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Section 00200 - Instructions To Bidders: Montgomery County Public Schools Facilities Guide
Section 00200 - Instructions To Bidders: Montgomery County Public Schools Facilities Guide
Described below are general and specific instructions provided to assist bidders in the
responsible preparation of complete bids. However, it is imperative that each bidder become
familiar with all aspects of the Contract Documents in recognition that only the detailed
requirements contained therein shall serve as the basis of compliance for a particular project.
General instructions for preparing construction bids with Montgomery County Public Schools are
as follows:
PART 1 - BIDS
1.1 Lump sum sealed bids will be received by the Montgomery County Board of Education
for the construction of the facility. Bids are due at the time, date, and place stated in
Section 00020, "Notice to Contractors."
1.2 Bids are to be submitted in duplicate in the form of one original and one copy, on the
Contractor's business stationery.
1.3 No bid may be withdrawn within sixty (60) days after the actual date of the bid opening.
The Owner retains the right to accept a bid within sixty (60) days of bid opening without
an increase in bid price or change in time of Project completion.
1.4 Bids withdrawn for any reason after bid opening, or Contractors who fail to enter into a
Contract, will be determined not responsible and not permitted to rebid the project. The
Owner retains the right to consider bid withdrawals or requests for withdrawal in
evaluating the Contractor's responsibility on future solicitations.
1.5 Prices shall be clearly written. Anything other than a price shall be deemed no cost to
the Owner.
2.1 Only Approved Contractors may secure drawings and specifications, limited to one (1)
set. Portions of drawings and specifications will not be made available to any Contractor
or Subcontractor. It is required that all Contractors and Subcontractors desiring drawings
and specifications procure an entire set.
3.1 Bidders shall visit the site and become familiar with the local site conditions under which
the Work is to be performed. Bidders represent and warrant for themselves and any
relevant Subcontractors intended to be employed on the Project, that all nature of the
Work set out in the drawings and specifications has been observed, that there have been
opportunities to inquire about site conditions including public right-of-ways and areas
adjacent to the site which might affect the Work, and that their proposal has been
prepared with the requisite understanding of the Project and site conditions. The site
visits will be limited between hours of 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday,
exception of MCPS holidays.
3.2 Failure to become familiar with the site will not relieve a successful bidder of the
obligation to furnish all materials, labor and services necessary to carry out the provisions
of the drawings and specifications and to complete the contemplated Work for the
consideration set forth in his bid.
4.1 Should a bidder be in doubt as to the meaning of any notations shown on the
Construction Documents, or should any discrepancy or omission be discovered, the
Architect/Engineer shall promptly be notified in writing. All bidders will be notified, in
writing, by means of addenda. The Board of Education will not be responsible for any
explanations or interpretations of the Contract Documents in any form of communication
other than written addenda distributed to all bidders.
4.2 A bidder shall be presumed to have familiarity with site conditions and to understand the
meaning of all notations shown on the Construction Documents, unless clarification is
sought in the above manner.
4.3 All systems in all divisions are to be bid and constructed as wholly closed, connected,
and fully working systems. Any doubts by the Contractor as to the intent of the
Construction Documents for such total systems must be verified before bidding.
4.4 Each trade or subcontractor will be deemed to have familiarized itself with all
Construction Documents of this project, including Architectural, Structural, Mechanical,
Electrical, and Site Work drawings so as to avoid coordination errors, omissions, and
misinterpretations. No additional compensation will be authorized for alleged errors,
omissions, or misinterpretations as a result of failure to observe this requirement.
4.5 Where a device or piece of equipment is referred to in the singular number, such
reference shall be deemed to apply to as many devices as are required to complete the
installation.
5.1 Each bid must be accompanied by a bid bond on an AIA Document A-310 Bid Bond from
a surety company authorized to transact surety business in the State of Maryland and
have at least an A Minus rating with A. M. Best, properly executed in favor of the Owner
for not less than ten percent (10%) of the amount of the largest possible total of bids
submitted.
5.2 Bid bonds will be returned within forty-eight (48) hours after the Owner and the
successful bidder have executed the Contract. If no Contract has been executed within
sixty (60) calendar days after the opening of bids, an unsuccessful bidder may demand
return of the bid bond any time thereafter.
5.3 The bonding company furnishing the bid bond shall attach to the bid bond, or deliver to
the Owner within two working days of the bid opening, the following statement, signed by
an authorized representative of the bonding company:
Power of Attorney, properly executed, shall accompany bid bond and bond agreement
outlined above if agreement is submitted separately.
6.1 At the time of execution of the Contract, the successful bidder shall deliver to the Owner
two (2) copies each of the following:
A. Performance Bond in the amount of One Hundred percent (100%) of his Contract
Price covering faithful performance of the Contract.
B. Payment Bond in the amount of One Hundred percent (100%) of the Contract
Price as security for the payment of all persons performing labor and furnishing
materials in connection therewith.
6.2 The Performance Bond and the Payment Bond shall be submitted on AIA Document
A312. The surety company must be authorized to transact business in the State of
Maryland, and have at least an A Minus rating with A. M. Best.
6.3 The cost of these bonds shall be included in the amount of the bids.
6.4 Status inquiries from the bonding company should be sent to the Owner, at 45 W. Gude
Drive, Suite 4300, Rockville, MD 20850.
If the bidder fails to execute and deliver the Contract and performance bond within ten
(10) working days of notice of acceptance of his bid, the security deposited with the bid
shall be forfeited to the Owner as liquidated damages for such failure or refusal.
