102.12 Public Opening of Proposals.
102.12 Public Opening of Proposals.
Proposals will be publicly opened and bid totals read aloud at the place, time, and date indicated on the "Notice to Contractors" advertisement. Bidders or their authorized agents are invited to be present.
102.13 Multiple Bids.
In the event that a bidder submits a bid utilizing a digital storage medium and paper submittal, and also submits a bid for that proposal utilizing the Department’s approved Internet Bidding Service Provider, the internet bid will be accepted as the sole and exclusive bid.
102.14 Familiarity with Laws and Ordinances.
a.General. Bidders shall familiarize themselves with and shall comply with all Federal and State laws and local laws, ordinances, and regulations which may directly or indirectly affect the work or its prosecution, persons engaged in or employed on the work, and the equipment and tools used in the work. No adjustments or compensation will be allowed for losses caused by failure to comply with this requirement.
1.Contractor’s Licensing for 100% State Funded Projects. Each bidder shall ent er the General Contractors license number issued by the State Licensing Board on each submitted bid. Space is provided on the cover sheet of the proposal for the license number. Failure to enter the bidder’s license number on the bid submittal will resul t in the rejection of the bid.
2.Contractor’s Licensing for Projects Funded with Federal Monies. Prior to being awarded a contract, bidders on projects that are partially or wholly funded with federal monies shall submit a copy of their license issued by the State Licensing Board for General Contractors. Bidders may satisfy this requirement by placing a copy of the license into the proposal of each submitted bid.
3.Bidder’s Responsibility. It is the bidder’s responsibility to provide proof of being licens ed by the State Licensing Board for General Contractors. Failure to do so may result in the rejection of a bid.
4.Codes. Attention is directed to Titles 23 and 39, Code of Alabama, 1975, also Title 23, U.S. Code, and amendments thereto to the date of the contract.
b.Labor Rates. Attention is called to the fact that the wage rates listed in the proposal are minimum required rates. Bidders therefore should investigate and determine the prevailing local wage rates which for certain classes may be higher tha n the listed minimum rates. Under no condition shall the Contractor pay less than the listed minimum rate but it may be necessary in some cases to pay more in order to secure the labor. The bidders should investigate and the Contractor shall abide by any o rders issued by the Wage Adjustment Board or any other Federal agency having jurisdiction over wage rates.
102.15 Material Guarantee.
The successful bidder may be required to furnish a complete statement of the origin, compositi on, and manufacture of any or all materials to be used in the construction of the work together with samples, which samples may be subjected to the tests provided for in these specifications to determine their quality and fitness for the work. AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
103.01 Consideration of Proposals.
After the proposals are opened and read, they will be compared on the basis of the summation of the products of the approximate quantities shown in the bid schedule multiplied by the unit bid prices.
103.02 Award of Contract.
The results of such comparisons will be available to the public. In the event of a discrepancy between unit bid prices and extensions, the unit bid price shall govern. The right is reserved to reject any or all proposals, to waive technicaliti es or to advertise for new proposals, if, in the judgment of the awarding authority, the best interest of the Department will be promoted thereby. A proposal will not be considered unless signed by the bidder or his authorized agent and accompanied by cash ier’s check or properly signed bid bond as required by law. For the purposes of Section 103, if the final calendar day specified falls on a weekend or holiday, the next business day will be the final calendar day.
103.02 Award of Contract.
a.General. The award of the contracts, if to be awarded, will be made within 30 calendar days after opening of proposals to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose proposals comply with the requirements of Section 1 02 and the invitation to bid (Notice to Contractors). Should no award be made within the 30 days, all proposals will be rejected unless the successful bidder agrees in writing to a stipulated extension in the time limit for award. The successful bidder wil l be notified by confirmed facsimile or letter mailed to the address shown on his proposal that his bid has been accepted and that he has been awarded the contract. After the opening of bids on work involving Federal funds, the award of the contract to the low bidder will be contingent upon said low bidder obtaining a license from the State Licensing Board for General Contractors in accordance with the existing State laws.
b.Bidder Low on More Than One Contract. Should any responsible bidder be low on mor e contracts or work than he is qualified to handle under his certificate of qualification issued by the Department, the State reserves the right to select from his submitted proposals those for award to him which are most advantageous to the State. His other submitted proposals will not be considered in making the awards.
