."
We definitely have very different connotations of the word "crock"... You are not the only person in this forum with experience. But that's the beauty of this profession... you can have your opinion, I can have mine, and they can be different without either being wrong.
Regardless, my response to the question IS accurate.