GAO sustained Morrish-Wallace Construction's protest in B-423796.2, published April 13, 2026 — finding that low-bidder E.C. Korneffel's failure to acknowledge a third solicitation amendment rendered its bid nonresponsive, supporting the Army Corps of Engineers' eventual award to second-low Morrish-Wallace (d/b/a Ryba Marine). Coverage from Government Contracts Legal Forum.
The contested amendment
The third amendment revised plan sheets to specify larger steel pile channel-cap requirements. Korneffel didn't acknowledge it. The Corps initially treated the omission as immaterial because the price impact appeared "negligible" (about 1%).
GAO's holding
An amendment is material when it adds requirements to contract performance, even if price impact appears small. GAO rejected the agency's materiality argument based solely on the one-percent cost increase.
What this means for bidders
- Acknowledge every amendment — there is no "small enough to ignore" threshold
- Use SAM.gov amendment-tracking workflows; build internal pre-submission checklists
- If you're a second-low bidder and the low bidder missed an amendment, the protest is alive