The mechanism by which competitively bid contracts are advertised and awarded has been
described in Chapters 2 and 3. Essentially, the owner invites a quote for the work to be
performed based on complete plans and specifications. The award of contract is generally
made to the lowest responsible bidder. The word responsible is important since the
contractor submitting the lowest bid may not, in fact, be competent to carry out the
work. Once bids have been opened and read publicly (at the time and place announced in
the notice to bidders), an ‘‘apparent’’ low bidder is announced. The owner then immediately
reviews the qualifications of the bidders in ascending order from lowest to highest. If
the lowest bidder can be considered responsible based on his or her capability for carrying
out the work, then further review is unnecessary.
The factors that affect whether a contractor can be considered responsible are the same
as those used in considering a contractor for prequalification:
1.