WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 309
[Introduced January 10,
2020; referred
to the Committee on Government Organization]
A BILL to amend the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
§5-22-1a, relating to competitive bidding for government construction contracts
arising out of declared states of emergency; allowing contracts for construction
projects to be procured through competitive bidding on an open-ended basis as
to quantity or by unit pricing on estimated quantities; allowing the
establishment of multiple award construction contracts; eliminating need for
emergency construction contract to specify the exact location of construction
involved in the solicitation for bids; making the requirement that the entity
to whom the contract is awarded furnish payment or performance bonds
discretionary; and making the award of such contracts subject to other
competitive bidding requirements of said code.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
Article 22. government
Construction Contracts.
§5-22-1a. Permitting
government construction contracts arising out of declared states of emergency
on open-ended quantity or unit price basis; types of contracts allowed for
construction projects; specific location of construction project not required
in solicitation; certain bonds discretionary; other bidding requirements
applicable.
(a) The state, not
including its subdivisions, may solicit competitive bids for construction
projects arising out of a state of emergency declared pursuant to §15-5-6 of
this code, in a manner that is open-ended as to quantity only, or for unit
prices on estimated quantities, and may also award contracts to multiple
qualified responsible bidders, thereby creating a pool of qualified responsible
bidders, so long as the nature of the contract is fully disclosed in the
solicitation in a way that allows for fair and competitive bidding. The state
reserves the right to reject a bid that it deems to be nonresponsive, a bid from
a bidder that is not qualified responsible, as defined in the first section of
this article, or a bid that is higher than the state is willing to pay.
(b) If the state creates
a pool of qualified responsible bidders, it must first offer work available to
the multiple contract holders to the contract holder identified as the lowest
qualified responsible bidder, and if that vendor is unable to unwilling to
perform, then the same work must be extended to the contract holder identified
as the second lowest qualified responsible bidder, and so on, until the work is
either accepted or there are no remaining qualified responsible bidders holding
a contract that are willing to perform the work. If no vendors accept the work,
the state may revise the work and reoffer it to the lowest qualified
responsible bidder, then the second lowest qualified responsible bidder, and so
on.
(c) Solicitations or
contracts under this section are not required to specify the exact addresses or
identify the locations of the construction project, so long as the solicitation
and resulting contract clearly articulate the mechanism by which the exact
address or location will be identified prior to work being performed.
(d) The state agency
responsible for overseeing the work may, in its discretion, choose not to
require an entity to whom the contract is awarded to furnish payment or
performance bonds by clearly indicating in the solicitation for bids that
payment or performance bonds will not be required.
(e) A vendor or
contractor that has been debarred pursuant to §5A-3-33f of this code may not
bid on or be awarded a contract under this section.
(f) Except where other
provisions of this article conflict with the provisions of this section, the
other provisions of this article remain in effect.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to provide that contracts for construction projects arising out of declared
states of emergency may be bid on an open-ended basis, and may utilize a
multiple contract award approach. The bill provides that solicitations and
contracts for emergency construction are not required to specify or identify
the location of the work at the time of the contract award, but must do so prior
to work beginning, and are not required to mandate that the entity to whom the
contract is to be awarded furnish certain bonds. The bill prohibits award of
such contract to debarred vendors or contractors, and makes the bidding and
award of such contracts otherwise subject to certain provisions of §5-22-1 et
seq. of this code.
This bill has been recommended for
passage by the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.