ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

CHAPTER XIV

INFORMATION FOR BIDDERS

THE term Information for Bidders seems somewhat preferable to Notice to Contractors, although the latter is also common. It matters little, however, which is used. One form in use reads Requirements for Bidding and Instructions to Bidders.

Under this head should be included all the information contained in the Advertisement, in some cases in greater detail or more extended form, together with other information necessary to enable a Contractor to make an intelligent and proper bid. It is not important to economize space or to make the information unduly concise. The Contractor or bidder who has become interested can be expected to read what is written, the cost of printing is small, and all such information or instruction as seems necessary or wise should be included.

The following is given as a sample or standard form containing many desirable features:

A.

Information for Bidders

Board of Sewer Commissioners

of the City of Franktown, Mass.

Sealed proposals or bids for the construction of a sewer will be received by the Board of Sewer Commissioners of the City of Franktown, Mass., at their office in the City Hall, until two o'clock P.M., Thursday, March 10, 1917, at which time and place the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

The Proposal should be enclosed in a sealed envelope addressed to the Board of Sewer Commissioners of the City of Franktown, and indorsed "Proposal for Sewer Construction, to be opened March 10, 1917," and delivered to the Board or its clerk. The sealed envelope will be deposited in a locked box provided for that purpose. No bid shall be withdrawn for any purpose whatever after it has been deposited.

Plans may be seen, and form of Proposal, Specifications, Contract, and Bond may be obtained from Richard Roe, City Engineer of Franktown, Mass., at his office in the City Hall.

All bids shall be made on the blank form of Proposal annexed hereto, shall give the price for each item of the proposed work in ink and stated both in words and figures, and shall be signed and sworn to by the bidder with his full name, and with

his business address and place of residence; in case of a firm, the name and residence of each and every member of the firm shall be inserted; and in case the bid shall be submitted by or in behalf of a corporation, it shall be signed in the name of such corporation, by some duly authorized agent thereof who shall also subscribe his own name and the title of his office and, if practicable, the seal of the corporation shall be affixed.

Each bid must be accompanied by a certified check drawn upon a national bank or trust company established in the City of Boston or the City of New York, and certified by the cashier (or other suitable officer) of the bank upon which it is drawn, for four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500), payable to the order of the Board of Sewer Commissioners of the City of Franktown, such check to be returned to the bidder unless forfeited under the condition herein stipulated. This check should not be enclosed in the sealed envelope containing the bid, but should be delivered to the Board or its secretary, who will give a proper voucher for the deposit. All such deposits, except that made by the bidder to whom the Contract shall be awarded, will be returned to the person or persons making the same within three days after the execution of the Contract and filing of the surety company's Bond, or in case of the rejection of all bids within three days after such rejection. A Bond in the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) with a surety company satisfactory to the Board, as surety, will be required for the faithful performance of the Contract, and the Proposal shall state the name and address of the surety company or surety companies which will be offered as surety in case the contract is awarded to the bidder.

The party to whom the Contract is awarded will be required forthwith to execute in triplicate the Contract in the form on file in the office of the City Engineer as specified in the Proposal, and to provide the Bond of a surety company satisfactory to the Board, all within ten days (not including Sundays or holidays) from the date when a written notice of the award of the Contract is mailed to the bidder at the address given by him; in case of his failure to do so, the Board of Sewer Commissioners may at its option consider that the bidder has abandoned the Contract, in which case the certified check accompanying the Proposal shall become the property of the Board, and in consideration of the receipt by the Board of said certified check and the payment thereof, this Proposal and its acceptance shall become in other respects null and void, and the Board shall be at liberty to make other Contracts with other parties as it sees fit.

After signing of the Contract and the acceptance of the Bond by the Board, the certified check of the successful bidder shall be returned forthwith.

All bids will be compared on the basis of the City Engineer's estimate of the quantities of work to be done as follows:

Item 1. 1971 lineal feet of 7' 6" sewer

Item 2. 2417 lineal feet of 7' 9" sewer

Item 3. 1557 lineal feet of 8' 0" sewer

Item 4. 440 lineal feet of 8' 6" sewer

All to be of circular form and built of reinforced concrete, and prices to include excavation and backfilling.

Item 5. Manholes

Item 6. Catch basins

Item 7. Branch pipes for house connections.

It is expressly understood that the foregoing quantities are approximate only; that they are stated merely as a basis for the comparison of bids; that the Board

does not, expressly or by implication, agree that the actual amount of work will
correspond with the said quantities; and that the amount of work may be more or
less than the said quantities, and may be increased or diminished as may be deemed
An increase or decrease in the quantity for any
necessary by the City Engineer.
item shall not be regarded as a sufficient ground for an increase or decrease in the
prices, nor in the time allowed for the completion of the work, except as provided
in the Contract.

