Bidding issues abound in construction law. If a Pennsylvania contractor submits the lowest bid on a public project but finds that it contains clerical or mathematical errors, how swiftly must the contractor act to withdraw his bid and what are the applicable procedures? If a contractor’s otherwise lowest bid is declared non-responsive, what factors determine whether the lack of compliance was insubstantial and what rights to relief does the contractor have? If another contractor is the lowest responsible bidder but his bid is non-responsive, what must the second lowest bidder do to win the contract?
All of these issues must be decided and pursued promptly and require familiarity with Pennsylvania’s relevant statutes and case law. The attorneys of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP’s Construction Law Group have assisted clients on these and other bid-related issues in their efforts to withdraw or advance the bids which they have made on projects.
We also counsel clients on the antitrust implications of the bidding process. Bid rigging in construction and public works contracting remains a high priority focus of federal antitrust authorities and can cause considerable harm to owners and honest contractors. Accusations of antitrust violations can have disastrous consequences for a contractor.