GAO: Agency May Accept Late Proposal When is a deadline not a deadline? When the deadline for submitting proposals is on a weekend and the agency’s doors are locked. The Government Accountability Office ruled that the Army acted properly in accepting a late proposal from Integrity Management Services Inc. because a courier found the doors locked when he tried to deliver the proposal on a Saturday, the due date. Fortunately for Integrity, the Federal Express courier left a note on the door documenting that he had tried to make delivery. After Integrity was awarded the contract for hospital housekeeping services at Fort Polk, LA, a losing bidder protested that the company’s proposal should not have been accepted because it was not delivered until the Monday after the due date. GAO denied the protest, saying “the agency’s action was the paramount cause of the late delivery.” The case is Matter of: Hospital Klean of Texas, Inc., file number B-295836; B-295836.2.