(1) All subcontract work and equipment and material purchases shall be competitively bid with public bid openings. Subcontract bid packages and equipment and materials purchases shall be awarded to the responsible bidder submitting the lowest responsive bid. In preparing subcontract bid packages, the general contractor/construction manager shall not be required to violate or waive terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

     (2) All subcontract bid packages in which bidder eligibility was not determined in advance shall include the specific objective criteria that will be used by the general contractor/construction manager and the public body to evaluate bidder responsibility. If the lowest bidder submitting a responsive bid is determined by the general contractor/construction manager and the public body not to be responsible, the general contractor/construction manager and the public body must provide written documentation to that bidder explaining their intent to reject the bidder as not responsible and afford the bidder the opportunity to establish that it is a responsible bidder. Responsibility shall be determined in accordance with criteria listed in the bid documents. Protests concerning bidder responsibility determination by the general contractor/construction manager and the public body shall be in accordance with subsection (4) of this section.

     (3) All subcontractors who bid work over three hundred thousand dollars shall post a bid bond. All subcontractors who are awarded a contract over three hundred thousand dollars shall provide a performance and payment bond for the contract amount. All other subcontractors shall provide a performance and payment bond if required by the general contractor/construction manager.

     (4) If the general contractor/construction manager receives a written protest from a subcontractor bidder or an equipment or material supplier, the general contractor/construction manager shall not execute a contract for the subcontract bid package or equipment or material purchase order with anyone other than the protesting bidder without first providing at least two full business days' written notice to all bidders of the intent to execute a contract for the subcontract bid package. The protesting bidder must submit written notice of its protest no later than two full business days following the bid opening. Intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays are not counted.

     (5) A low bidder who claims error and fails to enter into a contract is prohibited from bidding on the same project if a second or subsequent call for bids is made for the project.

     (6) The general contractor/construction manager may negotiate with the lowest responsible and responsive bidder to negotiate an adjustment to the lowest bid or proposal price based upon agreed changes to the contract plans and specifications under the following conditions:

     (a) All responsive bids or proposal prices exceed the available funds, as certified by an appropriate fiscal officer;

     (b) The apparent low responsive bid or proposal does not exceed the available funds by the greater of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars or two percent for projects valued over ten million dollars; and

     (c) The negotiated adjustment will bring the bid or proposal price within the amount of available funds.

     (7) If the negotiation is unsuccessful, the subcontract work or equipment or material purchases must be rebid.

     (8) The general contractor/construction manager must provide a written explanation if all bids are rejected.

[2007 c 494 § 305.]

NOTES:

     Sunset Act application: See note following chapter digest.