Government Contract Bid Protest - Georgia

GEORGIA SUPPLIER PROTEST CONTROL PACKET

GPM § 6.5 ROUTE — NOT A FILED PROTEST

Do not file this worksheet. Use it to prepare a separate counsel-approved protest under the current Georgia Procurement Manual only after confirming that the State Purchasing Division process applies.

1. Coverage and Route Gate

Do not assume every Georgia public procurement uses GPM § 6.5. Stop if the entity, procurement, delegation, solicitation, or special authority points to another route.

Interested-Supplier and Prejudice Gate

The current manual defines an interested supplier as an actual or prospective bidder or offeror with a direct economic interest. For an evaluation or award challenge, the supplier generally must potentially be in line for award if the protest succeeds. The manual requires a reasonable possibility of competitive prejudice and places the burden of proving sufficient error on the protester.

2. Deadline Control

Section 6.5.7 uses the earlier of ten calendar days after the supplier knew or should have known of the protested action and the applicable Table 6.8 deadline.

Table 6.8 Routing Summary

☐ Counsel rechecked the live § 6.5.7 page and Table 6.8 on [__/__/____].

☐ Calendar-day and business-day computations were separately verified.

☐ The operative filing is targeted for actual receipt before the deadline.

3. Form, Signer, and Filing Gate

Under §§ 6.5.5 and 6.5.6, the protest must be written and include the protester's name and address, procurement identification, reasons, support or an availability explanation, and desired remedy. It must be signed by an authorized company officer or engaged legal counsel, emailed to [email protected], and received by the Deputy Commissioner within the filing period.

The manual permits DOAS to treat grounds not raised during the filing period as voluntarily relinquished. Counsel must state every supportable ground by the applicable deadline.

4. Record and Ground Development

Procurement Record

☐ Complete solicitation, specifications, and amendments

☐ Supplier questions, state answers, and addenda

☐ Protester's response and submission receipt

☐ Notice, posting history, and procurement register

☐ Evaluation criteria, scoring, and approval record obtainable for review

☐ Award or intent-to-award record

☐ Relevant communications and debriefing materials

☐ Applicable GPM sections and solicitation-specific terms

☐ Evidence supporting each asserted fact

Ground Matrix

The current manual states that reasonable evaluation judgments receive deference, disagreement with points is not enough, bad faith or bias needs convincing proof, and a patent ambiguity must be challenged before solicitation closing. Match each ground to the current manual, solicitation, and evidence.

5. Counsel-Approved Protest Draft

[DATE]

VIA EMAIL TO: [email protected]

To: Deputy Commissioner, State Purchasing Division

Re: Supplier Protest — [SOLICITATION / NOTICE NUMBER AND TITLE]

A. Protester

Legal name: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

Contact: [________________________________]

Email / telephone: [________________________________]

Interested-supplier basis: [________________________________]

B. Procurement and Timeliness

State entity: [________________________________]

Procurement route: [________________________________]

Estimated value: $[________________________________]

Notice or challenged action: [________________________________]

Posting or occurrence date and time: [________________________________]

Controlling Table 6.8 deadline: [________________________________]

Knowledge-based deadline: [________________________________]

Earlier deadline and receipt plan: [________________________________]

C. Grounds

Ground 1 — [SHORT TITLE]

Controlling requirement: [________________________________]

Record facts: [____________________________________________________________]

Error: [____________________________________________________________]

Competitive prejudice: [________________________________________________________]

Supporting exhibits: [__________________________________________________________]

Requested remedy: [____________________________________________________________]

Repeat separately for each ground.

D. Evidence Not Yet Available

[IDENTIFY THE DOCUMENT, REQUEST DATE, REASON IT IS UNAVAILABLE, EXPECTED AVAILABILITY, AND RESERVED AMENDMENT]

E. Requested Remedy

☐ Modify the solicitation

☐ Extend solicitation closing

☐ Cancel the solicitation or notice

☐ Revise the RFQC list

☐ Re-evaluate

☐ Revise or cancel the NOIA or NOA

☐ Re-award

☐ Re-solicit with appropriate changes

☐ Other currently authorized relief: [________________________________]

The protester does not request protest costs or attorney fees. Section 6.5.10 says those costs are not recoverable through this process.

F. Signature

Signature: ______________________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Capacity: ☐ Authorized company officer ☐ Engaged legal counsel

Date and time: [________________________________]

6. Stay and Performance Control

A timely protest of a solicitation process, sole-source notice, cooperative notice, or intended award can trigger the limited pause described in § 6.5.8. The Deputy Commissioner may override the pause by written state-interest determination. Do not call every protest an automatic stay and do not assume an actual-award protest suspends performance.

7. Decision Control

Section 6.5.9 says the Deputy Commissioner issues a written decision as expeditiously as possible after receiving relevant requested information. It does not state a fixed decision deadline.

8. Formal Review Control

For a procurement estimated at $100,000 or more, the protest decision is subject to Commissioner formal review on request. Below $100,000, granting review is discretionary. The eligible party's written request must be emailed to [email protected] and received within three business days after issuance of the protest decision.

The manual says the Commissioner's decision is final DOAS action and that no motion for reconsideration will be considered. Any judicial-review, injunction, service, limitations, sovereign-immunity, or court-remedy question requires separate current authority and a separate counsel-approved filing.

9. Filing and Exhibit Log

Official Sources

• Georgia Procurement Manual § 6.5: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/65.htm
• Form of Protest: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/655.htm
• Filing Protests: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/656.htm
• Filing Deadlines and Table 6.8: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/657.htm
• Stay of Procurement: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/658.htm
• Protest Resolution: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/659.htm
• Costs: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/6510.htm
• Formal Review: https://pur.doas.ga.gov/gpm/MyWebHelp/content/georgia_procurement_manual/chapter_6/65/6511.htm