In Conscoop-Consorzia Fra Cooperative Di Prod. E. Lavaro v. United States ("Conscoop"), No. 04-5150, June 10, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the Court) strictly enforced the rule. The U.S. Navy released an RFP to acquire the services of a contractor to make "improvements to the main gate and renovations of a building at the U.S. Naval Base at Sigonella, Italy." Seven (7) proposals were received, but the proposal from Conscoop was late. The Navy rejected the proposal from Conscoop. Thereafter, Conscoop filed a protest at the United States Court of Federal Claims. The Claims Court held that the proposal was properly rejected. Conscoop appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals. The appellate court affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
The Court noted that electronic transmission of proposals to perform the work were due at the specified e-mail address, according to the RFP, with technical proposals due 18 Jul 2003, 1400 (hours) and price proposals due 5 Aug 2003, 1400 (hours). The hours were stated in local time. The Navy web site, however, stated the due date of the solicitation (proposals) was "Due Date: 05 Aug – 2003 1400 hrs (U.S. Time Zones)."
The Court held that the information on the Navy web site was for information, but it was
not part of the solicitation. The "Synopsis or Description" title on the web site stated that "the submittal requirements are described in the solicitation." The Court stated that "The only reasonable interpretation of this referral language is that the solicitation is a separate document and the information on the web site was not part of the solicitation." The Court went on to state that “Incorporating the ‘U.S. Time Zone’ language from the web site into the solicitation would be to impermissibly rely on extrinsic evidence to interpret an otherwise plain and unambiguous term within the solicitation."
"Local Time" generally refers to the time where the Government office designated in the solicitation is located. The solicitation stated that offers could be sent to the U. S. Navy Supply Department in Napoli (Naples) Italy. The Court stated that the "requirement to submit price proposals by 1400 hours local time can only be interpreted as 1400 hours Naples time."
Many people apparently think that an e-mail is received instantly after it is sent. Conscoop sent their proposal at 1358 hours Naples time; it arrived at the Navy server at 1540 hours. The Navy rejected the proposal as untimely (i.e. it was late). Conscoop protested that its proposal was received timely, but the Court disagreed.
