Davis/HRGM Joint Venture v. United States

50 Fed. Cl. 539, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 188, 2001 WL 1298809
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedOctober 15, 2001
DocketNo. 01-414 C
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 50 Fed. Cl. 539 (Davis/HRGM Joint Venture v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis/HRGM Joint Venture v. United States, 50 Fed. Cl. 539, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 188, 2001 WL 1298809 (uscfc 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

DAMICH, Judge.

I. Introduction

This is a post-award bid protest in which Davis/HRGM (hereinafter “Plaintiff”), seeks to enjoin the United States Army Corps of Engineers (hereinafter “Defendant”) from proceeding with a contract for the modernization of the Myrtilla Miner Elementary School in the District of Columbia. Plaintiff protests the decision to award the contract to the Intervener, Hess Construction, because the contracting officer: (1) failed to comply with regulation and solicitation criteria by awarding the contract to someone other than a responsible offeror who submitted the lowest bid; (2) improperly terminated Plaintiff’s contract for convenience; and (3) incorrectly terminated the contract to Plaintiff despite [541]*541the contracting officer’s earlier decision that Davis/HRGM was a responsive bidder.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s partial motion to dismiss and the parties’ cross-motions for judgment upon the administrative record. Oral argument was held. After argument, Plaintiff filed a motion to supplement its opposition to Defendant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record along with a declaration from Eugene P. Dessureau. Defendant and Inter-vener filed a response.

After careful consideration, it is hereby ORDERED that Defendant’s partial motion to dismiss is GRANTED as to Count II and the portion of Count III relating to the termination for convenience claim. Defendant’s motion for judgment upon the administrative record as to the remaining counts is GRANTED. Intervener’s motion for judgment upon the administrative record is GRANTED. Plaintiffs cross-motion for judgment upon the administrative record is DENIED. The declaration of Eugene P. Dessureau is stricken from the record as it is an improper attempt to supplement the administrative record.

II. Factual Background

On May 2, 2001, the Corps issued Invitation for Bid No. DACW31-01-B-0018 for the modernization of the Myrtilla Miner Elementary School. According to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ), an award would be made to the “lowest priced responsive and responsible bidder.” AR 12. The Invitation For Bids (IFB) called for the submission of bids by May 22, which later was amended to May 23, 2001. The solicitation also contained the following clause:

52.0228-4007 INFORMATION REGARDING BIDDING MATERIAL, BID GUARANTEE/BONDS

(a) BID BONDS: (Applicable only if bid/contract is $25,000 or greater). Each bidder shall submit with his bid a Bid Bond (Standard Form 24) with good and sufficient surety or sureties acceptable to the Government, or other security as provided in FAR 52.0228.0001, Bid Guarantee, in the form of twenty percent (20%) of the bid price or three million dollars ($3,000,-000), whichever is less. The bid bond may be expressed in terms of a percentage of the bid price or may be expressed in dollars and cents.

AR 170.

On May 23, 2001, Plaintiff submitted its bid. The offeror identified on Plaintiffs bid was Davis/HRGM Joint Venture, and it was signed by Gary L. Ball, Construction Executive. AR 280. The bid bond included with the bid, however, identified the principal as James G. Davis Construction Corporation rather than Davis/HRGM Joint Venture and was signed by Dennis Cotter, Executive Vice President. AR 336a. Additionally, the Bid Bond identified the principal as a corporation, not a joint venture. AR 336a.

A total of 4 bids were received by the deadline. The bidders were:

1. Sigal Construction Corporation $16,634,800.00

2. Hess Construction Company $15,508,580.00

3. Coakley Williams $16,367,000.00

4. Davis/HRGM Joint Venture $15,195,927.00

AR. 492. Plaintiffs bid amount of $15,195,927 was $312,653 less than the next lowest bidder, Hess Construction Company. Id. Plaintiff, in submitting its bid, did not total the individual price line items. AR 281-82. As a result, the contracting specialist by telegram asked Plaintiff to verify that its total bid price was $15,195,927. AR 373. In response, Plaintiff, via facsimile, confirmed its bid amount of $15,195,927.00.

On May 23, 2001, the Corps’ Board of Award, consisting of representatives from the Contracting Division, Small Business Office, Office of Counsel, Construction Division, Engineering Division, and Programs and Project Management Division reviewed the bids. AR 493. It was determined that Plaintiff was the low bidder and met the requirements of the solicitation. Id. The Board of Award recommended to the District of Columbia Public Schools that the contract be awarded to Plaintiff. Id. On May 23, 2001, after receiving approval from the District of Columbia Schools, the contract was awarded to Plaintiff. Id.

On May 29, 2001, Plaintiff submitted performance and payment bonds for the awarded contract. AR 417-32. The principal identified on both bonds was Davis/HRGM [542]*542Joint Venture with Dennis Cotter, Executive Vice President, and Ramesh Butani, President HRGM, executing the bonds on behalf of the principal. AR 418, 420. The type of organization identified was a joint venture. Id. On June 6, 2001, the bonds were returned to Plaintiff because they were found incomplete because the power of attorney contained an undated certificate. AR 416. Plaintiff contends it corrected the defect and resubmitted the bonds the next day. The contracting officer indicates that Plaintiff submitted performance and payment bonds. AR 498.1

On May 23, 2001, the intervener, the second lowest bidder, filed a protest with the Department of the Army, Baltimore District, contending that the Davis/HRGM bid was non-responsive because of the bidder’s failure to complete all bid items in its price proposal. AR 388. The protest was denied on June 4, 2001. Division Counsel found that the omission of total bid prices did not render Davis/ HRGM’s bid non-responsive but rather constituted an “informality” that could be waived because the total bid amounts were ascertainable from the face of the bid. AR 396.

On June 7, 2001, Hess filed another protest with the Department of the Army, Baltimore District, in which it asserted that: (1) the bid bond submitted by Davis/HRGM was defective because the principal identified in the bid bond, i.e., James G. Davis Construction Co., was not the same entity as the bidder identified in the bid, i.e., Davis/HRGM; (2) the bid bond amount was insufficient; and (3) Davis/HRGM was not a pre-qualified bidder under step one of the procurement, and, as a result could not compete in the second step. AR 433-34.

The Contracting Officer issued a Stop Work Order on June 12, 2001. AR 435.

On July 2, 2001, Division Counsel issued an agency decision in which it determined that the second protest was untimely. AR 510. The protest was dismissed. Id. However, in his decision Division Counsel discussed the merits of Hess’s arguments. Despite the fact that the Report of the Contracting Officer observed that the contracting officer had concluded that the bid bond was responsive and that, in any event, the issue had been “overcome by circumstances” (i.e., the submission of payment and performance bonds, AR 498), Division Counsel stated:

There is no question that the bidder is the joint venture.

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Bluebook (online)
50 Fed. Cl. 539, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 188, 2001 WL 1298809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davishrgm-joint-venture-v-united-states-uscfc-2001.