Your public works department is planning to construct a new waste water collection system, and, in a meeting with your engineer, you learn that a piece of equipment she plans to include in the bid specifications is a proprietary piece … Read more

Many of you are aware that Governor Bev Purdue recently signed an executive order to give North Carolina businesses the opportunity to match the lowest bid when bidding on state contracts for the purchase of goods. You can find Executive … Read more

Your local government has just awarded a contract for digital imaging software to Super Secret Software, Inc., after considering several proposals submitted in response to your request for proposals. Sour Grapes Software, LLC, one of the vendors who submitted a … Read more

You’ve just received bids on a construction project estimated (by your engineer) to cost about $2 million.  The lowest bid is for $1.5 million, and the next highest bid is $1.9 million, with the other bids ranging from $2.1 million … Read more

As I mentioned in my post last week, the Grants Management Common Rule (which applies to all federal grants) requires entities that receive federal grants to establish a “code of conduct.”  This post will address what the Rule says about … Read more

Now that local governments are digging in to the requirements that apply to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants, I’ve started to get questions about developing bid protest procedures.  Are these procedures required?  If so, what should the procedures look … Read more

Your local government is planning a major construction project, and the engineering firm working with you on the project has strongly recommended prequalifying contractors before bidding.  The engineer tells you that this will ensure that the bids you receive are … Read more

You’ve just received bids on a construction project costing $50,000, and discovered that the lowest bidder is not a licensed general contractor.  When you bring this to the bidder’s attention, she tells you that she will be licensed by the … Read more

Your local government has just awarded a contract.  Now what are you supposed to do with all of the bids, bid tabulations, paperwork, and email generated by the bidding process?  Can you throw any of it away?  Do you have … Read more

NOTE:  This post has been updated to reflect changes enacted by the General Assembly in 2015. Is your local government still using 10-year-old desktop computers? Do you need to buy new anti-spyware software? Or do you need to update your … Read more