General Construction Contract Provisions (September 1997) - Section 30

Section 10 - Definition of Terms
Section 20 - Proposal Requirements and Conditions
Section 30 - Award and Execution of Contract
Section 40 - Scope of Work
Section 50 - Control of Work
Section 60 - Control of Materials
Section 70 - Legal Regulations and Responsibility to Public
Section 80 - Prosecution and Progress
Section 90 - Measurement and Payment
Section 100 - Contractor Quality Control Program
Section 110 - Methods of Estimating Percentage of Material within Specifications (PWL) [pdf, 5 pages, 21kb]

Section 30 - Award and Execution of Contract

30-01 CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS. After the proposals are publicly opened and read, they will be compared on the basis of the summation of the products obtained by multiplying the estimated quantities shown in the proposal by the unit bid prices. If a bidder's proposal contains a discrepancy between unit bid prices written in words and unit bid prices written in numbers, the unit price written in words shall govern.

Until the award of a contract is made, the owner reserves the right to reject a bidder's proposal for any of the following reasons:

1. If the proposal is irregular as specified in the subsection titled IRREGULAR PROPOSALS of Section 20.
2. If the bidder is disqualified for any of the reasons specified in the subsection titled DISQUALIFICATION OF BIDDERS of Section 20.

In addition, until the award of a contract is made, the owner reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive technicalities, if such waiver is in the best interest of the owner and is in conformance with applicable state and local laws or regulations pertaining to the letting of construction contracts; advertise for new proposals; or proceed with the work otherwise. All such actions shall promote the owner's best interests.

30-02 AWARD OF CONTRACT. The award of a contract, if it is to be awarded, shall be made within 30 calendar days of the date specified for publicly opening proposals, unless otherwise specified herein.

Award of the contract shall be made by the owner to the lowest, qualified bidder whose proposal conforms to the cited requirements of the owner.

30-03 CANCELLATION OF AWARD. The owner reserves the right to cancel the award without liability to the bidder, except return of proposal guaranty, at any time before a contract has been fully executed by all parties and is approved by the owner in accordance with the subsection titled APPROVAL OF CONTRACT of this section.

30-04 RETURN OF PROPOSAL GUARANTY. All proposal guaranties, except those of the two lowest bidders, will be returned immediately after the owner has made a comparison of bids as hereinbefore specified in the subsection titled CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS of this section. Proposal guaranties of the two lowest bidders will be retained by the owner until such time as an award is made, at which time, the unsuccessful bidder's proposal guaranty will be returned. The successful bidder's proposal guaranty will be returned as soon as the owner receives the contracts bonds as specified in the subsection titled REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT BONDS of this section.

30-05 REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT BONDS. At the time of the execution of the contract, the successful bidder shall furnish the owner a surety bond or bonds which have been fully executed by the bidder and the surety guaranteeing the performance of the work and the payment of all legal debts that may be incurred by reason of the Contractor's performance of the work. The surety and the form of the bond or bonds shall be acceptable to the owner. Unless otherwise specified in this subsection, the surety bond or bonds shall be in a sum equal to the full amount of the contract.

30-06 EXECUTION OF CONTRACT. The successful bidder shall sign (execute) the necessary agreements for entering into the contract and return such signed contract to the owner, along with the fully executed surety bond or bonds specified in the subsection titled REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT BONDS of this section, within 15 calendar days from the date mailed or otherwise delivered to the successful bidder. If the contract is mailed, special handling is recommended.

30-07 APPROVAL OF CONTRACT. Upon receipt of the contract and contract bond or bonds that have been executed by the successful bidder, the owner shall complete the execution of the contract in accordance with local laws or ordinances, and return the fully executed contract to the Contractor. Delivery of the fully executed contract to the Contractor shall constitute the owner's approval to be bound by the successful bidder's proposal and the terms of the contract.

30-08 FAILURE TO EXECUTE CONTRACT. Failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract and furnish an acceptable surety bond or bonds within the 15 calendar day period specified in the subsection titled REQUIREMENTS OF CONTRACT BONDS of this section shall be just cause for cancellation of the award and forfeiture of the proposal guaranty, not as a penalty, but as liquidation of damages to the owner.