In an effort to provide a transparent bid process for the recently-approved referendum for the school district, the Board of Education publicized the following bid information for those wishing to place a bid on the approximately $30,000,000 project.

A Board official noted that should the bid come in lower than the capped amount, the savings would be to the taxpayers’ advantage.

The following is the information you need to know for the process:

All public contracts that in the aggregate exceed the Public School Contracts Law (“PSCL”), N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-1, et seq., bid threshold of $36,000.00 must be put out for a public bid N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-3(a) and (c).  The following requirements apply to all such bids:

◦      Bidders must provide the following with a bid:

◦      Bid bond (When total contract price exceeds $100,000.00) (N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-24);

◦      Surety certificate evidencing ability to obtain adequate performance and payment bonds  (When total contract price exceeds $100,000.00) (N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-25);

◦      Statement of corporate ownership;

◦      A listing of subcontractors (N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-18);

–  Subs must be listed if required by statute and/or specifications. Gaglioti Contr. v. City of Hoboken, 307 N.J.Super. 421 (App.Div. 1997);

–  Post-bid substitution is not permitted. O’Shea v. New Jersey Schools Const. Corp., 388 N.J.Super. 312 (App.Div. 2006);

◦      Notice of receipt of addenda;

◦      Business Registration Certificate.

◦      Public bids will often also require a bid proposal; a bidder’s questionnaire; non-collusion affidavit; a bidder’s affidavit; contract form; bidder’s check list; and, a performance bond form.

◦      N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-26 through 33:

◦      All bidders on contracts exceeding $20,000.00 must be prequalified to perform school work (N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-26);

◦      Bidders must be classified by area and amount of work it is eligible to perform ( N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-29);

◦      Failure to obtain prequalification (and subcontractor prequalification) will result in rejection of a monetarily qualifying bid for school construction.

◦      Contractors performing work paid for with public funds are required to pay prevailing wage; this also applies to subcontractors.

◦      Public work also requires conformance with state and federal requirements regarding non-discrimination and preference for use of American materials.

◦      Bidders must also carefully review bid documents to determine what mandatory items are specifically required by the specifications for each project.  While this is a comprehensive list of requirements, it does not cover all public bidding requirements, especially custom requirements placed in specifications by a public entity.

More bid information can be found in the following a link: http://www.nj.gov/treasury/dpmc/pub_how_to_do_business_with_division.shtml

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