Bidder Responsibility Workshop

How do public agencies ensure that the low bidder on a public works project is qualified and capable of performing the project?  One of the tools available in the State of Washington is the use of Supplemental Bidder Responsibility Criteria, evaluated after the bid submission deadline and prior to award.

It is an issue of great importance to both public agencies (to have the flexibility to ensure that awards go to responsible bidders) and to contractors (concerned about how the Supplemental Bidder Responsibility Criteria are being implemented by some agencies).

On Thursday, March 10, 2011, over 100 people from across the State of Washington attended a four hour workshop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on issues relating to the implementation of bidder responsibility on public works projects.  

Issues covered at the workshop included the following:

• Mandatory bidder responsibility criteria
• Subcontractor responsibility criteria
• Supplemental bidder responsibility criteria
• A case study on changing supplemental bidder responsibility criteria during the bidding process
• Pros and cons of whether meeting the supplemental bidder responsibility criteria should be pass/fail or discretionary.

Small groups of six to eight evaluated and commented on live examples of supplemental bidder responsibility criteria from actual projects.

The free workshop was co-sponsored by the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB), AGC Education Foundation, AGC, Utility Contractors Association of Washington (UCAW), Mechanical Contractors Association (MCA), and the Port of Seattle.

Speakers included the following:

• John Ahlers
• Dan Absher
• Nora Huey
• Mike Purdy
• Paul Szumlanski

There is already discussion of possibly offering another such workshop in the fall.  If you are interested in attending a workshop in the fall, please contact Erica Peterson at the AGC Education Foundation at epeterson@agcwa.com to get your name on the list of possible attendees.

RCW 39.04.350 is the law that was passed in 2007 authorizing public agencies to utilize Supplemental Bidder Responsibility Criteria.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog 

© 2011 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLC 

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