- 34 - SECTION 103 -- AWARD AND EXECUTION OF THE CONTRACT
103.01 Contract Award
1.The award of the contract will be made by the Engineer to the lowest responsible bidder whose bid complies with all the requirements described. The award will not be made until all necessary investigations have been made into the responsibility of the bidder to whom it is proposed to award the contract. The decision to award or reject shall be made within thirty calendar days after the opening of the bids, unless both parties agree in writing to an extension
2.The right is reserved to limit the work awarded one bidder to the amount that he/she is considered capa ble of handling, taking into account both his/her capacity to perform work an d contracts in force as evidenced by the Contractor’s current qualificatio n amount. Should a bidder be the low bidder on two or more bids in a total amount exceeding their qualification, the Department reserves the right to aw ard a contract or contracts in the best interest of the State which do no t exceed their current prequalification plus a tolerance of not more than 25%. The State reserves the right to determine which bid(s) will be awarded or rejected.
3.The Engineer reserves the righ t to request from the low bidder an extension of time to consider their bid for award or rejection. The Contractor then has the right to reject t he extension without reprisal.
4.The successful bidder will be notif ied in writing that his /her bid has been accepted and that he/she has been awarded the contract.
103.02 Affirmative Action
1.The Department, in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252) and the Regulations of the Department of Transportation (49 CFR, Part 21), issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively insure that the Contract entered into will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex, or national origin.
103.03 Consideration of Bids
1.Following the bid opening, the Department will compare the responsive bids. Unless otherwise defined in the proposal form, the comparison will be based on the summati on of the quantitie s and the unit bid prices shown in the bid. The bid totals will be available to the public as soon as reasonably possible, not to exceed two working days after the bid letting.
2.The right is reserved to reject any and all bids and to waive technical errors as may be deemed in the Department’s best interest.
3.When the Department allows one or more projects to be tied at the option of the Bidder, the De partment may consider both tied and untied bids to determine the lowest responsible bidder. When untied bids are not received on projects that are allowed to be tied, the Department may award the contract to a bidder submitting the lowest tied bid, regardless of whether an untied bid on a single project is lower than the tied bid. The Department will act in the best interest of the State when making this determination.
4.All documents and information used in the preparation of a bid shall be retained by all bidders for a period of 60 calendar days after the bid letting and shall be produced to the Engineer upon request. The bidder Award and Execution of the Contract 103.08 - 35 - awarded the contract shall maintain all documents and information used in the preparation of a bid unt il three years after project final payment, and the same shall be furnished to the Engineer upon request. Failure to maintain and furnish the documents and information will result in a reduction of the bidder’s maximum qualification rating.
103.04 Increased, Diminished or Omitted Items
1.It is understood that the quantiti es of work to be done and materials to be furnished may each be increased, di minished, or omitted without in any way invalidating the unit bid prices, except as provided in Subsection 104.02 of the current edition of the Nebraska , Standard Specifications for Highway Construction or Supplemental and Special Provisions.
103.05 Cancellation of Award
1.The Department reserves the right to cancel the award of any contract any time before the execution of the said contract by all parties without any liability against the Department.
103.06 Requirements with Respect to Contract Bond
1.Unless otherwise shown in the proposal form, the bidder to whom the Contract is awarded shall furnish within thirty calendar days after the award a Contract bond in a sum equal to the full amount of the Contract. The Contract bond must be executed on the form furnished by the Department. Contract bonds must be executed by co rporations authorized to contract as a surety in Nebraska.
103.07 Execution of Contract
1.No bid shall be considered bi nding upon the Depa rtment until the execution of the Contra ct as described below.
2.Unless otherwise shown in the proposal form, the Department will not sign a contract unless:
a.The Contract has been signed by a person authorized to sign for the bidder as shown in the preq ualification (when pr equalification is required for the contract) and return ed to the Department within thirty calendar days from the date of award.
b.The Contractor has provided a satisfactory bond and certificate of insurance within thirty calen dar days from the date of award.
3.The Department will not sign t he contract when the bidder gives written notice expressing intent not to execute the Contract.
103.08 Failure to Execute Contract
1.When a contract is not properly signed by the Bidder or the required documents have not been provid ed, in the time specified in the contract, the Department may:
a.Annul the award and cancel the bid with forfeiture of the proposal guaranty bid bond (forfeitur e not imposed as a penalty, but in liquidation of damages sustained), and adjust the bidder’s prequalification downward as specified in Par agraph 5. of Subsection 102.01.
b.Proceed with the execution of the Contract when all required documents have been correctly subm itted, and adjust the bidder’s
103.08 Award and Execution of the Contract
- 36 - prequalification downward as specif ied in Paragraph 5. of Subsection 102.01.
c.Award to the lowest, succeeding, responsive bidder and recover the differences from the defau lting bidder, and adjust the bidder’s prequalification downward as specif ied in Paragraph 5. of Subsection 102.01.
103.09 Material Guaranty
1.Before any contract is awar ded, the successful bidder may be requested to furnish a complete statem ent of the origin, composition, and manufacture of any materials to be us ed in the construction of the work, together with samples which may be subjected to the tests provided for in the Standard Specifications to determine their quality and fitness for the work. - 37 - SECTION 104 -- SCOPE OF WORK
104.01 Intent of Contract
1.The Contractor shall furnish all labor, materials, equipment, and other resources required to complete the work described in the contract.
104.02 Alteration of Plans or Character of Work
1.Changes to the Work
a.The Engineer may revise the contract and add or delete items of work as needed to satisfactorily complete the project at any time during the contract.
b.These changes will be provided to the Contractor in writing.
c.These changes in the work to be completed do not invalidate the contract nor releas e the contract surety.
d.The proposed changes will be reviewed to determine if there will be additional environmental impacts that were not addressed in the environmental documents, permits, age ncy commitments or the contract. This review shall occur prior to work commencing on the proposed changes.
e.If the changes in the quantities or the work to be completed result in requiring additional time to complete the contract, adjustments to the contract time will be considered in accordance with Subsection 108.02.
2.Changes in Quantities (Directed by the Engineer) a. Except for changes in quantities of existing major items of work, the work will be paid for at either the contract unit prices for existing items of work or at negotiated prices for new items of work.
b.(1) If a major item of work is increased in excess of 125% or decreased below 75% of the original co ntract quantity, the Department or the Contractor may request to negotiate a new price for that portion in excess of 125% of the original contra ct item quantity, or in case of a decrease below 75%, to the actual amount of work performed, provided that the Contractor can demonstrate how his or her costs have been impacted and explains how any fixed costs were di stributed to the original quantities of the items affected.
2.Agreement will be reached for the contract adjustment before the work is begun. When th e basis cannot be agreed upon, the Department may order prosecution of the work under the Force Account provision in Subsection 109.05.
3.Any contractor-exercised option, such as the use of RAP in an asphaltic concrete mix, will not become the basis for an increase in price due to a quantity change.
4.If the Engineer and the Contractor agree that the bid unit price is the correct unit cost for an overrun or underrun of the contract quantity, that agreement mu st be documented in some fashion (letter, email, change order).
3.Changes in Quantities (Incidental Overruns and Underruns) a. The quantities listed in the schedule of items are considered to be approximations; and the final qua ntities, as determined by final
Source: Nebraska Standard Specifications for Highway Construction, 2017 Edition. Pages 68–70 of 1,048.