103.1 Bid Opening and Award Process
103.1.1 Introduction
The goal of MoDOT’s bid opening and award process is to achieve competitive bids by packaging projects in a manner that makes them as attractive as possible to potential bidders. Methods of achieving this goal include, but are not limited to, establishing appropriate bid opening dates for the type of work, maintaining a stable bid opening schedule, and grouping or dividing projects to make them more appealing to bidders.
103.1.2 Bid Opening Location
Design will conduct bid openings for all projects within the right-of-way of the state highway system, with two exceptions. Districts may conduct bid openings for “maintenance by contract” projects that cost less than $25,000 or in the case of an “emergency”. All other contracted work must be included in the regularly scheduled monthly bid openings held in Jefferson City.
Emergency projects are defined as those situations in which conditions threaten the movement of traffic. These situations include:
- The road or a lane of the road is closed,
- Existing conditions threaten to close the road,
- There is risk to the safety of the motoring public.
In most cases, standard advertising requirements may be shortened for emergency projects. The Design Division will work with the district to determine an appropriate advertising period for emergency projects on a case-by-case basis. It should be noted, bid guaranties (bid bonds) and contract bonds are required on all projects, including emergency projects.
For maintenance funded contract work with an estimated cost of $25,000 or less, most aspects of the bid opening (i.e. advertising, proposal preparation, opening and award) can be performed in the district. However, Design Division staff is available to assist the district with these items or to perform them for the district. Advertising for these projects shall follow the provisions contained in EPG 103.1.7. In addition, bid guaranties (bid bonds) and contract bonds are required on all projects, including maintenance by contract projects. In addition, projects should be combined into efficient combinations so contractors can provide cost effective bids.
103.1.2.1 Emergency Work Procurement Process
There may be instances where a failure on our roadway system needs to be repaired immediately. If this cannot be performed with MoDOT forces or on-call, contracts an emergency contract will need to be let.
Emergency Work: A member of the Executive Committee and the respective District Engineer (any one) are authorized to award and execute contracts for emergency roadway, bridge, and/or other transportation facility repairs, structure demolition, and/or services necessary for the benefit of public safety. All contracts for emergency construction work shall be presented to the Commission for ratification.
Step 1: Assess the job. There will be no plans or line items for this work. A general scope of work and requirements such as time frame of work should be made. A rough estimate should be made based upon historical work and sound engineering judgment. This will be a best value selection instead of low bid and it will not have the normal advertisement to bidders. Therefore, the District Engineer must get an emergency declaration from the Deputy Director and Chief Engineer or Asst. Chief Engineer to proceed.
The district must decide how the emergency contract should be funded.
When the repair contract will be funded out of the district cash budget the district must determine the funding source and get the appropriate coding for the project from Financial Services.
When the contract is desired to be added to the STIP, the District Engineer will send notification to the Statewide Programming group in the Transportation Planning Division along with a copy in writing or email from the Deputy Director and Chief Engineer or Asst. Chief Engineer giving the project an emergency declaration status. Statewide Programming group will start the process of obtaining an emergency STIP amendment. They will work with the District Planning staff to enter the project in SIMS and assign the project a Job number. The Project Manager will submit a request to Financial Services to assign the project a Sam II number for project charge expenses
If the project is to be federalized, a request will need to be made through the Federal Management Information System (FMIS). There are additional requirements for this funding. It will require being in an approved TIP (if it is an MPO area), environmental cleared, right of way cleared, and railroad cleared. A minimum of three contractors must be solicited and a justification of why the successful contractor was selected. All of this takes time and federal funding would not likely be pursued due to time constraints. But it is an option if so desired.
