More Bid Protests Filed on Public Projects

With the current economic conditions, many public agencies are seeing an increase in both the number of bidders and bid protests on their projects, as bidders aggressively compete for a shrinking pool of available work.

Clark County, Nevada spokesman Dan Kulin noted recently that "In prior years, maybe one bid out of 10 would be challenged; these days it's more like one in four."

Some bid protests are legitimate, while others may border on frivolous. Regardless of the reasons, bid protests may negatively impact a project's schedule as the public agency evaluates the protest and responds to the protest by providing a careful process of hearing all the facts before making a decision. If the protestor chooses to take the protest to court through a lawsuit or a request for a temporary restraining order to block the public agency from awarding the project, additional costs and time delays have further impacts on the project.

The increase in bid protests is a good reminder for public agencies to be diligent in developing and reviewing public works bidding documents in an attempt to eliminate ambiguities and make the documents clear.

To read about various bid protests from around the nation, visit the section of my blog on Bid Protests to read about protests in California, Nevada, Ohio, Indiana, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia.