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Chapter 8: Bidding and Award

Public Advertisement for Construction Work
Contracts for Design-Build and for Construction will be advertised so the number of bids or proposals will not be restricted or curtailed and will be open to all persons complying with the terms upon which the bids are requested or solicited.
The general advertisement process is described below
Design-Build Project Advertisement will include Contractors, Suppliers, Engineers, and Architects.
1. Design-Build Projects using a two step process: A Request for Qualifications [RFQ] is publicly advertised according to the advertisement rules in the Collected Rules & Regulations as a minimum. Proposers submit team qualifications at the first step. Only those prequalified firms are offered the RFP to submit price and quality proposals as the second step.
2. Design-Build Projects using a one step process: A RFP is publicly advertised according to the advertisement rules in the Collected Rules & Regulations as a minimum. Proposers submit qualifications, price, and quality Proposal at the same time,
Design-Bid-Build Projects are publicly advertised according to the advertisement rules in the Collected Rules & Regulations as a minimum.

B. Process:

Advertisement The Project Manager coordinates the Advertisement process
1. The University’s Advertisement policy is found in II.C. The Advertisement describes where Bidders can obtain RFP or Bid requirements, drawings and specifications (the Documents), the date, time, and location of the bid opening, and the M/WBE participation goal. Before Advertisement, the Project Manager sends the Consultant:
  1. One copy of the Advertisement (see Consultant Procedures and Design Guidelines).
  2. One copy of the List of Plan Rooms (see Consultant Procedures and Design Guidelines).
  3. One copy of the Information for Bidders (or Proposers) and General Conditions (see Consultant Procedures and Design Guidelines).
  4. One copy of the Bidder’s (or Proposer ’s) Statement of Qualifications and M/WBE forms (see Consultant Procedures and Design Guidelines).
  5. Prevailing Wage Rates for the county were the work will be performed provided by UM.
  6. Instruction on how many sets of documents to print, where to send them and when the Consultant must deliver them.
2. Document Distribution: The Consultant assembles the Documents and the Project Manager instructs the Consultant on whether an electronic plan room will be used for distribution or documents will be distributed manually. One (1) set of Documents will be provided to to each of the Plan Rooms listed in the List of Plan Rooms included in the Documents. The Campus may also have sets of Documents sent to the Campus for distribution. The campus maintains the list of plan holders.
3. Procedure for Issuing Addenda
  1. Addenda are written text or drawings issued to clarify, revise, add to, or delete information in the original bidding documents or in previous Addenda. Addenda are issued before the opening for bids.
  2. Addenda are Contract Documents. The Project Manager shall approve all addenda items before issuing. If Drected by the Project Manager, the Consultant shall prepare and distribute addenda directly to all plan holders.
  3. The Project Manger shall distribute addenda so all plan holders have a copy of the addenda at least 72 hours before the bid opening. This may be done through the electronic plan room or the Project Manager mayinstruct the Consultant to distribute to all plan holders. The Project Manager should extend the bid date if this requirement cannot be met.
  4. If the Proposal Form is revised by addenda, the revised Proposal Form shall be issued on a different colored paper to distinguish the revised Proposal Form from the original Proposal Form.
  5. Besides issuing Addenda to bidders, a copy of the Addenda must be placed in each set of the Documents that has not been issued.
4. Pre-Bid (Pre-Proposal) Meeting: The Project Manager, assisted by the Consultant may hold a Pre -bid Meeting before the Bid Opening. All interested proposers and/or bidders are invited to attend to ask questions about the project requirements, drawings and specifications and to inspect the construction site. All questions requiring interpretations by the Consultant shall be answered by Addendum. The Project Manager shall conduct the meeting in the format shown in the Pre -bid Meeting Notes. The Consultant later issues addenda, if necessary, to clarify or modify any questionable contract items identified at the Pre-bid Meeting.
5. Interest in the Project: To help assure that the University receives the most bids and/or proposals possible (and a minimum of three), The Project Manager will use the following guidelines:
  1. The consultant should be directed to review the local bidding climate before the preparation of Documents. The size and composition of projects should be considered to encourage competitive bidding.
  2. If it appears likely that a conflict among projects will occur in the market, the rescheduling of the due date should be considered if time permits and if the Project Manager expects that rescheduling will result in additional interest in the project.
  3. The consultant should review the plan holders list after the project has been on the market for seven to ten days to learn if adequate interest in the project. The consultant should contact several prospective proposers or bidders to assure the University will receive at least three proposals or bids.
  4. If there is little interest in the project, the consultant, with the assistance of the Project Manager, should contact potential propsers or bidders and determine the cause.
  5. Each campus should maintain a record with the project title, nature of the project and names of all the propsers or bidders on each project. This information should then be used as a resource in planning and marketing future projects.
Opening of Proposals and Bids
1. Opening Procedure: The Campus Construction Administrator conducts a public Bid Opening. The Campus Construction Administrator conducts the Bid Opening within strict guidelines outlined in the University of Missouri Bid Opening Procedures. For Design-Build projects, complete proposals are accepted only before the closing time similar ot Design-Bid Build project. However, the proposal documents are not made public until the evaluation process is complete.
2. Protests
  1. Persons or entities may protest the University’s selection of the apparent low bidder. The contract documents do not address the issue of bid protests. However, if a protest is made, it must be resolved to the University’s satisfaction before the contract is awarded. Report any protest to the UM Director of Facilities Planning and Development for resolution.
  2. Protests may be made at Opening regarding a bid irregularity. See Bid Opening Procedures for resolving irregularity protests.
3. Irregularities
  1. The Information for Bidders (or Proposer ’s) allows the University to waive informalities in bids. Procedures to follow for irregularities are set forth in Bid Opening Procedures. The Campus Construction Administrator shall refer all irregularities to the UM Director of Facilities Planning & Development for resolution.
  2. Some irregularities in the form or content of a proposal or bid may make it non-responsive. A non-responsive bid materially varies from the form or content requirements of the Proposal or Bid Documents. Examples of such irregularities include but are not limited to: incomplete submittals, unsigned bids, attachments or related documents, qualifications, discrepancies, submittals on unauthorized forms, late or mishandled bids, or claimed mistakes.
Bid Evaluation for Lowest Best Bid awards
1. Consultant Evaluation
  1. After the University has received the bids, the Project Manager shall instruct the Consultant to evaluate the bids and low bid Contractor. Information to evaluate the bidder is contained in the document Bidder’s Statement of Qualifications. The bidder submits this document with its bid.
  2. If the bids differ substantially from the Consultant’s estimate, the Consultant will provide documentation that explains the differences. Additionally, the Consultant shall also review the bid spread.
  3. The Project Manager will require the Consultant to make a written determination of the responsiveness and responsibility of the apparent low bidder, and a recommendation whether to award the contract to the apparent low bidder.
2. University Evaluation
  1. The Project Manager evaluates the bids received, the Consultant’s Evaluation, the Bidders Statement of Qualifications, any data contained in the University of Missouri Problem File, and on other appropriate data.
  2. The Project Manager will compare the bids with the project budget as contained in the Project Cost Summary. After the contract award is determined, a final Project Cost Summary is prepared for approval and signature by the Campus Facilities Administrator.
  3. For Contracts requiring Board of Curator Approval, UM Facilities Planning and Development will prepare the necessary documentation to bring the action before the Board.
  4. The UM Director of Facilities Planning and Development, in consultation with the UM Director of Minority Business Development, shall review the bidders M/WBE participation documentation and recommend to the UM Contracting Officer if a bidder has met the participation goals or made a good faith effort according to the contract documents.
Proposal Evaluation. Design-Build Price Proposals are separated from the proposal and reviewed for responsiveness by staff not involved in the proposal review or the review committee. No member of the Review Committee may know the any of the prices of the proposals under review. If any price proposal is deemed non-responsive, the committee may be informed that they need not score that proposal. The review committee evaluates and interviews Proposer teams in accordance to the Request For Proposals. Once the review committee has prepared their proposal scoring, the pricing is revealed to the committee and the final tally is done. Other award criteria are done similar to those noted in section 4 above.

Rejection of Proposals and Bids
1. Irregularities: Proposals or Bids with irregularities may be rejected if the UM Director of Facilities Planning and Development decides the irregularity cannot be waived.
2. Reject All Bids: All bids may be rejected if acceptance of the either the best proposal or the lowest responsible bid is not in the best interest of the University.
3. Non-Responsible Proposer or Bidder: A bid may be rejected if the proposer or bidder is determined to be non-responsible. If the Campus does not want to accept a proposal or bid based on the responsibility of the contractor, the bid results shall be sent to the UM Director of Facilities Planning and Development with the campus recommendation.
Withdrawal of Proposals or Bids
1. A Proposal or Bid may be withdrawn anytime before the scheduled closing time for receipt of proposals or bids.
2. A proposal or bid received and not withdrawn before the opening is irrevocable for 60 days or other period established in the Contract Documents.
3. See the Information for Bidder ’s (Proposer ’s) for additional information.

C. Award of Contract

Conditions Prerequisite to Award. All of the following conditions must be met before awarding any Design-Build or construction contract:
1. For design-bid-build projects, the Contractor has been chosen by competitive bidding, and the award is to be made to the lowest responsible bidder submitting a responsive bid.
2. For design-build, the contractor has been chosen by a competitive process that includes the price and quality of the proposal, qualifications of the team, and compliance with the Request for Proposals. As a general rule an award criteria will be based on at least 50% price and the remaining 50% on quality, qualifications and compliance. However, administration may determine a different weighting is appropriate. The award will be made based on the contractor providing the best proposal (a responsive proposal and receiving the most award points).
3. For construction manager at risk, the construction manager has been selected based on qualifications and management fees. The construction contracts shall be awarded by the construction manager based on competitive proposals received.
4. The contract documents conform to the documents used in the bidding.
5. All protests or disputes as to bidding or award of the contract have been resolved.
6. The scope of work matches the project scope.
7. Funds are available for the total project cost.
8. Approval from external agencies funding the project has been obtained in writing.
9. The contractor has provided proper insurance and bonds.
10. All necessary Board of Curator approvals have been obtained, if any.
Contract Execution
1. For Contracts executed by the UM Contracting Officer (see section 2 for delegations of authority) the campus will send a copy of the three (3) low bids to the UM Director Facilities Planning and Development for review and approval.
2. All other contracts are executed by the Campus Contracting Officer unless there are Bid Irregularities or Protests. Refer all Bid Irregularities or Protests to the UM Director Facilities Planning and Development.
3. After the contract award is approved (see II.B for delegations of authority), the Campus prepares the Contract transmittal including the Contract form, Bond requirements, Insurance certificates and requirements, list of subcontractor requirements, and roofing certification requirements (if applicable) to the Contractor.
4. If the contract amount exceeds $500,000, the Campus forwards a review copy of the contract to the UM Director Facilities Planning and Development. After review, the Campus will be notified to send the contract.
5. The Campus sends the Contract and accompanying documents by certified mail to the Contractor.
6. The Contractor must follow the instructions in the General Conditions for properly preparing and returning these documents. The contract period begins when the Contractor receives the unsigned contract. Fifteen calendar days are allotted in the construction schedule for the Contractor to process and return the completed documents.
7. The Campus receives the signed Contract and accompanying documents from Contractor.
8. If the contract amount exceeds $500,000, the campus forwards the Contract to the UM Director Facilities Planning & Development. After review, the contract is sent to the UM Contracting Officer for execution.
9. All other contracts are forwarded to the Campus Contracting Officer for execution.
10. For the UM Contracting Officer, the UM Director Facilities Planning & Development issues the Notice to Proceed to Contractor and distributes the Contract to Contractor and Campus.
11. All other contracts, the Campus Construction Administrator issues the Notice to Proceed and Contract to the Contractor.
12. For Design-Build contracts, a Notice to Proceed though Schematic Design Approval is recommended when curator approval fo the project design is necessary. This requirement will be included in the RFP and the proposer will be required to identify the design-build fee or cost through schematic design approval in their proposal.

D. Service, Maintenance, and Hourly Construction Contracts

Service and Maintenance
Service and Maintenance contracts include work such as elevator maintenance, equipment repair, custodial service, and other maintenance services.
1. a. Service or maintenance contracts may be procured by either the Campus Construction or Purchasing.
2. Prevailing wages do not apply to service and maintenance work.
Hourly Construction: The contracts for hourly construction services include construction craft work for small repair type work. These services shall be procured and administered by the Campus Facilities Administrator.
1. All work shall be advertised and bid per the procedures outlined in Section VIII of this manual.
2. The total value of the contract may not exceed $100,000 and work in one area for one project shall not exceed $20,000.
3. Prevailing wages shall apply for all construction work.
4. The University of Missouri General Conditions of the Contract for Construction shall be incorporated in the contract document.
5. A standard form annual bid and performance bond for services, supplies, material and equipment shall be furnished for each contract.
6. The contract duration should be for a one year period or less.

E. Master Construction Agreements/Job Order Contracting

Master Construction Agreements shall be competitively bid including price, firms’ qualifications and quality of services provided in evaluating the best proposal. Prices are generally determined by having a discount from a given pricing index such as the Means Estimating Guides.
Individual projects may be performed under Master Construction Agreements without seeking competitive bids for the individual projects. Individual orders shall be placed for each project and pricing shall be determined before work commences or a maximum amount established.
The construction cost for individual projects performed by Master Construction Agreements shall not exceed $1,000,000.
Master Construction Agreements shall be annual agreements with annual renewals not to exceed a total contract period of (5) five years.
Any order awarded in excess of $500,000 shall be reported to the Board of Curators in the “Quarterly Report to the Board” on facilities contracts. This information shall be provided to the Director of Facilities Planning & Development for inclusion in the cited report. Execution of work orders shall follow the contracting authority delegations described section 2. The overall master construction agreement will be executed by the UM Contracting Officer.

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