W. Va. Code R. § 157-14-13

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 45, November 8, 2024

Section 157-14-13 - Award

13.1. The Division holds an Award Meeting to consider the information from the bid analysis, to confirm the bid is responsive, that the contactor is eligible to bid and that the contractor is in good standing. The award meeting results in a recommendation to the State Highway Engineer, or designee, to accept or reject the bid. The State Highway Engineer, or designee, carefully considers all information and reaches the final decision.

13.2. The Award Committee is led by the State Highway Engineer (or designee), and comprised of the Deputy State Highway Engineer - Construction, the Contract Administration Division Director, the Contract Administration Division Assistant Director(s), the Contract Administration Division Contract Analytics Coordinator, the Contract Administration Division Procurement Section Manager (or designee), the Engineering Division Director (or designee), the Traffic Engineering Division Director (or designee) and the Programming Division Director (or designee). The majority of these members must be present in order for the meeting to be held. Other interested parties or invited guests may also attend the meeting.

13.3. The award meeting is the venue for the decision makers to consider all the information and determine the most appropriate course of action. The options include, perform additional analysis of the bid documents and supporting information, seek clarifications from the contractor regarding their pricing or information contained in the supporting bid documents, to accept the bid as submitted, or to reject the bid. The committee documents the decision and when the decision is to reject the bid, senior management and the FHWA (for a full oversight project according to the Stewardship and Oversight Agreement) will be briefed prior to taking formal action. The decision to reject a bid is not taken lightly and senior management should always be consulted during the process.

13.4. If the committee decides to reject a bid, the bid process may repeat itself with the next bidder until an award is made, or until all bidders are exhausted. Should the Division decide to reject all bids for a Federal-aid project, the FHWA should be consulted for concurrence.

13.5. The Division may choose to accept a bid which is both mathematically and materially unbalanced but may risk federal participation in the project and therefore must consult FHWA as part of the decision to award such a bid.

13.6. The Division retains the right to cancel the award of any contract at any time before the contract is executed by all parties without assuming any liability.

13.7. The successful bidder will be notified within 30 calendar days from the bid letting, that their bid has been accepted. The Division is limited to 30 days unless they reach an agreement with the contractor to extend the award period; any extension should be agreed to in writing. The contractor is provided the contract documents package to sign and return.

13.8. The contractor has 20 days from the date of award to execute the contract and furnish a performance bond. Failure to execute the contract and supply the bond is just cause for annulment of the award and forfeiture of the proposal guaranty .

13.9. The contractor provides the Division with a fully executed contract, a certificate of insurance and the performance bond. The documents are carefully reviewed by the Division and if acceptable, the contract is presented to the Commissioner for signature.

13.10. The Division provides notification of the fully executed contract to the contractor, and appropriate staff. The notification triggers the District to issue a notice to proceed allowing the contractor to begin work on the project.

W. Va. Code R. § 157-14-13