Recently, the GAO denied the bid protest of Bridges System Integration, LLC (“Bridge”) (decision here). This bid protest involved an RFP for a standing solicitation for the provision of professional audio/video, telemetry/tracking, recording, reproducing and signal data solutions. Bridge’s bid was rejected for not complying with the RFP. While there were multiple issues involved in this decision, this article focuses on Bridge’s challenge to the terms of the solicitation as they related to its already submitted and rejected bid.

The GAO held that “[t]o be timely, a challenge to the terms of this solicitation had to be raised prior to submitting a proposal under the terms of that solicitation.” It further held that for standing orders, which do not have a set time for submissions, “challenges to the terms of a standing FSS solicitation are untimely, with respect to the application of these terms to the evaluation of an offeror’s proposal, if the protest is filed after the protester has submitted a proposal under that solicitation.” For this, and other reasons enumerated in the decision, the bid protest was denied.

Timelines are key to bid protest cases. Failure to timely file a bid protest can forfeit your rights to even bring the protest. If you believe that the specifications for an RFP are biased or unfair, contact the experienced bid protest attorneys at Smith & Associates for a free consultation.