Facts: The town of Holliston solicited bids for the
construction of a new police station.
Barr Incorporated submitted the lowest bid. The town found upon their own investigation
that Barr was not a “responsible and eligible general bidder,” G. L. c. 149, § 44A (2)
(D) and subsequently awarded the contract to the next lowest bidder, Statewide
Engineering & Construction Co. The
town looked beyond the information in DCAM’s certification file and consulted a
detective in the town’s police department to conduct a more extensive
investigation into Barr’s past performance on projects.
Issue:
whether an awarding authority in making a determination as to bidder
responsibility it is constrained to look only at materials compiled as part of
the Department of Capital Asset Management’s contractor certification process.
Yes – an
awarding authority may consider information bearing on a bidder’s responsibility
and past performance. It is not
restricted to that which is contained in the DCAM’s records on the bidder.
Awarding Authorities should be allowed to form a more complete idea of what the
contractor’s qualifications are that go beyond what is available in a
certification file and update statement alone.
The town did not exceed its statutory authority by conducting an
investigation into the plaintiff’s performance or lack thereof in past
projects.
Judgment
Affirmed. (CA)
