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Amendments extending biding deadline after bidding deadline


someguy

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New here, just wanted to say hello to everyone. Just a guy from a small, newly certified SDVOSB, trying to learn how all this fedgov contracting works. This is an excellent resource for research; I'm forever indebted to the contracting gods..haha; Anyways, I thought I'd post this probably common question to the board:..breaking the ice and all.

Is there legislation that enables buyers to alter contracts before award, but after bidding closure? I'm just going to assume this is a common occurence, but I'm having trouble locating literature on the subject.

Related to this scenario:

Bidding ends, 3 or more proposals listed on a bid tabulature, solicitation is reinstated with an amendment changing the bid deadline.

I look forward to getting to know you guys, learning as much as a can, and becoming a part of this community.

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the federal contracting business is guided by the Federal Acquisition, Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

That derives from legislation, but laws are rarely consulted or cited directly.

I am not familiar with the term "bid tabulature." I assume this means, in this context, a listing of all bids received.

In an IFB sealed bidding situation, it is common knowledge how many bids were received.

In a negotiated procurement (RFP,) that is not the norm for bidders to know how many competitors responded.

But it dies happen.

.....

If I understand your concern, and I may not,

your firm submitted a timely offer, and after the time for bids passed, the government issued an Amendment, reopening the bid acceptance period and allowing new bidders to submit an offer.

If this is your question, go to the WIFCON Legal page and look at the variety of decisions and outcomes in the matter of GeoSEIS Helicopters. The COFC can't tell the Comp Gen what to do, and vice versa. These 2 fora decided the question you have differently.

So, if you're gong to protest, protest to COFC, who says that "Late is Late."

Understand that the consensus at this website is that Contracting Officers can do whatever the heck they want, so long as they come up with a narrative "justification." For this situation, the rationalization is "increasing competition," which happens to be how the GAO Protest forum is justified (CICA) and funded, which should tell you how they decide the question.

Of course, if the solicitation has a material error, an Amendment is appropriate. But who gets the Amendment is spelled out in FAR 15.206(c,) which seems to me to say that Amendments that are issued after the established time and date for receipt of proposals should only be issued to those offerors who already submitted a timely offer and who have not yet been eliminated from the competition.

Then again, if in the judgment of the contracting officer, based on proposals received, or on other informtion, an amendment proposed for issuance after offers have been received is so substantial as to exceed what prospective offerors reasonably could have anticipated, so that additional sources likely would have submitted offers had the substance of the amendment been known to them, then FAR 15.206(e) seems to direct the contracting officer to cancel the original solicitation and issue a new one, regardless of the stage of the acquisition. Hmmm.

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Guest Vern Edwards
Is there legislation that enables buyers to alter contracts before award, but after bidding closure? I'm just going to assume this is a common occurence, but I'm having trouble locating literature on the subject.

Related to this scenario:

Bidding ends, 3 or more proposals listed on a bid tabulature, solicitation is reinstated with an amendment changing the bid deadline.

Using proper terminology, I think you are asking whether any law or regulation permits the Government to amend (change) a solicitation (Invitation for Bids or Request for Proposals) to extend the submission deadline after bids or proposals have been received. If that's the question, then the answer depends on whether the procurement is being conducted by negotiation or sealed bidding.

If the procurement is being conducted by negotiation, then it is governed by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Part 15, "Contracting by Negotiation." Section 15.206, "Amendment of Solicitation," generally permits the Government to amend the solicitation at any time prior to contract award, even after receipt of proposals. Such an action might require the contracting officer to do other things, as well, such as to give the competitors a chance to revise their proposals.

If the procurement is being conducted by sealed bidding, then it is governed by FAR Part 14, "Sealed Bidding." Section 14.208, "Amendment of Invitation for Bids," permits the Government to amend the solicitation until bid opening. It cannot amend the solicitation after bid opening.

But can agencies extend proposal due dates after receipt of proposals?

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has permitted agencies using negotiated procurement to extend proposal due dates after the deadline for submission. See Geo-Seis Helicopters, Inc., GAO B-299175, Mar. 5, 2007:

There is no prohibition against a procuring agency issuing an amendment to extend the closing time for receipt of proposals after that time has passed in order to accommodate even one offeror, where the motivation for the extension is enhanced competition. Varicon Int’l, Inc.; MVM, Inc., B-255808, B-255808.2, Apr. 6, 1994, 94-1 CPD ¶ 240 at 4.

However, one judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has objected to that procedure and the court might not permit an agency to do it. See Geo-Seis Helicopters, Inc., 77 Fed. Cl. 633, Jul. 30, 2007:

There is simply no basis in the FAR for the view that the Contracting Officer had discretion to render the “late is late” rule a nullity. Although GAO decisions support the government's position as to the nunc pro tunc effect of post-hoc amendments, see supra at 642, those GAO precedents reflect “one of those Comptroller–General–created rules that is not reflected in the FAR,” as conceded by Professor Nash, a harsh critic of the “late is late” rule.

A suggestion: Buy some books, Formation of Government Contracts, 4th ed., and Administration of Government Contracts, 4th ed. (expensive). Take some classes, such as the classes offered by ESI International, http://www.esi-intl.com, or by Public Contracting Institute, http://www.publiccon...ginstitute.com; identify a good government contracts law firm (there are many); and identify a good government contracts accountant (there are many). Get professional advice when you need it. Don't rely on this forum too much.

Good luck with your new business.

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this is actually a question about Contract Formation, not Contracting Workforce.

I was directed by the wifcon admin to post more "low brow" or common questions here, but if I am in error, I will amend it in the future.

Thank you, Brian and Vern both, for the direction and advice. To clarify both scenarios are "sealed bidding". The second scenario, where bids are opened and posted publicly, as I understand, would not normally happen in a federal contracting situation, as we do not see other bids normally(I was using a local government scenario in my mind and seeing how it would differ in the federal setting). Thanks again, I have a lot of reading to do.

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