SENATE, No. 1289

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JUNE 3, 1996

By Senators BASSANO and CONNORS

An Act concerning the qualifications of bidders on State public works contracts and amending R.S.52:35-8.

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

    1. R.S.52:35-8 is amended to read as follows:

    52:35-8. No person shall be qualified to bid on any contract, who shall not have submitted a statement as required by section 52:35-2 of this Title within a period of [7] 18 months preceding the date of opening of bids for such contract.

(cf: P.L.1959, c.94, s.1)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately .

STATEMENT

    This bill would provide that in order to be eligible to bid on a State public works contract a bidder must have submitted a statement of qualifications within the preceding 18 months instead of seven months as required by existing law. Requiring bidders to file statements at less frequent intervals would reduce the administrative burden on the Division of Building and Construction which must process 4,000 applications annually even though its staff has been recently reduced. This would enable the division to conduct a more thorough review of information submitted and to refine evaluation criteria to include measures of past performance. In addition to State agencies, all school districts and many local units rely on the division's qualification and classification of bidders.

    The bill would also make it easier for bidders to comply with qualification requirements. Many bidders have been periodically unable to bid on State construction contracts because financial information, such as year-end statements, was not available by the current deadline for requalifying. Extending the period of time during which a bidder is qualified to 18 months may make more bidders available to bid on each contract and lower bidders' costs. This, in turn, could result in lower bids which would benefit the State.

Provides that bidders on State public works contracts must have demonstrated qualifications within preceding 18 months.