103.01 CONSIDERATION OF BIDS. After paper or electronic bids are
opened and read, they will be compared based on the summation of the products of the quantities and the unit bid prices in the Schedule of Items. Results of such comparisons will be available to the public. The Department reserves the right to reject bids, waive technicalities and informalities, or advertise for new bids in accordance with the following sections:
103.01.1 Rejection of Low Bid: The right is reserved to reject the
low bid for any of the following reasons and contract with the next lowest responsive bidder or advertise for new bids:
1.A low bidder's bid is considered irregular as indicated in 102.08.
2.On DBE Goal Projects, the low bidder fails to submit the required information and satisfy the DBE requirements as specified in the DBE contract provisions for the project.
3.The low bidder fails to agree to mutually extend the period required for Award of Contract as indicated in 103.02.
4.The low bidder successfully withdraws the bid in accordance with 102.11.
5.The low bidder is prohibited from bidding or working on any federally funded project by FHWA. This cause applies for state or federally funded projects.
103.01.2 Rejection of All Bids:
All bids may be rejected for just cause consisting of any of the following:
1.The Department's unavailability of funds sufficient for the construction of the project or the unavailability of funding participation in the project by anticipated funding sources.
2.The failure of all bidders, not considered as irregular, to submit a bid within the established threshold of the construction estimate for the project by the Department's engineers.
3.A substantial change in scope or design of the project occurring prior to award.
4.A determination of the Department or the funding agency not to build the proposed project within twelve months of the letting date.
5.The disqualification or rejection by the Department of all bidders.
6.The discovery, by the Department prior to award, that an error, defect, or ambiguity was contained within the bidding documents, that these defects may have affected the integrity of the competitive bidding process or may have led to a potential advantage or disadvantage to one or mor e of the bidders.
103.02 Award of Contract.
The Department shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder within 45 calendar days after the receipt of bids or within 20 days after the receipt by the Department of concurrence in award from all funding agencies or sources, whichever occurs last. Where concurrence in award is required, the total time from receipt of bids to award of contract, shall not exceed 60 calendar days unless extended by mutual agreement between the Department and the successful low bidder. Should the successful low bidder not agree to extend the deadline for award of contract, the proposal/bid guaranty may be returned to the bidder and the Department, at its discretion, may award the contract to the next lowest bidder or may readvertise the project. An enforceable co ntract is not created until it is fully executed by all parties.
103.03 CANCELLATION OF AWARD. The Department reserves the
right to cancel the award of contract at any time before execution of said contract by all parties without liability against the Department for any of the following reasons:
1.Any of the just causes contained in 103.01.2.
2.The low bidder fails to agree to mutually extend the period required for issuance of the Notice to Proceed as indicated in 103.08.
3.The contract, satisfactory bonds, proof of all required policies of insurance with minimum insurance coverage, and all other required contract documents are not properly executed and returned to the Department within the required time period specified in 103.06.
103.04 RETURN OF PROPOSAL/BID GUARANTY. The proposal/bid
guaranty of the successful bidder will be returned after the contract, satisfactory bonds, and all other required contract documents are properly executed and returned to the Department within the required time period specified in 103.06. Unsuccessful bidders proposal/bid guaranties in the form of checks or money orders will be returned to the bidder not later than sixty days after receipt of bids. The Department will destroy the bid bonds of unsuccessful bidders not later than sixty days after receipt of bids. Electronic bid bonds of unsuccessful bidders will not be returned but will be deemed by the Department to have no force or effect after sixty days. This subsection will not apply where the forfeiture of the proposal/bid guaranty is warranted.
103.05 Payment, Performance, and Retainage Bonds.
At the time of execution of the contract, the successful bidder shall furnish, as provided below, the following performance and payment bonds on the forms provided by the Department, and may, at the successful bidder’s option, furnish a retainage bond.
1.Payment bond in a sum equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the contract amount.
2.Performance bond in a sum equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the contract amount.
3.Retainage bond in a sum equal to five percent (5%) of the contract amount for contract amounts greater than $500,000 unless an election is made to have the Department withhold five percen t (5%) of the contract amount; and, retainage bond in a sum equal to ten percent (10%) of the contract amount for contract amounts equal to or less than $500,000 unless an election is made to have the Department withhold ten percent (10%) of the contract amount. The bonds shall be written by a surety or insurance company that is in good standing and currently licensed to write surety bonds in the State of Louisiana by the Louisiana Department of Insurance and also conform to the requirements of LSA-R.S. 48:255. All signatures required on any paper “Bond Form” shall be original signatures, in ink, and are not to be mechanical reproductions or facsimiles.
103.06 EXECUTION AND APPROVAL OF CONTRACT. The
contract, satisfactory bonds, proof of voluntary submission of escrowed bid preparation working papers or a statement that such papers will not be escrowed, proof of all required policies of insurance with minimum insurance coverages, proof of appropriate Louisiana contractor’s license (if not required for bidding), and all other required contract documents shall be properly executed and returned to the Department within 15 calendar days after transmission to the bidder. If the contract is not executed by the Department within 20 calendar days following receipt of all required documents, the bidder shall have the right to withdraw his bid without penalty.
103.07 FAILURE TO EXECUTE CONTRACT. Failure by the bidder to
comply with 103.06 will be cause for cancellation of the award and forfeiture of the proposal/bid guarantee, which shall become the property of the Department, not as a penalty, but in liquidation of damages sustained. For those projects wherein a proposal/bid guarantee was not provided with the bid, failure to comply with 103.06 will be cause for cancellation of the award and bidder to be disqualified from bidding or subcontracting for a period of one year from the award date. Awards, which were cancelled, may then be made to the next lowest responsible bidder or the work may be readvertised for bids, at the Department's discretion. Should a proposal/bid guaranty be required to be forfeited by the bidder to the Department or other named obligee, and if for any reason the full amount of the proposal/bid guaranty is not collected or collectable by the Department upon demand, the bidder will be disqualified from bidding or subcontracting for a period of one year from the date of non-payment.
103.08 NOTICE TO PROCEED. The Department will issue the
contractor a Notice to Proceed or a Conditional Notice to Proceed as soon as possible after award of the contract, and in no case will issue the contractor a Notice to Proceed or a Conditional Notice to Proceed later than 60 days after contract execution unless written consent of the contractor has first been obtained. If the Department has not issued the contractor a Notice to Proceed or a Conditional Notice to Proceed within 60 days of contract execution, and written consent of the contractor to extend this time period has not been obtained prior to its expiration, the contractor may demand cancellation of the contract. After award of the contract, the project engineer will schedule a preconstruction conference. The preconstruction conference will be held prior to performing any work on the project, preferably during the assembly period, but not later than the first day of field operations. The project engineer will schedule the conference sufficiently in advance to permit the attendance of all parties concerned. The contractor is urged to have all subcontractors and major suppliers in attendance at the preconstruction conference.
Referenced in this section
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
- Georgia 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
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Source: Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridges, 2016 Edition. Pages 40–43 of 1,145. View official source ↗