When Should Bids Be Opened When Subcontractors List is Required?

Under Washington State law, RCW 39.30.060, bidders must submit a subcontractors list as part of the bidding process for any project where the public agency has estimated the cost of the project at $1 million or more. The subcontractors list must include the names of the subcontractors who will perform the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work, or for the bidder to name themselves if they will perform this work. By choice of the public agency and as described in the bidding documents, the subcontractors list may be submitted either with the bid or up to one hour after the bid submittal deadline.

Let's look at a potential scenario. If the public agency requires bids to be submitted by 2:00 p.m. on a certain day and the subcontractors list by 3:00 p.m. on the same day, the question comes up as to when the bids should be opened and read. The better practice is to receive the bids by 2:00 p.m., receive the subcontractors lists by 3:00 p.m., and then open the bids and subcontractors list at 3:00 p.m.

The problem with opening the bids at 2:00 p.m. is that it invites bidders to bid low on a project, knowing that if they believe their bid is too low they can choose to simply not submit the subcontractors list by 3:00 p.m. thus automatically rendering their bid non-responsive. State law is very clear that failure to submit the subcontractors list by the deadline results in a non-responsive bid.

Thus, to prevent bidders from potentially manipulating the bidding process and obtaining an unfair advantage over other bidders by having the choice of whether to accept the bid or not, it is better to open all bids and the subcontractors list at 3:00 p.m. (or whatever time the public agency sets - this is just the time noted in this example).