TITLE:   RGI, Inc., B-280005, August 17, 1998
BNUMBER:  B-280005
DATE:  August 17, 1998
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RGI, Inc., B-280005, August 17, 1998

Decision

Matter of: RGI, Inc.

File: B-280005

Date: August 17, 1998

Edward Tolchin, Esq., Fettmann, Tolchin & Majors, P.C., for the protester.

Maj. Robert L. Duecaster, Department of the Army, for the agency.

Marie Penny Ahearn, Esq., David A. Ashen, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq.,
Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the
decision.

DIGEST

Where proposal sent via United States Postal Service Express Mail Second Day
Service is received by contracting agency after time for receipt of
proposals stated in solicitation, proposal is late and must be rejected;
receipt of proposal at local post office before closing time does not
constitute timely receipt at activity designated for receipt of offers.

DECISION

RGI, Inc. protests the rejection of its proposal as late under request for
proposals (RFP) No. DAKF40-97-R-0032, issued by the Department of the Army
for the operation of learning, language, and testing centers at Fort Bragg,
North Carolina.

We deny the protest.

The RFP, as amended, established as the closing time for receipt of
proposals 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 16, 1998, Amendment No. 0006
at 2, and instructed offerors to "Address Offer To . . . Directorate of
Contracting; Bldg 1-1333, Room 107; Corner of Macomb & Armistead Sts; Fort
Bragg NC 28307." RFP Cover Sheet, Item 8. In addition, the solicitation
included the standard instructions to offerors clause, Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR) sect. 52.215-1, providing that an offer "received at the office
designated in the solicitation after the exact time specified for receipt"
shall not be considered unless it was received before contract award and, as
relevant here, either: (1) was sent by "U.S. Postal Service Express
Mail Next Day Service-Post Office to Addressee, not later than 5:00 p.m. at
the place of mailing two working days prior to the date specified for
receipt of proposals," FAR sect. 52.215-1(c)(3)(i)(C); or (2) there is
"acceptable evidence to establish that it

was received at the activity designated for receipt of offers and was under
the Government's control prior to the time set for receipt of offers," and
"accepting the late offer would not unduly delay the procurement." FAR
sect. 52.215-1(c)(3)(i)(E).

The record indicates that RGI correctly addressed and labeled its offer
package and sent the package by United States Postal Service (USPS) Express
Mail Second Day (not Next Day) Delivery at 1:17 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14,
1998. The offer package arrived at the USPS Fort Bragg Post Office at
12:13 p.m. on April 15, and was signed for by a USPS employee.1 [1] However,
when the Army mail clerk for the Directorate of Contracting made a daily
mail call at the Fort Bragg Post Office on Thursday, April 16, at 9:30 a.m.,
prior to the 3 p.m. closing time for receipt of proposals, RGI's offer
package was not in the mail handed to the Army clerk. Statement from Army
Mail/File Clerk, undated.2 [2] As a result, RGI's offer was not among the
several proposals received by the closing time of 3 p.m. on April 16.
Contracting Officer's Statement, at 1.

Thereafter, when the Army mail clerk made the mail call at the Fort Bragg
Post Office at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 17, RGI's offer package was handed to
the Army clerk. Statement from Army Mail/File Clerk, Apr. 20, 1998. The Army
clerk signed for the package at 2:20 p.m., as indicated on the USPS mailing
label, and delivered it to the contracting division, where it was time/date
stamped as received at 2:54 p.m. on April 17. Because the offer was received
after the closing date, it was not opened and was rejected as late by the
contracting officer, who determined that none of the exceptions for
consideration of late offers (as provided for in FAR sect. 52.215-1(c)(3)(i))
applied. Contracting Officer's Determination of Late Proposal, at 2-3.

The USPS has acknowledged that it failed to follow the standard procedure
for processing express mail for customer pickup, that is, it failed to place
either a notification slip regarding the express mail package, or the
package itself, in the Directorate of Contracting's postal drawer upon
receipt of RGI's express mail package on April 15. Contracting Officer's
Statement, at 1; Contracting Officer's

Determination of Late Proposal, at 1; Statement from Army Mail/File Clerk,
Apr. 20, 1998. Instead, according to the branch manager of the Fort Bragg
Post Office, "a notification slip was not placed in the [postal drawer]
until the morning of April 17, 1998." Statement from Branch Manager, Fort
Bragg Post Office, May 13, 1998. As a result, when the Army mail clerk
requested the mail on the morning of April 16, the postal clerk who
retrieved the mail from the postal drawer did not know that there was an
express mail package for the Army elsewhere in the post office, and thus
did not hand it over to the Army clerk.

RGI argues that its late offer fits within the exceptions for acceptance of
late offers, because (1) based on the unavailability of Express Mail Next
Day Service to Fort Bragg, the Express Mail Second Day Service it used was
the best alternate and should be considered identical to Next Day Service,
and (2) its proposal was received at the Fort Bragg Post Office and was
under the government's control prior to the time set for receipt of offers.

Neither FAR exception for acceptance of late offers applies here. The first
exception, FAR sect. 52.215-1(c)(3)(i)(C), does not apply because Express Mail
Second Day Service clearly is not identical to the Express Mail Next Day
Service required under the exception. The regulations do not establish an
exception for Second Day Service where Next Day Service may not be
available; in such circumstances, firms must employ other acceptable means
to ensure timely receipt of their offers. Nor does the exception in FAR
sect. 52.215-1(c)(3)(i)(E) apply; receipt for purposes of the FAR clause means
receipt at the procuring agency or ultimate destination, and not receipt at
the local post office. Southeastern Enters., Inc., B-237867, Mar. 21, 1990,
90-1 CPD para. 314 at 3.

We note that there are situations not covered under the late offer clause
where consideration of a late offer nonetheless is warranted. An offer
received after opening may be considered where there was government
mishandling in the process of receipt (as distinguished from mishandling
after receipt), which was the paramount cause of the bid or offer being
late. Southeastern Enters., Inc. , supra. For example, government
mishandling of an offer delivered to a post office box may be found where
the agency failed to employ procedures designed to permit timely delivery of
the offer to the contracting activity within a reasonable time before the
time specified for receipt of proposals. Id. However, in order to
conclude that the offer was mishandled by the contracting agency after
receipt at the post office, it first must be established that the agency was
given some notice of the offer prior to the time for receipt of offers.
Allstate Rent-A-Car, Inc., B-225633, May 1, 1987, 87-1 CPD para. 458 at 3-4; see
Hub Constr. Co., Inc., B-258474, Jan. 19, 1995, 95-2 CPD para. 186 at 3. Here,
the record does not establish that either the offer or notice of the offer
was in the postal drawer prior to the time for receipt of offers

or that the Army otherwise had notice prior to that time that the offer
package was ready for pickup at the post office. Accordingly, RGI's offer
was properly rejected as late.

The protest is denied.

Comptroller General
of the United States

Notes

1. The agency reports that this was indicated on the USPS express mail label
under the item "Delivery Attempt." Postal Service procedures support the
Army's report that the indicated time of 12:13 p.m. does not refer to an
attempted delivery to the Army mail clerk; those procedures provide that the
"time the notice was placed in the box . . . not the time the addressee
claimed the shipment" is entered on the delivery attempt item on the USPS
express mail label. USPS Methods Handbook, DM-201 Express Mail Service
sect. 244.2 (1988).

2. By arrangement between the Army and the USPS, mail for the Directorate of
Contracting is held at the USPS Fort Bragg post office in a drawer under
USPS control for pickup by the Army.