c.Award Based on Bidder's Net Worth and Contracting Capacity. The award of the contract will be made in consideration of the bidder's net worth and the dollar value of the bidder's contr acting capacity in accordance with the legal requirements for public work. The bidder's contracting capacity is indicated on the face of the bidder's Prequalification Certificate. The dollar value of the contracting capacity of a joint venture is the combi ned dollar value of the contracting capacity of each co -venturer. Prior to the award of a contract to a joint venture a letter shall be submitted to the Department by the joint venture in which is given an approximate percentage of the work that is assigne d to each co-venturer. This letter shall be signed by the same individuals that signed the joint venture's bid proposal and shall be notarized. The approximate percentages of participation shall be rounded to the nearest 5 % with no co -venturer being assigned less than 20 % of the work. After the award of a contract to a joint venture, the dollar value of outstanding work in that contract will be assigned at the designated percentages to each co -venturer in determining the remaining contracting capacity of each co -venturer.
d.Alabama Immigration Law By signing this contract, the contracting parties affirm, for the duration of the agreement, that they will not violate federal immigration law or knowingly employ an unautho rized alien within the State of Alabama. Furthermore, a contracting party found to be in violation of this provision shall be deemed in breach of the agreement and shall be responsible for all damages resulting therefrom. The Contractor shall submit a cert ificate of compliance form to the Department for each contract prior to award. This form must have an original signature, and the project will not be awarded without the form. The certificate of compliance form is available on ALDOT’s website (http://www.alletting.dot.state.al.us ) and shall be furnished to the Alabama Department of Transportation by the apparent low bidder within ten (10) days of the letting at the following address: Alabama Depa rtment of Transportation Bureau of Office Engineer, Contracts/Administrative Section 1409 Coliseum Boulevard, Room E -101 Montgomery, Alabama 36110
103.03 Cancellation of Award.
103.03 Cancellation of Award.
The Director reserves the right to cancel the award of any contract at any t ime before the execution of the said contract by all parties, without any liability against the State. The Director may also reject the bid of the lowest bidder if any of the conditions for disqualification noted in Article 102.02 are found to exist at any time prior to the execution of the contract by all parties. The Director may award the contract to the next lowest responsible bidder when it is determined to be in the best interest of the State.
103.04 Return of Proposal Guaranties.
All proposal guarant ies, except those of the 3 lowest bona fide bidders, will be returned without undue delay after proposals have been checked, tabulated, and the relation to the proposals established. The proposal guaranty of the 3 lowest bona fide bidders will be returned as soon as the contract bonds and the contract of the successful bidder have been properly executed and approved. When the award is deferred for a period of time longer than 15 calendar days after the opening of the proposals, all proposal guaranties except those of the potentially successful bidders will be returned. Should no award be made, all guaranties will be returned. Should the successful bidder agree in writing to a stipulated extension in the time limit for award, the Director may, at his discreti on, permit the successful bidder to substitute a satisfactory bidder's bond if a cashier’s check was submitted with his proposal as a proposal guarantee. The Director reserves the right to return all proposal guaranties by registered mail and his responsib ility shall end upon the mailing thereof.
103.05 Requirements of Contract Bonds.
a.Performance Bond. The bidder to whom the award is made shall, within 15 calendar days after the prescribed forms have been presented to him for signature (i.e. after date of award), furnish and file with the Transportation Director an acceptable surety bond on the form included in the proposal in an amount equal to 100 percent of the contract bid price of the contract as awarded. Said bond shall b e furnished by a surety company qualified and authorized to make such bonds in the State of Alabama, and countersigned by an authorized agent resident in the State who is qualified to execute such instruments. The bond shall have attached thereto power of attorney of the signing official unless such power of attorney is already on file in the office of the Department. In case of default on the part of the Contractor, all expense incident to ascertaining and collecting losses suffered by the State under the bond, including engineering, direct administration, and legal services, shall be charged against the contract bond for performance of the work.
b.Labor, Materials, Services, Insurance, Feed Stuffs, or Supplies Bond. In addition thereto, the bidder to who m the award is made shall, within the same 15 calendar days, execute and file with the Director an acceptable surety bond payable to the State in an amount not less than 100 percent of the contract bid price, with the obligation that the Contractor shall promptly make payment to all persons furnishing him or them with labor, materials, feed stuffs, services, insurance, bond, or supplies for or in the prosecution of the work, and for the payment of reasonable attorneys fees, incurred by successful claimants or plaintiffs in suits on said bond.