Forfeiture of the security notwithstanding, the Owner reserves the right to seek additional
damages for Contractors failure to execute the Contract
A. The Owner will notify the apparent low bidder. Within two (2) working days after
that notification, the apparent low bidder (herein after known as the Contractor)
shall submit to the Owner, the names of those Subcontractors and persons or
organizations (including manufacturers furnishing materials or equipment
fabricated to a special design) who are to provide:
for acceptance by the Owner, along with the Contractor's certification that these
same Subcontractors, persons, organizations, or manufacturers will be used on
the project and will not be changed without permission of the Owner. If the
General Contractor/Prime Mechanical Contractor proposes to perform this Work
with its own forces, it must submit documentation to support that its current
personnel has completed Work of similar scope and nature on projects of like
size within the past three years.
B. For above Subcontracts identified with an asterisk (*) exceeding $100,000, the
Contractor shall also provide (in addition to the above list of Subcontractors,
persons, organizations, and manufacturers) letters from the Subcontractor's
surety containing the following statement, signed by an authorized representative
of the Subcontractor's surety:
7.3 Failure by the Contractor to provide any of the information outlined above within two (2)
working days after notification that said Contractor is the apparent low bidder shall result
in his bid being deemed nonresponsive and the security deposited with his bid (Bid Bond)
shall be forfeited to the Owner as liquidated damages for such failure.
8.1 Administrative Work shall be started within ten (10) working days after the Notice to
Proceed. On-site Work may begin with issuance of Notice to Proceed, and the entire
Work shall be substantially complete within 30 days.
9.1 A clause will be inserted in the Contract Between the Owner and Contractor stating, that,
from the compensation otherwise to be paid, the Owner may retain the sum of Two
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500) for each calendar day up to 30 days of delay
beyond the substantial completion date of the project as stipulated in the Contract
Documents, and Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) a day for each calendar day thereafter
without limitation. The calculation of liquidated damages will begin again with each
phase provided the previous phase has been completed.
9.2 A clause will be inserted in the Contract between the Owner and Contractor stating that,
from the compensation otherwise to be paid, the Owner shall retain the sum of Five
Hundred Dollars ($500) for each calendar day beyond the 60th day after Substantial
Completion for failure to complete all Contract requirements.
10.1 Include prices for all bid Alternates as described in Section 01230, Alternates, of this
manual.
10.2 Bidder-originated Alternates or qualifying statements will not be considered. The Owner
shall have the right to accept Alternates in any order or combination.
11.1 Since capital construction projects are partially funded by the State of Maryland,
information prices are requested for certain items of Work or equipment as stipulated by
State guidelines. Where requested, information prices shall be provided which reflect the
most accurate cost of those items available.
11.2 Within two (2) working days after notice to proceed, the Contractor must provide the
following list of information prices to MCPS. The informational prices are to be used for
accounting purposes by the Owner and will in no way affect the award of the total
Contract to the lowest qualified bidder. The Contractor's first requisition for payment will
be withheld until requested prices have been submitted.
12.1 Tie bid occurs when two or more bids, plus accepted Alternates, if any, are exactly the
same amount. In the event of a tie bid, preference in the award of the bid will be given
first to resident bidders of the State of Maryland. (The residence of a corporation is its
principal place of business.) All other tie bids will be awarded by drawing of lots in public.
13.1 Signatures must be longhand, executed by a principal duly authorized to make Contracts,
with the bidder's legal name fully stated. Oral, telegraphic, or telephone proposals or
modifications will not be considered. If a corporation, give the state in which
incorporated, using phrase, "corporation organized under the laws of the State of
." If a partnership, give names of partners, using also the phrase "Co-partners, trading
and doing business under the firm name and style of ." If an individual, use the
phrase "doing business under the firm name of ."
13.2 Acknowledge receipt of each and every addendum on the Bid Form.
14.1 As described within the document "Minority Business Enterprise Procedure" which is
included in Section 00801 of this project manual, a Certified MBE Utilization and Fair
Solicitation Affidavit and the MBE Participation Schedule MUST accompany all bid
PART 15 - SUBSTITUTIONS
A. The Contractor shall be responsible for determining what model or product of the
acceptable manufacturer meets the specified standards. Other products which
will perform equally the duties imposed by the general design will be considered
providing submittal for substitutions is in strict accordance with Section 01630,
"Substitutions," and is submitted to the Architect/Engineer three (3) days prior to
the bid opening. If in the opinion of the Architect/Engineer, the product so
proposed is of equal design function, finish, and quality, approval will be issued in
an addendum prior to the bid opening.
15.2 Substitutions in any form other than described herein will not be permitted.
16.1 Items specifically noted as "N.I.C." or "Not in Contract" are not required under this
Contract but are to be furnished and installed by others. Contractor shall be responsible
for installation and connection of utilities for all items to be furnished by the Owner or
others unless specifically noted otherwise. Contractor shall give reasonable notice to
Owner of desired delivery date of items being furnished by Owner or others.
17.1 Air and water balancing shall be performed by an independent qualified balancing
contractor who must be a certified member of the Associated Air Balance Council (AABC)
and/or National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB). This Work must be performed
as a direct subcontract under the General Contractor.
18.1 Where the specifications list acceptable manufacturers' products or materials, it shall be
the responsibility of the Contractor, without cost to the Owner, to make the modifications
necessary to install the acceptable products even though not specifically identified in the
conforming set of drawings and specifications.
19.1 Hazardous material abatement included in the Specifications is subject to all parts of the
total Specifications, and part of the Contract Documents. The General Contractor/Prime
21.1 The Owner further reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive any
informalities or immaterial deviations in the bids.
21.2 The Owner may cancel this Bid, in whole or in part, at any time. The Owner may reject
all Bids and re-advertise for new Bids, according to the best interest of the Montgomery
County Public Schools.
END OF SECTION