Link: GAO Opinion
Agency: Department of the Air Force
Disposition: Requested modification is denied.
Keywords: Bid and Proposal Costs (B&P Costs)
General Counsel, P.C. Highlight: GAO will not recommend an Agency pay a protester’s bid and proposal costs (B&P Costs) following a successful protest, so long as the Agency follows the GAO’s corrective action recommendation and the successful protester has a reasonable opportunity to compete following the protest, even where the Agency ultimately cancels the procurement for reasonable causes.
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Lockheed Martin (LM) and Sikorsky Aircraft Company requested that the GAO modify its recommendation from a previous decision in which it sustained protests by LM and Sikorsky challenging corrective action undertaken by the Department of the Air Force in response to an earlier decision. The original protest had been against the Air Force’s award of a contract to the Boeing Company under a request for proposals. In particular, LM and Sikorsky requested reimbursement of their Bid and Proposal Costs (B&P Costs). Following its determination in August of 2007 against the Air Force’s award of the contract to the Boeing Company, the GAO recommended that LM and Sikorsky be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing their protests. In June of 2009, the Air Force cancelled the original solicitation, in light of which, LM and Sikorsky request a modification of the recommendation to include reimbursement of their costs of preparing their proposals. Because the Air Force properly implemented the GAO’s initial recommended corrective actions, LM and Sikorsky participated in the reopened solicitation, and the cancellation of the solicitation was not unreasonable or otherwise improper, it was determined that LM and Sikorsky’s requests for reimbursement of their B&P Costs were denied.