Responsiveness of the Bid and Responsibility of the Bidder in Public Construction Bids

Contractors bidding on public construction projects must observe applicable rules and regulations and comply with their terms and conditions. Failure to do so exposes the bidding contractor to the risk that its bid will be rejected as nonresponsive or irresponsible. This paper investigates the grounds for rejecting individual bids in the bidding regulations of state departments of transportation (DOTs). Each DOT adopts its own criteria for determining whether bids are responsive and bidders are responsible and, if not, the grounds for rejection. This paper evaluates sixteen factors that awarding authorities may consider in evaluating bid submissions, their responsiveness, and the reasons nonresponsive bids may be rejected. Our evaluation of an awarding authority's grounds for rejecting unresponsive bids is followed by a discussion of several factors that may warrant reconsideration by public awarding authorities. Our analysis will provide valuable information to state DOTs and other awarding authorities of public construction projects worldwide, given the volume of projects awarded by state DOTs and their accumulated experience in managing competitive bidding for public projects. Both contractors and officials involved in public bidding should find this paper helpful. Contractors will have a better understanding of the potential grounds for bid rejection so they may stay clear of them when preparing proposals in response to future solicitations by public awarding authorities. Officials in charge of public bidding will be able to better assess issues and modify their procedures in light of those implemented by other public awarding authorities.