(a) When a contracting officer finds a bid that is being considered for an award is incomplete, e.g., all pages of the invitation have not been returned by the bidder, the contracting officer will take whichever of the following actions that is appropriate:
(1) Make a determination that the bid as submitted is in such a form that acceptance would create a valid and binding contract, requiring the contractor to perform in accordance with all of the material terms and conditions of the invitation. The determination may be based on the fact that the bid as submitted includes evidence that the offeror intends to be bound by all the material terms and conditions of the invitation.
(2) Make a determination that the bid as submitted is in such form that acceptance would not create a valid and binding contract.
(b) When VA receives a single bid in response to a solicitation, the contracting officer must not reject the offer simply because it specifies a bid acceptance time that is shorter than that contained in the solicitation, unless a compelling reason exists for rejecting such a bid. Insufficient time to properly evaluate an offer is a compelling reason for rejection; however, the contracting officer must first request the offeror to extend the acceptance date of the bid to allow for proper evaluation.
(c) In those cases where VA receives more than one bid, the contracting officer must reject as nonresponsive an individual bid that is not in compliance with the Government’s bid acceptance time, since consideration of such an offer would unfairly disadvantage other bidders.
