Judicial Reviews of Public Administrators in Awarding Contracts

Abstract

The process of competitive bidding on public projects is one that is governed by federal, state, and local statutes and regulations that require that the award of a contract be made to the lowest “responsible” and “responsive” bidder. On private projects, administrators are usually not limited by statutory requirements. Both types of construction are subject to judicial review. The determination of criteria on what constitutes a “responsible” bidder is generally left to the public agency or authority’s regulatory procedures. Any discussion relative to the process requires that certain core principles be highlighted. It is important that administrators understand the judicial attitude toward administrative decisions so decisions are not based on what one thinks a court will say or do during a judicial review. Among the more contentious issues facing public officials are the awarding of construction contracts and the determination of responsible bidders. Bid protests are common. In reality, statutory language relative to determining the “lowest responsible bidder” varies from one locale to another, but as a practical matter, the statutes are uniformly enforced as the “lowest responsible bidder.” Thus, the text in this paper should be universally applicable.