Once the funding mechanisms are identified and approved, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Solicit interest from a minimum of three contractors if possible. (If it is extremely urgent you can waive this, but it is mandatory for federal reimbursement.) Depending on the job, solicitations can be done by phone or with on-site visits. It is important to relay consistent information on the scope and requirements of the project. Since there are no bidding documents, all work will be performed by force account. A best responsive contractor is selected by the district. There is no formal contract. However, a written confirmation by mail or email is recommended. The contractor must be on the MoDOT approved list and insured. Normal job requirements such as DBE requirements, subcontract forms, schedule submittal, etc. will not be mandatory. Payrolls will be needed to verify force accounts. The contractor will submit pay requests and the district will verify the amounts and submit a request for payment to Financial Services to get the contractor paid. Once the contract is complete, Financial Services should be notified so the project may be closed out. No other final paper work or affidavits will be required from the contractor. In the rare instance where federal funding is utilized, FHWA should be contacted to verify whether any additional documentation is required.
103.1.3 Establishing Project Bid Opening Dates
103.1.3.1 General
An appropriate bid opening date should be established with the following considerations:
- Contract time needed for project completion, including the time a contractor needs to secure the required materials. EPG 103.1.3.2 provides guidelines for target award quarters depending on contract time.
- Date when plans, specifications and estimate are complete, right of way clear, utilities clear, agreements executed.
- Uniform availability of work around the state (reviewed by the Design Division).
- Availability of funding. The district should work with the Transportation Planning Division to ensure funding is available and to include projects in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
103.1.3.2 Guidelines for Type of Work
Guidelines that may be used in developing preliminary award quarters for a project are listed below. They are based on MoDOT’s low bid experience, categorized by type of work and approximate cost of major work items. These are general guidelines, not rules, and exceptions do exist. This information is only a starting point and the project manager should draw upon the experience of district operations personnel or Design Division as necessary. Note: the number of days specified below refers to working days and not calendar days:
- 1st Quarter – (July, August & September)
- Major bridges - over $5 Million
- Large multi-year corridor projects – over $10 Million
- Large urban widening projects – over $3 Million and/or more than 120 days
- Small maintenance jobs (July & August) – under $250,000 and/or less than 30 days
- Large asphalt or portland cement concrete paving projects – over $10 Million
- Annual maintenance contracts (“on-call” work)
- 2nd Quarter – (October, November & December)
- Major asphalt paving projects - $4-8 Million and/or contract time 90-120 days
- Major portland cement concrete paving projects – up to $10 Million and/or 90-120 days
- Urban widening & rehabilitation - $2-3 Million and/or less than 120 days
- Leveling course program – October and November
- Mowing projects - October, November and December
- Bridge replacements (steel girders) – under $2 Million
- Large grading projects – 90 – 120 working days
- 3rd Quarter – (January, February & March)
- Leveling course program – January and February
- Asphalt resurfacing projects – less than $4 Million
- Urban widening & rehabilitation – less than $2 Million or less than 90 days
- Bridge replacements (concrete) – under $2 Million or less than 120 days
- Large bridge rehabilitation - $1-3 Million
- Bridge rehabilitation involving low slump, latex modified, or silica fume concrete
- 4th Quarter – (April, May & June)
- Smaller maintenance projects (completion in current season) – less than $500,000
- Bridges replacements - $2-5 Million
- Large multi-year corridor projects – over $10 Million
- Miscellaneous projects – under $1 Million and/or less than 60 days
- Annual maintenance contracts (“on-call” work)
103.1.4 Requesting Bid Opening Schedule Changes
Once a project has been programmed in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, it is a MoDOT commitment. Further, contractors plan their work according to the bid opening schedule so maintaining its stability is crucial to receiving competitive bids. Every effort must be made to deliver the project on time and within budget. However, if circumstances require a project not be let at the committed bid opening date, the district shall request a change in the bid opening schedule through Transportation Planning. The District Engineer must approve jobs moving to a new fiscal year.
103.1.5 Packaging Projects for Bid Opening
It is desirable to “package” projects to make them as attractive to bidders as possible, particularly in areas of the state with limited competition. Design is available for consultation in determining prospective bid competition. Similarly the Design Division can assist the district in developing attractively packaged projects.
Small projects may need to be combined, while large projects may need to be split apart. Materials availability is also a concern when scheduling certain work types. The number of different work types should be reduced as much as practical (i.e., a small quantity of asphalt with a small quantity of concrete). For certain particularly complex projects, there is a benefit to having one contractor in charge of the entire project. Required combinations are recommended for several small projects with similar work within a reasonable distance from one another. Packaging them together often makes them “economically attractive” to more bidders. Required combinations are also helpful when combining a medium to large project with a single small project in an area. The small project alone may not attract any bidders. Combining it with a more desirable project will increase its chance of being completed.
103.1.6 Assembling Bidding Documents
When the plans, specifications and estimate are submitted by a district, the Bidding and Contract Services Section of Design is responsible for assembling all of the required information into bidding documents that consist of: Request for Bid, Bid Proposal, and Contract Plans. The Bidding and Contract Services unit of Design uses a checklist while processing the plans, specification and estimate and assembling bidding documents. The checklist identifies the necessary documents that the district must provide with the plan submittal and common errors found in the review of plans. The process begins by making sure all necessary documents have been submitted. This includes the following:
- All district plans, consultant plans, bridge plans, and any utility relocation or other miscellaneous plans, job special provisions, and estimates have been submitted.
- The status of R/W, utilities, and railroad work has been submitted. If the contractor's access to the project is limited due to right of way or utility problems the district should refer to the "Commission Procedure for Liability Acceptance") to determine an appropriate plan of action as early in the process as possible. Once the plans have been submitted, a committee consisting of the appropriate Design Liaison Engineer and the Assistant State Design Engineer review the project for applicability to the "Commission Procedure for Liability Acceptance". If a determination of how to proceed cannot be made by this committee, the matter is referred to the Chief Counsel's Office. In either case, at this point it is often too late to cure restrictions on the contractor's ability to have full and free access to the project, thus creating an acceptance of liability risk if the project remains in the scheduled bid opening. If the job special provisions are not or cannot be drafted to adequately deal with these risks, the Chief Counsel's Office will request a delay in the bid opening.
- Proper Corps of Engineers 404 and Missouri Department of Natural Resources 401 permits have been issued.
- Municipal, county or other funding agreements have been executed, and funds have been deposited as required by the agreement.
103.1.6.1 Assembling Request for Bid
The orange-covered Request for Bid is made up of 3 components: The "boilerplate" contract pages, the itemized bid, and the job special provisions.
103.1.6.1.1 Assembling "Boilerplate" Contract Pages
The Bidding and Contract Services unit performs the following steps to assemble the "boilerplate" contract pages:
- Preliminary review of plans, specifications and estimate, including the workday study to provide the job description and ensure adequate contract time.
- Obtain the required DBE percentage and trainee goal for the project from the External Civil Rights Office.
- Insert job number, project description, bid opening date, contract time, liquidated damages, and DBE percentage/Trainee Goal into a standard format for either a federal-aid or state project contract.
- Ensure all supporting documents are included with the Request for Bid, including any necessary permits, asbestos survey inspection sheets, electronic geotechnical data, etc.
103.1.6.1.2 Assembling Itemized Bid Pages
The Bidding and Contract Services unit performs the following steps to assemble the itemized bid:
- Check that quantities on 2B sheets match quantities and pay items on the estimate and tabulation of quantities.
- Verify that all pay item numbers are on the current listing of standard pay items.
- Verify all lines on the itemized bid list are consistent with the bidding proposal and include lines for “section total” for roadway items and “section total” for bridge items”, etc.
- Add coding for permitted/required combinations and alternate paving jobs.
- Ensure estimate split-outs for financing by others are calculated correctly.
- Create itemized bid sheets for Request for Bid.
103.1.6.1.3 Assembling Job Special Provisions
The Bidding and Contract Services unit performs the following steps to assemble the job special provisions:
- Proofread job special provisions, and format where necessary.
- Ensure that the current standardized job special provisions are used.
- Spot check for commonly missed job special provisions.
- Add appropriate "General" special provision indicating current required wage rate provisions and other job special provisions to be inserted by Central Office.
103.1.6.2 Assembling Bid Proposal
The blue-covered Bid Proposal is assembled by the Bidding and Contract Services unit and is used by the contractor to submit their bid. It is identical to the Request for Bid, except that it does not include the job special provisions. In addition, the pages to be filled out by the bidder are printed on colored paper.
103.1.6.3 Assembling Contract Plans
The contract plans are a compilation of roadway plans, bridge plans, and any other miscellaneous plans that may be included in the scope of the project (i.e. utility relocation plans). The Bidding and Contract Services unit performs the following steps to assemble the contract plans:
- Review plans for implementation of Practical Design. Some Practical Design issues identified at this time include:
- Superpave on minor routes
- Bridge approach slabs on minor routes
- Full depth shoulders
- Shoulder paving on minor routes
- Pavement thicknesses exceeding existing
- Optional and alternate pavement not used
- Bridge replacement projects with large quantities of pavement replacement
- Excessive bridge widths on minor routes
- Temporary bypasses
- Bridge stage construction instead of road closure
- Bridge design frequencies too high
- Bridge lengths longer that existing
- Safety zones on minor routes
- Unbalanced earthwork
- Verify pavement design and typical sections concur with the pavement group recommendation.
- Check plans against title sheet index to be sure all plans have been included. Combine bridge plans with roadway plans. Ensure plans have been signed and sealed.
- Verify that the most current standard plan sheets and other special sheets have been used.
- Review plans for commonly missed items.
- Create 2A sheet from the estimate.
103.1.6.4 Time Requirements for Assembling and Printing Bid Documents
Under ideal circumstances, it should take approximately a week to process a set of plans and a day or two to print the bidding documents, allowing a minimum of two weeks for review of and changes to the preliminary bidding documents prior to advertising the project for bid opening. A chart identifying the bid opening dates, PS&E due dates and print dates is established by the Design Division. It is important that the districts comply with this schedule to ensure efficient processing and printing of the projects.
103.1.6.5 Electronic Posting of Bid Documents
Once the bid documents are complete, the Design Division posts an electronic version of the itemized proposal for each project on MoDOT’s website. These files may be downloaded and completed by contractors using ExpediteTM software. Contractors may print a copy of their completed itemized proposal and return it as part of their submitted bid. Advantages to using the electronic itemized proposal include: less data entry time for the contractor, less chance for mathematical errors and omissions in the bidding process and more legible bids.
The contractor may submit bids electronically via the internet. Bids submitted electronically shall use the latest version of Trns Port Expedite Bid, and be submitted using the BidExpress® website. Guidelines for How To Submit Bids Electronically are available on MoDOT’s website.
The Design Division also provides electronic files of bidding documents to approved external groups that post them in private electronic plans rooms. These electronic plans rooms allow subscribing members to view electronic versions of bidding documents and order printed versions of the documents. Advantages to sharing the documents in these electronic plan rooms include: quick access to bidding documents by potential bidders, communications with a broader competition base and better opportunities for connections between prime contractors and subcontractors.
103.1.6.6 Changes to Bid Documents
The method of correcting errors in bidding documents is dependent on both the magnitude of the error, and when the error is discovered. The Bidding and Contract Services (BCS) unit will evaluate whether a change to the bidding documents is necessary and what impacts the addendum may have on the contractor’s bid. If the error is discovered before the bidding documents are published, the correction is fairly simple unless it requires redesign and changes to signed and sealed plans, specifications, and the estimate. This may require from a few days to several weeks to complete the changes.
If the error is discovered after the project is advertised, then the change will be made as an addendum on MoDOT’s web site.
If the error is undetected by MoDOT, but is recognized by a few of the bidders, the bidders that are aware of the error may unbalance their bids, resulting in unfair competition in the bidding process. Errors in the bidding documents have caused the Commission to reject all bids on projects. This decision delays the construction of the project, and results in additional costs in advertising and bidding the project again. If the project is awarded, then the Commission:
- is likely to pay for change orders in addition to the original contract amount which affects the district's budget,
- is exposed to a claim/lawsuit from the successful bidder for either more money or more contract time or both,
- is exposed to a lawsuit from the unsuccessful bidders that had they known the true nature of the project, they could have provided lower bids,
- is at risk of criticism from FHWA and the State Auditor that MoDOT added work to a contract that did not go through the required competitive bidding process.
Once the BCS Unit approves doing the addendum, the District or Consultant, prepares revised bidding documents. Once all revisions are complete and approved by the Project Manager, the project manager will notify the reviewer via email that the addendum is ready for processing.
103.1.6.6.1 Identification of Revisions in Addendums
For More Information
EPG 237.9.3 PS&E Submittal Guidelines
MoDOT clearly identifies revisions to the plans, specifications, and estimate when issuing addendums. Clearly identified addendums avoid confusion for the bidders, especially when the addendums are issued the week of the bid opening. The following indicates the process for identifying the various revisions to the plans, specifications, and estimate.
103.1.6.6.1.1 Revisions to Plan Sheets
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The designer will use the provided CADD notes of a triangle with the corresponding number of the addendum to identify any changes on the plan sheet. All revisions for the first addendum will be identified with a “1” in the triangle, all revisions for the second addendum with a “2” in the triangle, revisions for the third addendum with a “3” in the triangle, etc. If the second addendum is changing a sheet for the first time, a two will be placed inside the triangle. An addendum triangle will be put in the lower right hand corner of the sheet to aid the contractor when using printed plans as the contractor will not have the file name informing them of the revision. Below are examples of how the revisions should be identified. |
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| The revised new quantity should be located by the triangle symbol and outlined with a solid line. The existing quantity should be outlined with a dashed line. |
For complicated changes or when plans lack the space to show the changes, it will be acceptable to only show the new quantities outlined with a dashed line and a triangle symbol identifying the addendum number. Beside the triangle symbol the text Added or Revised will be required to identify what change is being made. Deleted text will still be marked with a strike through. If a quantity is changed by more than one addendum, then the last addendum number changing the quantity should be shown in the triangle. An example is shown below.
Delete Sheet
MoDOT does not delete sheets once they are advertised. We may void a sheet by putting an “X” through the existing plan sheet and naming the new file with an _R001 to the end of the file name. Both the original sheet and the _R001 sheet will remain in ProjectWise. If there are many revisions to a plan sheet and it would be clearer to create a new plan sheet to show the changes, the district may void the original sheet and add a new sheet by addendum. The district should mark an “X” through the existing plan sheet and create a new plan sheet. The voided sheet should be designated with the triangle symbol and the note “Sheet Deleted”. Do not delete the original file from ProjectWise. The deleted sheet with the “X” marked through it should contain the engineer’s seal. MoDOT’s policy is to void a sheet via the X and add a sheet with a different sheet number instead of replacing a sheet. (The yellow highlighting on the sheet below is for information only and should not be included on the final product.)
Add Sheet
The new sheet should be designated with a note “Sheet Added” and the sheet number updated with an “A” to locate the sheet in the set of plans. If voiding Sheet 21 and adding a revised Sheet 21, then new sheet number will be 21A. (The yellow highlighting on the sheet shown below is for information only and should not be included on the final product.)
103.1.6.6.1.2 Addendum Revisions to Job Special Provisions
The district, or the consultant, should identify any revisions to the JSPs by submitting the revised JSPs with the changes marked by changing the color of the font to white on a black background. Do not use the track changes mode to highlight or strike through changes because when the reviewer accepts the tracked changes all the strike through language disappears. The strike through language should still appear in the addendum to identify the text that is being removed. Save the revised JSP file, in Microsoft Word format, to eProjects. The reviewer will enter the revision number and date in the signature block. The file should be saved as:
- Job#_JSP_Roadway_R001.docx
After the reviewer agrees with the changes made to the JSPs, the reviewer will save the file to a PDF format and apply the Triangle Stamps to the file. Then the reviewer will email the revised JSPs to the Project Manager for their review. The Project Manager or consultant will seal the JSPs with a stamp of their engineer’s seal. No security shall be applied to the file. The consultant may provide an extra set of electronically sealed JSPs with security applied to the file to ensure no changes are made to their JSPs and this set will be saved in ProjectWise’s Contract Plans Folder.
For JSPs with a large amount of revised text, the Project Manager may elect to not show the deleted text with the strike through as long as it is clearly marked with white text on a black background that a change or changes has occurred at the location where the text is revised in the JSP. The word before and after the revised text may need to be changed to white text with black background to mark the location. If an entire JSP is being deleted, the entire deleted JSP will be shown and marked by striking through the text of the JSP.
The Examples of how the JSPs changes should be shown in the final PDF file are shown below.
103.1.6.6.1.3 Addendum Revisions to Estimate or Schedule of Items
The district, or consultant, will provide a marked up copy of the Bid Book identifying any deletions, changes, or additions to the bid items to the reviewer. They will also provide revised plans so the reviewer can check that the bid items revisions agree with the revisions to the plans. When a bid item is added to the list of bid items, a cost for the added bid item must be provided to the reviewer.
103.1.6.6.2 File Naming Convention for Addendum Changes
The file name for the first addendum must be changed to add a _R001 at the end of the existing file name. The second addendum will need a _R002 added to the end of the file name, etc. Examples of the file names for the first and second addendum are shown below.
It is important that the project manager or consultant only use the _R001 extension for the first addendum, _R002 for the second addendum, etc. They should not use this naming convention when revising plans for reviewer’s comments before the call is advertised. The project manager will have the authority to change the file name on any file with a state of “In Review” in the Contract Plans Folder. They will also have the authority to create new folders in the Contract Plans Folder. See example file names below:
- 001_TITLE_J0I1234_I1_R001.pdf
- 002_TS_01_J0I1234_I100_R001.pdf
- 003_QU_01-02_J0I1234_I1_001_R001.pdf
- 003_QU_01-02_J0I1234_I1_002_R001.pdf
- 003_QU_01-02_J0I1234_I1_002_R002.pdf
- 003_QU_03_J0I1234_I1_2BS.pdf
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_Addendum_Letter_R001.pdf
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_Addendum_Letter_R002.pdf
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_Bid_Book.pdf
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_Bid_Book_R001.pdf
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_JSP_Roadway
- 180119_G02_J0I1234_JSP_Roadway_R002
- XS_001-012_J0I1234_I5_RTE23_001.pdf
103.1.7 Advertising Projects for Bid opening and Purchasing Bidding Documents
Under state law, projects must be advertised for bid opening in a newspaper published in the county in which the project will be constructed. Further, FHWA requires a project be advertised at least three weeks before bids are to be received. In addition to newspaper advertisements, MoDOT also issues a Notice of Bid Opening, which is available on the MoDOT web site. MoDOT, at the request of the AGC, has chosen to generally use a 5-week advertising period to allow contractors adequate time to properly prepare their bids. Once the project has been advertised for bid opening, contractors and suppliers may download the Contract Plans, Requests for Bid, and Electronic Deliverables at no cost. All downloads of the electronic deliverables are recorded and used for notification purposes in the event of an addendum. When downloading the electronic deliverables, the contractor has the option to be identified as a plan holder. This "Plan Holders List" is presently available to the public and is located on MoDOT’s website.
103.1.8 Final Engineer's Estimate
The Final Engineer’s Estimate is an independent assessment of a project’s fair market cost that is required by federal law. It is developed at the time a project is publicly advertised for the purpose of receiving bids. The Final Engineer’s Estimate shall be confidential and shall not be publicly released. It is used as the basis for the award or rejection of bids for a project irrespective of any other estimate.
