BNUMBER:  B-274513
DATE:  November 5, 1996
TITLE:  Educational Planning & Advice, Inc.

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Matter of:Educational Planning & Advice, Inc.

File:     B-274513

Date:November 5, 1996

Katja M. Ognyanovich for the protester.
Nicholas P. Retson, Esq., and Thomas J. Duffy, Esq., Department of the 
Army, for the agency.
Linda C. Glass, Esq., and Paul I. Lieberman, Esq., Office of the 
General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Postponing the date set for bid opening is within the contracting 
officer's  discretion.  Determination to proceed with bid opening 
despite a hurricane emergency does not constitute an abuse of 
discretion where the agency was able to remain open for business 
through bid opening and four bids were timely received.

DECISION

Educational Planning and Advice, Inc. (EPA) protests the Department of 
the Army's refusal to postpone bid opening for invitation for bids 
(IFB) No. USZA92-96-B-0505, for the operation of Special Operations 
Language Laboratories and Language Support Center at Fort Bragg, North 
Carolina.

We deny the protest.

The IFB, as amended, provided for bid opening on September 5, 1996, at 
2 p.m., and  did not authorize facsimile bids.  EPA's bid was not 
included among those presented and opened at the scheduled bid 
opening; the protester's bid was delivered to the agency the next day.

EPA states that it sent its bid on September 4 via USAIR's express 
delivery service, and that the bid arrived at the Fayetteville airport 
in the early morning of  September 5.  EPA states that because of a 
hurricane, on September 5 the governor of North Carolina declared a 
state of emergency and issued an order for all companies and 
businesses within the state to cease business activities at noon.  EPA 
states that at 1:30 p.m. on September 5, it called the agency and 
unsuccessfully requested that the bid opening be postponed or in the 
alternative that it be allowed to send a telefacsimile of its bid that 
was at the USAIR ticket counter at the Fayetteville airport, but could 
not be picked up because of the state of emergency.  

The Army takes the position that it had no obligation to postpone bid 
opening.  It states that its facility remained open until after 
completion of bid opening, and that since the protester's bid was not 
in the possession of the contracting officer at the time of bid 
opening, the bid was properly rejected as late.

Our Office has considered situations similar to the one involved here, 
where unusual events, such as a postal strike, National Day of 
Mourning, or severe weather conditions caused a delay in the receipt 
bids, with the result that the bids were rejected as late or bid 
opening was postponed.  The decision to proceed with or postpone bid 
opening when such events occur is essentially a discretionary one; we 
therefore will not object to such a decision unless it is shown to 
represent an abuse of discretion.  See 49 Comp. Gen. 733 (1970). 

In this regard, Federal Acquisition Regulation  sec.  14.402-3 (a)(2) 
provides that a bid opening may be postponed when emergency or 
unanticipated events interrupt normal governmental processes so that 
the conduct of bid opening as scheduled is impracticable.  Here, the 
unanticipated events did not interrupt normal government processes.  
At least four bidders responded to the IFB in a timely manner, and the 
Army was able to proceed with bid opening.  Consequently, the refusal 
to delay bid opening is unobjectionable.

A bidder is responsible for delivering its bid to the proper place at 
the proper time; a bid is late if it does not arrive at the office 
designated in the solicitation by the time specified.  See Martin G. 
Imbach, Inc., B-224536, Feb. 25, 1987, 87-1 CPD  para.  215.  Where, as 
here, a bid is delivered by a commercial carrier, the bid is regarded 
as a hand-carried bid.  A late hand-carried bid may be considered 
where the protester shows that improper action on the part of the 
government is the sole or paramount cause of the bid's late receipt, 
such as where the delivery person attempts to deliver a hand-carried 
bid to the place designated for receipt but is prevented by government 
personnel from doing so.  See Inland Marine Indus., Inc., B-233117,
Feb. 16, 1989, 89-1 CPD  para.  165.  There is no showing of such improper 
action here.[1]

The protest is denied.

Comptroller General
of the United States

1. We also note that even if EPA's late bid had been accepted, EPA 
concedes in its comments that it does not meet the accreditation 
requirements set forth in the IFB;  therefore, EPA appears to be 
ineligible for award.