Will an Initialed Change on a Bid Form Make a Bid Nonresponsive?

Bidders frequently make last minute changes to their bid prices prior to submitting the bid to a public agency.  They are receiving updated and new prices from subcontractors and suppliers up until minutes or seconds before (and even after) the agency's bid deadline.

Who makes final changes to bid form?  As the bidder's office communicates those changes to their employee at the bid submittal site, that individual must then make appropriate changes to the bid form, often crossing out one number and writing in the revised dollar amount instead.

Common language on who must initial changes:  Often, an agency's Instructions to Bidders will include language similar to the following:

All bids shall be submitted on the Bid Form included in the Bid Documents and must be signed in ink by an authorized representative of the Bidder.  The person signing a Bid must initial each change appearing on the Bid Form.

Signer of bid rarely the one delivering the bid:  Requiring the person who signed the original Bid Form to also initial any changes on the Bid Form can create a logistical challenge for many bidders.  It may result in a protest to a bid if the person delivering the bid (not the signer of the bid) made the last minute corrections and modifications to the Bid Form based on telephone instructions received from the bidder's office.  

Potential solution:  One way to address this situation is to change the language of the bid documents to read as follows:

All bids shall be submitted on the Bid Form included in the Bid Documents and must be signed in ink by an authorized representative of the Bidder.  An authorized representative of the Bidder The person signing a Bid must initial each change appearing on the Bid Form.

Leave it up to the bidder:  This language leaves it up to the bidder to determine who is an authorized representative, and eliminates ambiguity about whether the Bid Form was properly executed, and reduces the potential for a protest based on who initialed the changes.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog
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