If a bid on a public contract is not complete or does not conform to the solicitation, it is considered nonresponsive and must be rejected. But, what if the nonconformity results from government mishandling of the bid package? That was the apparent situation in a recent bid on a federal contract. The bid was rejected because it was accompanied by only a photocopy of the bid bond, not the signed original. The disappointed bidder cried foul.

The bidder submitted sworn statements from its employees and from the surety saying the original bid bond had been included in the submittal. The bidder theorized that the government contracting officer accidentally lost or destroyed the original. But it was to no avail. There was no remedy for an isolated act of government negligence.

Other cases this week involved the application of a state workers’ compensation law to an Indian contractor operating on tribal land and a suspension of work resulting from import restrictions imposed by a host foreign government. The state workers’ comp law applied on the tribal land. And, the suspension of work could be compensable if it resulted from the U.S. government’s inept administration of the material approval process.