Lawsuit on Bidder Responsibility in New York

LVI Environmental Services, Inc., the second low bidder on a massive asbestos abatement project in Rochester, NY, has filed a lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court alleging that the low bidder, Cambria Contracting, Inc. did not meet the bidder responsibility criteria included in the bidding documents.

The project requires abatement of some five million square feet of asbestos-containing materials in the Midtown Plaza shopping center that will eventually be demolished to make way for a headquarters site for PAETEC Holding Corp.

In order to be determined to be a responsible bidder, the contractor must have removed at least 800,000 square fee of asbestos-containing material in each of the last five years and worked on similar buildings in an urban setting. LVI evaluated the material submitted by Cambria and alleges that Cambria did not meet the 800,000 square feet criteria in all of the past five years. In addition, LVI asserts that Cambria does not have the urban experience required.

The State Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for June 30, 2009 on LVI's lawsuit.

Cambria's bid was for $34.1 million, while LVI bid $39.9 million.

For more information, visit the website of DemocratAndChronicle.com.

In Washington State, RCW 39.04.350 authorizes public agencies to develop relevant supplemental bidder responsibility criteria for public works projects. The law was adopted in 2007 with support of contractors and public agencies. Many contractors are now expressing concerns about the restrictive manner in which public agencies are establishing bidder responsibility criteria on projects.