Legal Brief Public Works Projects –Competitive Bidding Requirements By Randy Parent, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
One of the Legislature’s stated objectives for public contracting is “to the maximum extent possible, for similar work performed by similar agencies, California’s public contract law should be uniform.” (Public Contract Code, § 102.) This statement of public policy is somewhat ironic when it comes to special districts. CSDA’s Guide to Special District Laws and Related Codes provides that “each special district type or even, at times, a specific special district has its own contracting and bidding regulations. See the list that follows Public Contract Code Section 20100.” (The guide leaves it up to the reader to look up the applicable section.) As you will see, the Legislature has provided small but important differences in the specific statutes governing bidding for various types of special districts. For example, the threshold amount for required bidding ranges from requiring bids on all projects to requiring bidding only for projects costing more than $35,000. In order to make this easier for you, the following information specifies the bidding requirements for the specified types of agencies. Community Services Districts
Municipal Water Districts
A district may purchase materials and supplies for construction projects or contract for construction work up to $25,000 without going out to bid, but must bid such contracts exceeding $25,000 and award the contract to the responsible bidder submitting the lowest responsive bid or reject all bids. (Public Contract Code, §§ 20682, 20682.5.)
A district must award all contracts for the construction or extension of any waterworks, water system or water distribution system to the responsible bidder submitting the lowest responsive bid. However, the Public Contract Code specifies that the code does not prohibit a municipality itself from constructing or extending such systems and employing the necessary labor without a contractor. (Public Contract Code, § 21051.)
Fire Protection Districts
Reclamation Districts
A district must put construction work costing more than $10,000 out for bids and award the contract to the responsible bidder submitting the lowest responsive bid or reject all bids. (Public Contract Code, § 20813.)
Irrigation Districts The board shall award all contracts for construction work to the lowest responsible bidder that submits a responsive bid or reject all bids. With approval of the commission, a board may elect to construct works under its own superintendence. (Public Contract Code, §§ 20562, 20564.5.)
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A district must put construction work costing more than $25,000 out for bids and award the contract to the responsible bidder submitting the lowest responsive bid or reject all bids. If two or more bids are the same and are the lowest, the district board may accept the one it chooses. If the board receives no bids, it may proceed to complete the project by force account or contract without further compliance with this article. A district may exceed the $25,000 limitation to $50,000 if the project receives no assistance from government agencies by securing approval from landowners of the district representing at least two-thirds of the assessment value of the district, or if no assessment has been collected from landowners holding such interest within the prior year, by the landowners representing at least two-thirds of the acreage within the district. (Public Contract Code, §§ 20921, 20925, 20927.)