Matter of GIBBCO LLC
United States Government Accountability Office
2009 WL 4810593 (2009)
Facts
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (defendant) issued a solicitation for a series of fixed-price, commercial item acquisition contracts to provide alternative housing units for use in disaster areas. The solicitation stated that the housing units must meet specified air quality standards. The window for contractors to submit offers was 22 days. GIBBCO LLC (plaintiff) filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office, arguing that (1) the alternative housing units sought under FEMA’s solicitation were not commercial units and could not be procured using a commercial item acquisition contract because the alternative housing units would need to be custom-built to comply with FEMA’s stringent air quality requirements; and (2) FEMA failed to provide contractors with a minimum of 30 days to submit offers. FEMA countered, arguing that the alternative housing units sought were commercial items because (1) market research indicated that commercially available alternative housing units would only require minor modifications to comply with FEMA’s air quality requirements; and (2) FEMA had previously procured alternative housing units meeting nearly identical specifications under a prior commercial item acquisition contract.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gibson, J.)
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