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A.Offer and Agreement to Pre-execution Terms The signing and Delivery of a Bid represents: (1) an offer by the Bidder to perform the Work for the price(s) submitted within the time(s) specified and in Conf ormity with all provisions of the Bid Documents; and (2) the Bidder’s Agreement to all the provisions of the Bid Documen ts governing requirements and procedures applicable before Contract Execution. The Bidde r’s offer shall be irrevocable until the expiration of the time for Contract Execu tion by the Department set forth in Section 103.8, except as provided in Sections 102.8 an d 102.10 regarding withdrawal of Bids.
B.Bidder Representations By signing and Delivering a Bid, th e Bidder represents that: (1) the Bidder has perf ormed the examinations required b y Section 102.3 - Examinations of Documents, Site and Other Information; (2) the Bidder has given the Department written notice of all ambiguities, etc. discovered b y the Bidder as required by Section 102.5.2 - Bidder’s Duty to No tify Department if Ambigui ties Discovered; and (3) the Bidder has sufficient knowledge of the Bid Documents, Geote chnical Information, the site, and other conditions to properly price, schedule, plan, a nd perform the Work.
C.Certifications By signing and Delivering a Bid on federall y funded or partially federally funded Contract, the B idder certifies as provided in all federal certifications set forth in the Project Specific Bid Book, including those set for th in Section 1 thereof. By signing and Delivering a Bid, the Bidder further certifies as p rovided in Section 105.10.2(F) - Certification of Continuing EEO Efforts. 102.8 Withdrawal of Bids Before the Time Specified for Bid Ope ning A Bidder may withdraw a Bid after Delivery, pr ovided the request for such wi thdrawal is made in writing or in person before the time set for Bid Opening in the Notice to Contractors. The Bidder may revise and resubmit a Bid so withdrawn before the time spec ified for Bid Opening. 102.9 Bid Opening Bids will be opened and publicly read at th e time and place specified in the Notice to Contr actors or any applicable Bid Am endments. The Department will normally read publicly only the total Bid Price of each Bi d. Unit and lump sum prices are available for inspection by the Bidders immediately after t he Bid Opening process. The public reading of a Bid does not constitute a determinatio n by the Department of whether the Bid is responsive or of whether the Bidder is respo nsible, though the Department may refuse to read Bids that are obviously non-respo nsive. Accordingly, the Department may reject a Bid as non-responsive and/or determine a Bidder is not responsible or ineligible to Bid even if that Bidder’s Bid is read at Bid O pening.
102.10 Withdrawal of Bids in Multiple Bid Context Bids may no t be withdrawn
after the time of Bid Opening, except under the limited circums tance set forth in this Section 102.10. If a Bidder has submitted Bids on multiple Projects that have the same Bid Opening time, and if after the reading of Bids the Bidder has submitted the apparent low Bid on one Project, then the Bidder may w ithdraw any Bids on other Project s for which no Bids have 1-26 yet been read. Such a request for withdrawal must be made in p erson or in writing. Bids withdrawn will not be considered. The Bidder assumes sole resp onsibility for the risk that the Bidder’s apparent low Bid is rejected as non-responsive or that the Bidder is determined to be not responsible.
102.11 Bid Responsiveness
102.11.1 Non-curable Bid Defects The Department WILL REJECT Bids as non-
responsive if ANY ONE of the following occurs: The Bid and Bid Guaranty are not Delivered to the precise locat ion and by the precise time set forth in the Notice to Contractors or any applicable B id Amendment. The Bidder is not eligible to Bid as set forth in Section 102.1 - Eligibility to Bid. The Bid is not signed by a duly author ized representative of th e Bidder. A Bid Guaranty Conforming to S ection 102.6 - Bid Guaranty is no t submitted. The unit price and bid amount i s not provided or a lump sum pri ce is not provided or is illegible as determined by the Department. The Bidder fails to indicate the Bidder’s choice where the Bid Documents clearly require a choice. The Bid contains any conditional or alternate Bidding language, including the right to accept or reject an Award of the Contract. The Bidder submits more than one Bid for the same Contract, or the Bidder and any Related Entity each submit a Bid for the same Contract. The Department has substantial evidence of collusion by the Bid der. The Bidder fails to comply wit h any provision in the Bid Docume nts that expressly indicates that such non-compliance will cause Bid rejection. When A plus B bidding is specifi ed, the bid does not contain th e number of Calendar Days bid to complete the work The Bid is not submitted on the most current forms provided by the Department or identical copies thereof. The Bidder will have no opportunity to cure the above Non-cura ble Bid Defects.
102.11.2 Curable Bid Defects Unless the Department waives a c urable Bid defect,
the Bidder must cure, within the time stated in the written not ice by the Department, but not 1-27 less than 24 hours, all other Bid Defects not listed in Section 102.11.1 - Non-curable Bid Defects that are identified by the Department. Failure to cure such Defects within said time may result in forfeiture of the Bidder’s Bid Guaranty. Upon su ch failure, the Department may take any action in the best interests of the Department, in cluding those set forth in Section 103.6 - Failure to Fulfill Award Conditions. Such curable Bid Defects include, but are not limited to, the f ollowing. The Bidder signs only one of the C ontract Agreement Offer & Awa rd forms. Missing total sum of the items pr ovided in the Schedule of Item s. The prices or signatures on the Bid or Bid Guaranty are not in ink or other non-erasable substance. Failure to acknowledge Receipt and consideration of all Bid Ame ndments. All other Defects that do not cr eate a significant question as to the Bidder’s total Bid amount or the Bidder’s ability to complete the Work within the Contract Time or by the Contract Completion Date as determined by the Department. Materially unbalanced Bids may create a significant question a s to the Bidder’s ability or will to complete the Work within the Contract Time i n accordance with the requirements of the Contract; see Section 103.1.2 - Unbalanced Bids. Contractors prequalified for the general category stated in th e Notice to Contractors may be determined non-responsive by the Department based on rec ent or new data provided since the last determination of prequalification for that Contr actor. SECTION 103 - AWARD AND CONTRACTING Scope of Section This Section includes requirements related to the final determination of Bid responsiveness and Award and execution of the Contract. 103.1 Analysis of Bids 103.1a Tie Bids - In the case where two responsive bids from r esponsible bidders are equal monetarily, the Department shall determine the apparent l ow bidder by flipping a coin. The coin shall have sides clearly marked as heads and ta ils. The contractor whose first letter in its official company name that comes first in t he alphabet shall be heads. If there are three bids, each bidder will flip the coin and the bidder with the odd toss will be the winner. (i.e. if the results are two heads and a tails, the bidder who had tails is the winner). For a three way tie, bi dders may flip their own coin or have the Contracts Engineer flip for them.
Source: Maine Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, 2020 Edition. Pages 32–34 of 817.