Martin Brothers Construction (B-420797.7)

You should not care.

Categories: Late is late, electronic submittal, SPAM

Date: 7 March 2025

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-420797.7

Martin Brothers Construction (MBC), a small business from Sacramento, California, protested the US Army’s rejection of its revised proposal as late under RFP #W912HY21R0012, issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for horizontal construction services in the Galveston District and Southwestern Division. MBC argued that the agency failed to ensure delivery of evaluation notices (ENs) and solicitation amendments, thus denying meaningful discussions and a fair opportunity to submit revisions.

The Corps issued the RFP via the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) system, requiring phase two proposal revisions by 31 July 2024. MBC missed the deadline, submitting at 5:10 PM after being notified of nonsubmission, claiming it did not receive ENs or amendment 21 due to emails landing in its spam folder. The agency rejected MBC’s proposal as late, prompting the protest.

Timeliness of protest filing: The Corps argued MBC’s protest was untimely, but GAO found ambiguity in delivery dates favored the protester, allowing consideration.

Meaningful discussions: MBC alleged the Corps failed to ensure EN receipt; GAO ruled the agency properly emailed the designated address, and MBC’s spam filter issue was not the agency’s fault.

Opportunity for proposal revisions: MBC claimed the agency did not ensure amendment receipt; GAO found the Corps adequately posted amendments on PIEE and emailed notifications, fulfilling its duty.

The protest was denied, because MBC’s late submission stemmed from its own email management issues, not agency error.

Digest

Protest challenging the agency’s rejection of proposal as late is denied where the protester admittedly submitted revised proposal after the stated deadline and cannot establish that the late submission was due to any improper action by the agency.