SENATE, No. 852

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 26, 1996

 

 

By Senators CARDINALE and MARTIN

 

 

An Act concerning public school contracts and amending N.J.S.18A:18A-31 and 18A:18A-37.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. N.J.S.18A:18A-31 is amended to read as follows:

    18A:18A-31. Where there have been developments subsequent to the qualification and classification of a bidder which in the opinion of the board of education would affect the responsibility of the bidder, information to that effect shall forthwith be transmitted to the department for its review and reconsideration of the classification. [Before taking final action on any such bid, the] The board of education concerned shall notify the bidder and the department shall give him an opportunity to present to the department any additional information which might tend to substantiate the existing classification.

(cf: N.J.S.18A:18A-31)

 

    2. N.J.S.18A:18A-37 is amended to read as follows:

    18A:18A-37. All purchases, contracts or agreements which require public advertisement for bids shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder; except that a board of education shall not be required to award a purchase, contract or agreement to the lowest bidder if the board, because of a prior negative experience with that bidder, determines that it is not in the best interests of the school district to do so. As used in this section, "prior negative experience" shall include the following: the bidder has been found liable in an adjudicated case, through either a court proceeding or arbitration, for noncompletion or unsatisfactory job performance for work performed under a prior contract with the board; the bidder did not complete work under a prior contract with the board in the time period specified in the contract; the work performed by the bidder under a prior contract with the board required excessive change orders prior to completion; and any other situation as outlined in guidelines developed by the Department of Education.

    Prior to the award of any other purchase, contract or agreement, the contracting agent shall, except in the case of the performance of professional services, solicit quotations, whenever practicable, on any such purchase, contract or agreement the estimated cost or price of which is 20% or more of the amount set forth in, or calculated by the Governor pursuant to, N.J.S.18A:18A-3 and the award thereof shall be made, in accordance with N.J.S.18A:18A-3 or N.J.S.18A:18A-4, as the case may be, on the basis of the lowest responsible quotation received, which quotation is most advantageous to the board of education, price and other factors considered; provided, however, that if the contracting agent deems it impractical to solicit competitive quotations in the case of extraordinary unspecifiable service, or, in the case of such or any other purchase, contract or agreement awarded hereunder, having sought such quotations determines that it should not be awarded on the basis of the lowest quotation received, the contracting agent shall file a statement of explanation of the reason or reasons therefor, which shall be placed on file with said purchase, contract or agreement.

(cf: P.L.1983, c.171, s.6)

 

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill provides that a board of education shall not be required to award a contract to the lowest bidder if the board, because of a prior negative experience with that bidder, determines that it is not in the best interest of the district to do so. The bill defines "prior negative experience" to include the following: the bidder was found liable in an adjudicated case for noncompletion or unsatisfactory job performance for work performed under a prior contract with the board; the bidder did not complete work under a prior contract with the board in the time period specified in the contract; the work performed by the bidder under a prior contract with the board required excessive change orders prior to completion; and any other situation as outlined in guidelines developed by the Department of Education.

    Under existing law, a board of education is required to provide information to the Department of Education on a contractor's performance at the time of the completion of the contract. This information is to be reviewed and used in any reconsideration of the bidder's qualification as a prospective bidder. However, before a board of education can take any final action on a bid submitted by a bidder with whom the board may have had a negative experience, the board must notify the bidder and give him an opportunity to present information to the department. The provisions of this bill continue to afford the bidder an opportunity to present information to the department to substantiate the bidder's classification, but will not prohibit the board of education from taking final action on the bid while that process is proceeding.

 

 

                                    

 

Allows board of education to disqualify a bidder if the board has had prior negative experience with that bidder.