103.1.9 Bid Opening
Bidders may submit paper bids or bids electronically using the BidExpress® website. Only bidders who have a Contractor Questionnaire on file seven days before bid opening are permitted to submit bids for a project. The list of qualified bidders is kept by the Central Office Construction Division and provided to the Secretary to the Commission. Bidders that choose to submit bids via the internet shall have on file with the Commission an “Internet Bidding Agreement”, a copy of which can be found on MoDOT’s website. This agreement shall be initiated by the prospective bidder and submitted to the Commission. A bid will not be opened and read unless a fully executed agreement is on file with the Commission at least seven days prior to the time set for the opening of the bids.
Paper bids are delivered to the Commission Secretary's Office by 11:00 a.m. on bid opening day, and qualified bids are logged in as they arrive. At 11:00 a.m. the paper bids are opened and the electronic bids are uploaded from the BidExpress® website. All bids are given a cursory check to ensure all required documents are submitted by the bidder. The bids are then marked for public reading by the State Design Engineer. Bids are read in the Commission Hearing Room to an audience of mostly contractors. The "Bids As Read" report is available on the Internet and as a printed document during the bid opening process. The Bids as Read on the BidExpress® website are called Apparent Bid Results and are generated immediately after all bids are uploaded during the letting. MoDOT also generates the Bids as Read report and posts it to the MoDOT website, generally no later than 12:00 noon. MoDOT’s Bids as Read report provides additional information that is not provided on the BidExpress® website, including maximum monetary bond and the pavement type for alternate bid projects. Guidelines for viewing the two versions of Bids As Read are posted on MoDOT’s website.
Each individual item of the paper bids is then entered into the computer. Any discrepancy between bids as read, and bids as tabulated through the computer, are investigated and resolved by the Bidding and Contract Services unit. The bids as tabulated through the computer are the official bids. "Bid Tabulations" which show itemized bids are then printed, along with the "Summary of Bid Opening" which shows the totals for the low and second low bidder for each job. The total bids shown on the Summary of Bid Opening are public information. However, the individual item bids shown on the Bid Tabulations are not made public until the Commission awards a project. These items are not made public when the Commission rejects all bids for a project. A confidential report showing an itemized comparison of the low bid to the final engineer's estimate is produced for bid analysis purposes. Once the Commission awards or rejects the projects at the Commission meeting, the Bid Awards and Bid Tabulations for awarded projects are distributed. Letters are prepared to contractors who have been awarded jobs informing them of their notice to proceed date, and the bid opening information is posted to the MODOT web site by the Design Division.
103.1.10 Bid Analysis Process
Bids deviate from the final engineers estimate, sometimes significantly, for many reasons. Consideration of the number and quality of bidders, and the disparity among the bidders is the first step of the overall analysis. After this step, the low bidder's price for each individual item is compared to the final engineer's estimate for these items. The Bidding and Contract Services unit notes major deviations and irregularities, such as unbalanced bidding, and investigates, as necessary. Information concerning these situations, when detected, is discussed with the appropriate Central Office personnel and can be grounds for rejection of the bid on a project.
103.1.11 Recommendation for Award or Rejection of Bids
Contract Services staff meets with the State Design Engineer after a thorough review of the bids, to discuss the bids received and make their recommendations for project awards. The State Design Engineer discusses the bid information with senior managers where the final recommendation to the Commission for award or rejection of the project is drafted. Prior concurrence of the Division Administrator of FHWA is required for there to be a recommendation to award a federal participation project. The final recommendation is presented to the Commission at its monthly meeting, generally one to two weeks following the bid opening.
Commissioners are provided with all pertinent information from the bid opening including the final engineer's estimate. After the recommendations are presented, the Commission decides whether to award a contract for construction or reject bids on individual projects. The Commission reserves the right to award or reject any or all bids on any project.
A meeting with the low bidder may be held following the Commission’s action on projects that are rejected. The meeting involves Central Office staff, district staff, and the contractor. They discuss any items that were bid excessively high or ways to improve the constructability of the project. These ideas may then be incorporated into a future request for bids on the project.
Sec. 103 of the Missouri Standard Specifications for Highway Construction outlines procedures and obligations involved in the award of a contract to the successful bidder. The resident engineer will be advised of award of a contract upon receiving offical notice that the contractor may proceed with the work.