c.Continuous Bond Coverage. Surety bonds shall continue to be acceptable to the Director throughout the life of the contract. In event the surety executing the bonds, although acceptable to the Director at the time of execution of the contract, subsequently becomes insolvent, bankrupt, unreliable, or otherwise unsatisfactory due to any cause which becomes apparent after the Director's initial acceptance of the bonds, then the Director will require that the Contractor r eplace the bonds with like bonds drawn on a surety company which is acceptable to the Director. In such event, all costs of the premium for the new bonds will be borne by the Contractor.
d.Performance of Surety. The Department will not accept bonds from a surety that has failed to perform in accordance with the terms of any bond that the surety has submitted to the Department. Prospective bidders will be informed in the "Notice to Contractors" that a surety's bonds are unacceptable.
103.06 Execution of C ontract.
The contract shall be executed by the bidder to whom award is made, on the form included in the proposal, and returned to the Director with satisfactory contract bonds within 15 calendar days after the
104.02 Al terations of Plans or Character of Work.
prescribed forms have been presented to him f or signature (i.e. after date of award). Should extenuating circumstances prevail, the Director may grant an extension in time not exceeding five calendar days for the return of the contract and bonds as provided herein and in Article 103.05.
103.07 Approv al of Contract.
A period of 20 calendar days will be allowed for execution of the contract by the Director and approval of same by the Governor, after its presentation by the successful bidder, unless the successful bidder agrees in writing to a longer period. No contract is binding upon the State until it has been executed by the Director and approved by the Governor of the State. The date of the final execution of the contract shall be the date on which it is signed by the Governor.
103.08 Failure to Exec ute Contract.
If the successful bidder is awarded the contract and fails to execute the contract (including furnishing acceptable contract security) the bidder will be subjected to the following actions. The Director will obtain liquidated damages for the bidder's default. The amount of the damages will be the smaller of two possible amounts. The first possible amount is the total amount of the proposal guaranty. The second possible amount is the difference between the amount of the contract as awarded and the amount of the total bid of the next lowest responsible bidder. The damages will be recovered from the bidder's cashier's check guaranty or from the principal or the sureties if the guaranty is a bid bond. The Director will return the proposal guaranty intact to the estate of the deceased successful bidder in the event of the death of the successful bidder on the date of the opening of the bids or the death of the successful bidder during the following number of days allowed for the execution of the cont ract. The defaulted bidder will be prohibited from participating in any manner in the original contract, and will be prohibited from participating in any manner in any portion of that contract that may be removed and put into other contracts. These prohibi tions shall apply to any other name under which the same person, affiliate, individual, partnership, company, firm, corporation, association, cooperative, or other legal entity may be operating in which the principal owners are involved. The prohibitions s hall be: - Work will not be allowed as a subcontractor or in any other capacity or role on the project. - Bidding will not be allowed on the original contract if it is readvertised for letting. - Bidding will not be allowed on any subsequent contract w hich contains any portion of the original contract. SECTION 104 SCOPE OF WORK
104.01 Intent of Contract.
The intent of the contract is to provide for the construction and completion of the work described. The Contractor shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, tools, transportation and supplies required to complete the work in accordance with the plans, specifications, and terms of the contract. When Item 680 -A, Geometric Controls, is included on the plans and in the proposal, the Contractor shall a lso furnish all geometric controls (see Section 680). Special provisions covering any special conditions, materials, or construction not covered on the plans or in these specifications will be included in the bidders' proposals or in supplemental agreement s.
104.02 Alterations of Plans or Character of Work.
a.General. The Engineer reserves the right to make, in writing, at any time during the work, such changes in quantities and such alterations in the work as necessary to satisfactorily complete the project. Such changes in quantities and alterations shall not invalidate the contract nor release the surety, and the contractor agrees to perform the work as altered. If the alterations or changes in quantities significantly change the character of the wo rk under the contract, whether such alterations or changes are in themselves significant changes to the character of the work or by affecting other work cause such other work to become significantly different in character, an adjustment, excluding anticipa ted profit, will be made to the contract. If the cost of the work does not change, then the adjustment will be zero. The basis for the adjustment shall be agreed
Source: Alabama Standard Specifications for Highway Construction, 2022 Edition. Pages 27–29 of 934.