If you feel that there is some basis to protest the award of a contract to another bidder (i.e. you are the low bidder), you must file your protest quickly. The statutes or regulations governing the particular government division making the award may specify short deadlines for filing an administrative protest. Even if court action is proper, you should act quickly. Arizona courts have held that a low bidder is not entitled to recover its lost profits even if the contract was improperly awarded to another contractor, City of Scottsdale v. Deem, 27 Ariz.App. 480, 556 P.2d 328 (1976), and that a protest over a contract that was fully performed is moot, Ash, Inc. v. Mesa Unified Sch. Dist. No. 4, 138 Ariz. 190, 673 P.2d 934 (App.1983).
For example, in Arizona’s Towing Professionals, Inc. v. State 196 Ariz. 73, 76, 993 P.2d 1037, 1040 (Ariz.App. Div. 1,1999), the Court rejected an untimely protest of a contract awarded by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The protest claimed an error in the invitation for bids. Since there was no good cause for the belated protest, the Court dismissed the protest without even evaluating the merits. The Court cited the rule that errors apparent in the invitation for bids must be protested before the bids are opened, unless there is some good cause for the delay in filing the protest.