SECTION 102: BIDDING REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS
102.1 Reserved
102.2 Prequalification
Prequalification of Bidders is a condition for submitting a Bid as authorized by the New Mexico Procurement Code, NMSA 1978, § 13-1-82 and 13-1-134 (198 4, amended 2011). Bidders shall be prequalified in accordance with 18.27.5 NMAC.
102.3 Suspension and Debarment
The Department may suspend, debar, reject a Bid as non-responsi ve, prohibit from the performance of Work, or terminate a Contract with any Bidder, C ontractor, Subcontractor, at any tier, Suppliers, individual officers, directors in accordan ce with NMSA 1978, § 13-1-177 to 13-1-180 (1984, as amended 2011) and the Department’s Suspensio n and Debarment rules as per 18.28.4 NMAC.
102.4 Required Documents for Bid Submittal
The Department will make available to prospective Bidders the R equired Documents for Bid Submittal. The Project’s R equired Documents for Bid Submit tal are those specified in the Contract’s Index of Required Documents for Bid Submittal.
102.5 Rejection of Bids
102.5.1 Mandatory Rejection of Bids
The Department reserves the right to reject any or all Bids, to waive technicalities, or to advertise for new Bids if, in the judgment of the Department, t he best interests of the public and the Department would be promoted thereby. The Department wi ll reject Bid(s) for the following reasons: 1. A Bidder is not Prequalified; 2. A Bidder is determined to be a non-Responsible Bidder; 3. A Bidder fails to comply with a ny requirement in the Contrac t documents; 4. A Bidder omits any portion of the Required Documents for Bid Submittal when submitting its Bid; 5. A Bidder adds provisions reser ving its right to Accept or re ject an Award, or reserving its right to refuse to enter into a Contract after an Award; 6. A Bidder defaults under a previous Contract, including Contr acts with other public entities; 7. The Bidder or its principals, individual officers or corpora t e d i r e c t o r s a r e p r e s e n t l y suspended, debarred, declared ineligible, or voluntarily exclud ed from bidding; 8. The Department issued a notice of proposed Suspension or De barment to the Bidder and the Bidder failed to timely respond to the notice of propos ed Suspension or Debarment; 9. A Bidder submits more than one (1) Bid for the same Project control number; 10. A Bid Item Unit Price results in an Unbalanced Bid. The Dep artment may require the Apparent Low Bidder to detail and justify in writing how its pr ices were determined; Section 102: Bidding Requirements and Conditions Page 21 11. A Bidder contacts or communicates with any State Transporta tion Commissioner or any Department personnel responsible for Bid review or the Award of the Contract in relation to the Bid review or Award process before the Department’s exec ution of the Contract , except for a response to an inqui ry from the Bid review committ ee; or 12. A Bidder is subject of a judgment or verdict imposing a civ il or criminal penalty under either the Federal False Claims Act or the New Mexico Fraud aga inst Taxpayers Act.
102.5.2 Discretionary Rejection of Bids
The Department may reject Bid(s) for the following reasons: 1. A Technical Irregularity exists; 2. A Bid Item Unit Price or Total Bid Amount differs significan tly from the Engineer’s Estimate or from other Bids; 3. A Bidder is responsible for uncompleted Work that might reas onably be expected to hinder or prevent the prompt com pletion of additional Work; 4. A Bidder fails to timely pay, satisfactorily settle, or prov ide security for the payment of Claims for labor, Equipment, Materials, supplies, or service s legally due on previous or ongoing Contracts; 5. A Bidder performs previous W ork unsatisfactorily, or fails t o comply with Section 108.4, “Unsatisfactory Progress of Work”; 6. The Department issues a notic e of proposed Suspension or Deb arment to the Bidder; 7. Evidence exists of collusion among Bidders or prospective Bi dders;If the Department becomes aware of an error in the quantity of a Bid I tem shown in the Bid Schedule, Plans, or other Contract documents which may call into question the Department’s ability to determine which Bid will result in the lowest ultimate cost to the Department; 8. To redesign the Project or change the Contract; 9. A potential benefit to the public or the Department exists i f the Contract is re- advertised; orWhen it is in t he best interests of the public or the Department.
102.6 Interpretation of Quantities
The quantities appearing in the Contract are approximate only a nd are prepared for the comparison of Bids. Payment to the Contractor shall be made onl y for the actual quantities of Work performed and Accepted, or Materials furnished, or as othe rwise specified (e.g., Computed Quantities) in the Contract.
