103Award and Execution of Contract

103.1 Consideration of Proposals

After the Proposals are opened and read, the correct sum of the products of the quantities shown in the Proposal multiplied by the Unit Prices Bid will be considered the amount of the Bid. If there is a discrepancy between Unit Bid Prices and extensions, the Unit Bid Price shall govern in accordance with Subsection 102.06. In determining Unit Bid Prices, fractional parts of a cent less than 1/1000 cent ($0.001) will not be considered significant and will be dropped. The amounts will then be compared, and the results of this comparison will be made public at the time specified in the Notice to Contractors. Until the final Award of the Contract, however, the right will be reserved to reject any and all Proposals, to waive technicalities, to advertise for new Proposals, or to proceed to do the work otherwise if the interest of the Department will be promoted thereby. If, prior to the award of a contract, the low bidder discovers that an obvious error was made in the preparation of the bid, a request to the Department may be made to allow the withdrawal of the bid without bid bond forfeiture. The decision whether or not to grant such a request rests entirely with the Department and at the discretion of the Department. If such a request is granted, the Department may, at its discretion, award the contract to the next lowest reliable bidder, re-advertise, perform the work itself, or abandon the project.

103.2 Award of Contract

If a Contract is Awarded, it will be Awarded to the lowest reliable Bidder whose Proposal shall have met all the prescribed requirements. The Contract will be Awarded, if at all, within 50 calendar days after the opening of the Proposals, unless a longer period is specified in the Proposal or the successful Bidder agrees in writing to a longer period of time for the Award. Single as well as multiple proposals for a project will be publicly opened and read. If only one proposal is received on a p roject and the amount of that proposal is equal to or less than the Department’s cost estimate for the project, as certified by the Chief Engineer, the cost estimate will be read. Posting of a bid on the department's website shall be equivalent to having read the bid. If only one proposal is received and the amount of that proposal exceeds the Department’s cost estimate for the p roject, the Department may, at its option, award the contract, or reject the proposal and re-advertise, perform the work itself, or abandon the project. The Award of Contracts involving work financed entirely or in part by Federal funds is conditioned upon the co ncurrence of the Federal agency involved. No bids will be negotiated or adjusted. Award to the successful bidder will be made public through the publication of the Award Announcement. If the s uccessful bidder fails to execute the Contract and file acceptable bonds within the period set forth in Subsection

103.07 thereby causing cancellation of the award and forfeiture of the Proposal Guaranty, the Department may award

the Contract to the next lowest reliable bidder, re-advertise, abandon the project, or perform the work itself.

103.3 Cancellation of Award

The Department reserves the right to cancel the Award of any Contract at any time before the execution of said Contract by all parties without any liability against the Department.

103.4 Return of Proposal Guaranty

Reserved

103.5 Requirements of Contract Bonds

The penal sum of the Contract shall be defined as 120 percent of the Original Contract Amount. At the time of the execution of the Contract, and as a part thereof, the successful Bidder shall furnish Contract Bonds as specified below: Georgia Resident Contractor Georgia Resident Contractors shall furnish Performance and Payment Bonds as follows: Performance bond in the full penal sum of the Contract and payment bond in an amount equal to 110 percent of the full penal sum of the Contract. The aggregate amount of the bonds shall be 210 percent of the full penal sum of the Contract. Nonresident Contractor Nonresident Contractors shall furnish Contract Bonds as follows: Performance bond in the full penal sum of the Contract, payment bond in the full penal sum of the Contract, and tax b ond in the amount of 10 percent of the full penal sum of the Contract. The aggregate amount of the bonds shall be 210 percent of the full penal sum of the Contract. The tax bond shall represent the nonresident contractor bond required by the Revenue Department in accordance with Sections 48-13-30 through 48-13-38 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The Bonds shall be made on forms furnished by the Department and executed by the Contractor and a Surety C ompany acceptable to the Department, authorized to do business in Georgia.

103.6 Execution and Approval of Contract

The Contract shall be signed by the successful Bidder and returned within 15 calendar days after the date of the letter transmitting the Contract to the Bidder. If the Contract is not executed by Department within 30 calendar days following receipt from the Bidder of the signed Contract, unless a longer period is specified in the Proposal or the successful Bidder agrees in writing to a longer period, the Bidder shall have the right to withdraw his Bid without penalty. No Contract shall be considered as effective until it has been fully executed by all of the parties.

103.7 Failure to Execute Contract

Failure to execute the Contract and file acceptable Bonds within 15 calendar days after the transmittal date of the Contract to the Bidder shall be just cause for the cancellation of the Award and forfeiture of the Proposal Guaranty which shall become the property of the Department, not as a penalty, but in liquidation of damages sustained. If the Department re-ad vertises the project, the Department may, at its discretion, not allow the bidder who refused to Execute the Contract to submit a Proposal on the re-advertised project.

103.8 Procedure for Requesting Reconsideration by Responsive Rejected Apparent

Low Bidder If a responsive or reliable apparent low bid proposal that has been posted to Bid Express™ is later rejected in accordance with Specification 102.07(C), the Bidder will be notified by the Department by email correspondence of said rejection. W ithin two (2) business days of receiving this notification from the Department, said Bidder may request in writing a meeting with Department representatives. Once the Department receives such a request for a meeting, the Department will defer the award of the Contract until such time as all provisions of this section have been satisfied. The purpose of the meeting is to allow the Bidder to present its rebuttal and provide any and all information, documentation or clarification based upon existing bid documents or contract requirements to be taken into further consideration by the Department for the potential reversal of its earlier rejection of the Bidder’s proposal. Therefore, the Bidder is encouraged to submit any and all relevant documentation and information to the Department prior to the meeting. Attorneys will not be present at this meeting. The Department will schedule a meeting to be held within five (5) business days of the receipt of the request of the B idder to be held at 600 West Peachtree Street NW Atlanta, 30308 and will provide notice to the bidder of the same by e-mail correspondence. T he Department will provide a written notification to the initial Apparent Low Bidder as to whether the rejection still remains within three (3) business days after the meeting.

Award and Execution of Contract in other states

• Alaska 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Alabama 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Arkansas 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Colorado 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Idaho 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Indiana 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
• Kansas 103 · Award and Execution of Contract
• Kentucky 103 · AWARD AND EXECUTION OF CONTRACT