The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to accept any bid, should it deem it for the interests of the City so to do.

The work is to commence within ten days after the signing of the Contract, unless the Engineer shall, in a writing, approved in writing by a majority of the Board, authorize a further delay; and is to be continued with regularity, except during unsuitable weather, until its completion; and the entire work shall be completed on or before November 1, 1917, unless the City Engineer shall in a writing, approved in writing by a majority of the Board, designate some later date.

Before the award of the Contract, any bidder may be required to show to the satisfaction of the Board that he has the necessary facilities, ability, and financial resources to perform the work in a satisfactory manner and within the time stipulated, and that he has had experience in constructing works of the same or a similar nature, and to give references which will enable the Board to satisfy itself as to his qualifications for doing the work.

Proposals which are incomplete, unbalanced, conditional, or obscure, or which contain additions not called for, erasures, alterations or irregularities of any kind, or which do not comply with the Instructions to Bidders, may be rejected as informal at the option of the Board.

The Board will not receive the bids of persons in arrears to the City or who are in default, either as Contractors or sureties, or with whom a suit as to arrears or default is pending, and the decision of the Board on these matters shall be final.

The bidder shall provide the Engineer of the Board all possible facilities for examining the quality of the materials proposed to be furnished, and for obtaining such samples as he may require. The materials furnished under the Contract must equal in quality said samples and be satisfactory to the City Engineer.

Bidders must satisfy themselves, by personal examination of the location of the proposed work, and by such other means as they may prefer, as to the actual conditions and requirements of the work and the accuracy of the foregoing estimate of the City Engineer, and shall not, at any time after the submission of a bid, dispute or complain of such statement or estimate of the City Engineer, nor assert that there was any misunderstanding in regard to the nature or amount of work to be done.

The bidder is expected to make himself familiar with the laws of the State and the ordinances of the municipality which refer to the employment of labor, or the letting or carrying out of Contract work, and to observe and comply therewith, whether or not special attention is called to them herein or in the Proposal, Contract, or Specifications which accompany this Information for Bidders.

The bidder shall not have assistance or advice from employees of the City or of any department of public works in preparing his bids. Each bidder is required to state in his bid the names of all persons interested with him, and if no other person be so interested, he shall distinctly state the fact; also that it is made without any connection with any other person making any bid for the above work; also that the bid is in all respects fair, and made without collusion or fraud; and

that no person acting for, or employed by the City of Franktown is directly or indirectly interested therein, or in the supplies or work to which it relates, or in any portion of the profits thereof. The Proposal must be sworn to before some official authorized to administer oaths.

Bidders are invited to be present at the opening of bids.

RICHARD ROE, City Engineer.

JOHN DOE,
HIRAM WEEKS,

ARTHUR SMITH,

Board of Sewer Commissioners.

In the above sample form many of the desirable features found in forms in actual use have been incorporated, and to these have been added others which seemed in some way worth while. Other wordings may seem preferable to Engineers preparing forms for their own work, and extracts from various pamphlets are added here for assistance and suggestions. The following explains itself:

B. Sealed bids or proposals, addressed to the Metropolitan Water Board, and indorsed "Proposal for building Section 8 of the Nashua Aqueduct," will be received at the office of the Board, 3 Mt. Vernon Street, until 12 o'clock, noon, of Thursday, the fourth day of June, 1896, and at that time and place will be publicly opened and read.

The only important point of difference is that the sample form says "read aloud."

A form prescribed by statute for use in one of the large cities reads:

C. Bids must be made in duplicate, the duplicate, without check, to be deposited with the City Auditor previous to the time named for opening bids.

In case of discrepancy the copy in the City Auditor's office is considered the official Proposal. There is no provision that the bids in the Auditor's office shall be publicly opened, and the opportunity for collusion or irregularity to occur is apparently increased rather than decreased. Any bidder might properly object to filing his duplicate bid in the City Auditor's office unless this was done a few minutes before the time set for opening bids. Some forms provide that:

D. In the presence of the person offering the bid it will be deposited in a sealed box provided for that purpose.

This does not refer to the deposit with the Auditor. The provision for placing in a locked box is not yet altogether common, and it is not always provided that bids may not be withdrawn after being deposited. Withdrawal up to the time of opening the bids might seem reasonable, but when the bidders are not well known, it is well to guard against the possible

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »