DATE: February 4, 2020
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Bid Protest Procedure for Public Works Projects
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve Bid Protest Procedure for public works projects, and authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning, following review and approval by County Counsel, to modify the procedure as may subsequently be determined necessary or appropriate.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will authorize the implementation by the Department of Public Works and Planning (Department) of a standardized written procedure to be followed when a bid protest is filed on one of the Department's public works construction projects. The intent is to provide a specific process to be followed by any bidder when challenging bid results, and thereby facilitate Department staff's timely processing of such protests. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to approve the recommended action, in which case the Department would continue to process bid protests without any formal governing procedure or mandatory filing deadlines.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action; however, some potential savings in project management costs may result from implementation of the procedure.
DISCUSSION:
The Department advertises multiple construction projects every year for various road and bridge maintenance, repair and reconstruction. In connection with this work, contractors submit bids for each project, which (with very few exceptions) is required by statute to be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder having submitted a responsive bid. However, a contractor may submit a protest contesting the validity or responsiveness of a selected bid. The nature of such protests may be based upon various factors, including inconsistencies in bid documents, incomplete bids and p...
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