102.7 Examination of Contract, Site of Work, and Requests for
CONTRACT INTERPRETATION 1. The submission of a Bid shall be considered conclusive evide nce that the Bidder has exercised Pre-Bid Due Dili gence and Accepts the conditions to be encountered in performing the Work and Acc epts the provisions and requireme nts of the Contract. 2. When available, subsurface inv estigation records related to the Project will be provided by the Department through bid express. When a log of t est borings is included in the subsurface investigation record, the data shown in the individual log of each test boring apply only to that particular boring and ar e not intended to be Section 102: Bidding Requirements and Conditions Page 22 conclusive as to the character of any material between or aroun d test borings. If Bidders use this information in p reparing a Bid, it is used at its own risk, and Bidders are responsible for all conclu sions, deductions, and inferences drawn from such information. If the Bidder require s additional information othe r than what the Department furnished the Bidder may, at its own expense, and wi th Department approval perform its own site in vestigation. The Department pro viding subsurface investigation information does not relieve the Bidder from cons idering geotechnical data from previous Projects performed by the Bidder in the vici nity of the Project, and determining how subsurface c onditions may affect the means, methods and cost of the Work. “The Bidder shall carefully study and compare all Contract documents and shall immediately report to the Chief Engineer an y error, inconsistency or omissions that may be discovered.”
102.7.1 Requests for Contract Interpretation
1. Requests for Contract interpretation shall be in writing, ad dressed to the Chief Engineer at chief.engineer@state.nm.us and must be received by the Chief Engineer at least 72 hours before the Bid Opening time in the Advertisement in order to receive a written response to the request. The Depart ment will not be bound by any statement or representation concerning the Work un less it is included in the Contract. The Bidder shall only rely on written response s from the Chief Engineer or designee and oral res ponses, explanations, interpre tations, or instructions given before the Bid Opening by the Department, it s employees or agents, are not binding. Written re sponses from the Chief Engin eer will be posted to Bid Express. Written responses will be provided, whenever prac ticable, no later than twenty-four (24) hours prior to Bid Opening. 2. The Bidder shall take no advantage of any error or omission in the Contract. In the event the Bidder discovers an error or omission, the Bidder sha ll notify the Chief Engineer in writing. The Bidder also agrees that it will make n o Claim because of misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the Contract or becaus e of lack of information; and 3. If a written response by the Department to a request for Con tract interpretation is not provided, the Bidder shall Bid the Contract according to th e Contract documents.
102.8 Preparation of Bid
1. Submit the Bid as provided in the Advertisement; 2. Specify a Bid Item Unit Price for each Bid Item, except when a Bid Item Unit Price is established by the Department; 3. Show the amounts for the respective Bid Item Unit Prices to a maximum of three (3) decimal places. Round additional decimal places in excess of t hree (3); 4. Exclude the applicable State GR T, local option tax, Indian b usiness tax, TERO tax, and other tax imposed by a tribal government. The Department w ill pay the applicable tax or increase in the applicable tax effective afte r the Contract is executed by the Department; and 5. The Standard Specifications and, when applicable, supplement al Specifications are organized by section numbers that describe the Work, Materials, construction requirements, methods of measurement, and Basis of Payment. The B i d I t e m numbers correlate to section number s; the first three digits of a B i d I t e m c o d e correspond to the Specification section number with the same fi rst three digits. Payment for Work will be made only for and under those Bid Item s included in the Bid Schedule. If no Bid Item appears on the Bid Schedule for an y Work or Materials required or specified by the Contract, such Work and Materials shall be Incidental to Section 102: Bidding Requirements and Conditions Page 23 the Contract and the cost of such Work shall be included in any Bid Item(s) related to or associated with such Work. For the convenience of the Con tractor, some Contract documents may specify Work which is incidental; identi fication of such incidental items of Work is not all –inclusive.
102.9 Innovative Incentive/Disincentive Provisions
The Department reserves the right and may include innovative In centive/Disincentive Provisions in the Contract.
102.10 Reserved
102.11 Bid Guaranty
A Bidder shall submit with the Bid, a Bid Guaranty in the amoun t of five percent (5%) of the Total Bid Amount. The requirement of the Bid Guaranty is to ensure that the Bidder will promptly execute the Contract in accordance with the Advertisem ent and in the manner and form required by the Contract Documents and that the Bidder wil l furnish good and sufficient Contract Bonds and required insurance. The Bid Guaranty shall b e in the form in the Required Documents for Bid Submittal. The Bid Guaranty will remain in fo rce up to 30 Days after Bid Opening, or until Award of Contract as it may be extended by th e NMDOT, notice of which extension(s) to the surety is hereby waived.
102.12 Reserved
102.13 Reserved
102.14 Withdrawal of Bids
A Bidder may withdraw its Bid before Bid Opening or may choose circumstances for the operation of the automatic Bid withdrawal functionality. Once a Bid Opening has commenced at the date, time and place designated in the Advertisement Bid s may not be withdrawn.
102.15 Reserved
102.16 Engineer’S Estimate
The Engineer's Estimate shall be confidential and is not subjec t to the Inspection of Public Records Act and shall not be disclosed to, or be subject to inspection by, members of the public before Bid Opening. A t Bid Opening the Engineer's E stimate for the Project will be publicly disclosed. Section 103: Award and Execution of Contract Page 24