Government Procurement: Bid and Award Protests in Puerto Rico
If a Puerto Rico government entity has awarded a contract to a competitor and you believe the process was wrong, you have very little time. The deadline runs from the notice of award, not from the day you work out what happened.
In short
- A bidder adversely affected by an award may seek administrative review before the Bid Review Board of the General Services Administration.
- The deadline is ten calendar days from the notice of award.
- Notice to the awarded bidder is jurisdictional. Getting it wrong ends the challenge on procedure rather than substance.
- Judicial review goes to the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals within twenty calendar days.
- Filing a challenge does not, by itself, stop the award from proceeding.
The deadline, and what changed in 2024
Two amendments in 2024 changed this. Act 48-2024, approved on 19 February 2024, rewrote Section 3.19 of the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act and cut the period for seeking administrative review from twenty days to ten working days. Act 153-2024, approved on 12 August 2024, then changed that period from working days to calendar days and harmonized Articles 64 and 66 of the General Services Administration Act with it.
The result is that a party adversely affected by an award has ten calendar days, counted from the deposit of the notice in the US mail or its transmission by email, to file a request for administrative review.
This is worth stating plainly because a great deal of published material still refers to a twenty day deadline from the earlier law, including sources that look authoritative. If you are relying on something you read online, check its date.
Where the challenge goes, and the Board’s timetable
Administrative review is filed with the Bid Review Board of the General Services Administration. Municipal procurement follows its own statute and may take a different route, which is one of the first things to establish.
The Board then has ten calendar days to decide whether to take up the request. If it does take it up, it has a further thirty calendar days to decide it, and may extend that once by fifteen calendar days.
If the Board does not act within the ten day window, the request is not taken up, and the period for judicial review runs from the expiry of that window rather than from any decision. Silence is not an extension, and it is not a reason to wait.
The notice requirement is jurisdictional
This trips up more challenges than the substance does. Under Article 65 of the General Services Administration Act, the party seeking review must notify the Administration and the relevant Bid Board, and simultaneously notify the bidder who was awarded the contract. Notice may be given by certified mail with return receipt or by email.
The party filing must certify in the review papers that it has done so. Because the requirement is jurisdictional, failure to comply is not a defect that can be cured later. It ends the challenge.
Defective award notices
A challenge can also start from the award notice itself. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico addressed defective notices in requests for proposals in RedMane Technology LLC v. Departamento de Salud, 2026 TSPR 37, and a bill filed in May 2026, P. del S. 1266, would amend Section 3.19 again to standardize what an award notice must contain.
The practical point for a bidder is that a notice which does not tell you what you need in order to decide whether to challenge may itself be a ground of complaint. If the notice you received is thin, do not assume that resolves the problem by running out the clock. Take advice on it quickly, because the safest assumption is still that the ten day period is running.
What the request should contain
The Board’s own regulation sets out what a request for review must include, and it predates the 2024 amendments, so the procedural detail should be checked against the current text. In substance it expects the parties and their counsel to be identified, the award notice being challenged to be referenced and attached, the relevant facts and procedural history to be set out, and each element of the award being disputed to be addressed with the reasons. The supporting documentation, including the award notice and the challenger’s own proposal, goes with it.
Judicial review
A party adversely affected by the Board’s decision may seek review before the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals within twenty calendar days, counted from the notice of the Board’s decision or from the expiry of the ten day window in which the Board could have taken the request up.
The point worth understanding is that filing does not automatically stay the award. The contract can proceed while the challenge is pending, which affects both the strategy and the remedy actually available by the time the matter is decided.
Defending an award
We also act for bidders who have won and whose award is challenged. The successful bidder has a direct interest in the proceeding and should not leave the defense of the award solely to the agency that made it.
Common questions
How long do I have to challenge an award?
Ten calendar days from the notice of award. Contact a lawyer the day the notice arrives rather than after you have investigated.
Does challenging the award stop the contract going ahead?
No. The mere filing of a review does not stay the award. If the work is proceeding, that needs to be factored into what you are realistically seeking.
What if the Board never takes up my request?
If the Board does not act within its ten day window, the request is not taken up, and the period for going to the Court of Appeals runs from the expiry of that window. Silence is not an extension.
The award notice barely explained anything. Does that help me?
It may. Defective award notices have been litigated, most recently in RedMane Technology, and proposed legislation would standardize what a notice must say. It is a question to raise immediately rather than one to rely on while the clock runs.
Can I challenge a municipal contract the same way?
Municipal procurement is governed by its own statute and the route may differ. Establishing which regime applies is one of the first steps.
We won the bid and someone is challenging it. Should we do anything?
Yes. You are an interested party and you should be represented. The agency will defend its process, which is not the same as defending your award.
Received an award notice you want to challenge?
We practice in English and Spanish, across all of Puerto Rico.
