SECTION 00 21 13

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

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PART 1 GENERAL

1.1 DEFINED TERMS

A. Terms used in these Instructions to Bidders have the meanings assigned to them in the General Conditions.

B. The term "Bidder" means one who submits a Bid to Owner as distinct from a subbidder who submits a Bid to a Bidder.

C. The term "Successful Bidder" means the lowest, qualified, responsible Bidder to whom the Owner makes an award.

D. The term "Owner" means Bethel Park Municipal Authority, 3100 Piney Fork Road, South Park Township, PA 15129, a Municipal Authority and being a party of the first part of this Contract.

E. The term “Engineer” means Wade Trim, Four Gateway Center, 444 Liberty Avenue, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or a duly authorized representative.

1.2 BIDDERS QUALIFICATIONS

A. No Bid will be considered from any Bidder unless known to be skilled and regularly engaged in work of a character similar to that covered by the Contract Documents.

In order to aid the Owner in determining the responsibility of any Bidder, the Bidder, within 48 hours after being requested in writing by the Owner to do so, must furnish evidence, satisfactory to the Owner, of the Bidder's experience and familiarity with Work of the character specified, and Bidder's financial ability to properly prosecute the proposed Work to completion within the specified time. The evidence requested may include the following:

1. Address and description of the Bidder's plant or permanent place of business.

2. Bidder's performance records for all Work awarded to or started by Bidder within the past three years.

3. An itemized list of the Bidder's equipment available for use on the proposed Contract.

4. Bidder's financial statement, including statement of ownership of equipment necessary to be used in executing Work under Contract.

5. Evidence that the Bidder is authorized to do business in the state in which the project is located, in case of a corporation organized under the laws of any other state; and, 00 21 13-2 MBP203903H

6. Such additional information as will satisfy the Owner that the Bidder is adequately prepared to fulfill the Contract.

1.3 EXAMINATION OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS AND SITE

A. It is the responsibility of each Bidder before submitting a Bid, to:

1. Examine the Contract Documents thoroughly,

2. Visit the site to familiarize themselves with local conditions that may in any manner affect cost, progress or performance of the Work,

3. Consider federal, state, and local Laws and Regulations that may affect cost, progress, performance, or furnishing of the Work; and

4. Study and carefully correlate Bidder's knowledge and observations with the Contract Documents and such other related data; and

5. Promptly notify the Engineer in writing of conflicts, errors, ambiguities or discrepancies which Bidder has discovered in or between Contract Documents and such related documents.

6. Request, access, and download the official Procurement Documents from PennBid in order to be included on the project Plan Holder List and be considered eligible for bidding.

B. Reference is made to the Supplementary Conditions for the identification of those reports of investigations and tests of subsurface and latent physical conditions at the site or otherwise affecting cost, progress or performance of the Work which have been relied upon by the Engineer in preparing the Contract Documents.

1. If such reports are not included as appendices to the Contract Documents, the Owner will make copies available to any Bidder requesting them. These reports are included for reference only and are not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness, nor are they part of the Contract Documents.

2. Bidder may rely upon the general accuracy of the “technical data” contained in such reports but not upon other data, interpretations, opinions or information contained in such reports or otherwise relating to the subsurface conditions at the site, nor upon the completeness thereof for bidding or construction purposes.

3. Before submitting their Bid each Bidder will, at Bidder's own expense, make such additional investigations and tests as the Bidder may deem necessary to determine Bidder's Bid for performance of the Work in accordance with the time, price and other terms and conditions of the Contract Documents.

C. On request, the Owner will provide each Bidder access to the site to conduct such

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investigations and tests as each Bidder deems necessary for submission of their Bid. Bidder must fill all holes and clean up and restore the site to its former conditions upon completion of such investigations and tests.

D. The lands upon which the Work is to be performed, rights of way for access thereto and other lands designated for use by the Contractor in performing the Work are identified in Section 01 11 00 - Summary of Work, or on the Plans.

E. The locations of utilities as shown on the Plans are taken from sources believed to be reliable. Neither the Owner nor the Engineer will be responsible for any omissions of, or variations from, the indicated location of existing utilities which may be encountered in the Work.

1. The submission of a Bid will constitute an incontrovertible representation by the Bidder that the Bidder has complied with every requirement of this Article, that without exception the Bid is based upon performing and furnishing the Work required by the Contract Documents and applying the specific means, methods, techniques, sequences or procedures of construction (if any) that may be shown, indicated or required by the Contract Documents, that Bidder has given the Engineer written notice of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities and discrepancies that Bidder has discovered in Contract Documents and the resolution by the Engineer is acceptable to Bidder, and that the Contract Documents are sufficient in scope and detail to indicate and convey understanding of all terms and conditions for performing and furnishing the Work, and that the time stated in the Proposal is sufficient to complete the project.

1.4 INTERPRETATIONS AND ADDENDA

A. Should any prospective bidder find discrepancies in, or omissions from the Plans, Specifications or other parts of the Contract Documents, the prospective bidder may submit a written request on PennBid via the messaging platform where the Engineer will respond with an interpretation thereof. The person submitting the request will be held responsible for its prompt delivery at least five (5) days prior to the date for opening of Bids. Questions received less than five (5) days prior to the date for opening of bids will not be answered. Any interpretation of inquiry will be made via the messaging system on PennBid. Addendum will be issued, via PennBid. All inquiries, responses, and Addenda will be available for review by all bidders on PennBid.

B. Any change in or addition to the Contract Documents deemed necessary by the Owner must be made in the form of an Addendum issued to all prospective bidders who have taken out Contract Documents and all such Addenda will become a part of the Contract Documents as though same were incorporated into same originally.

Oral explanations and information do not constitute official notification and are not binding. All Addenda will be issued via PennBid.

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1.5 BID SECURITY

A. Bid Security must be made payable to the Owner, in an amount of ten (10) percent of the Bidder's maximum Bid price, as indicated in Section 00 11 13 - Advertisement for Bids. Bid Bonds, if indicated as acceptable in Section 00 11 13 - Advertisement for Bids, will be issued on the form included in the Contract Documents by a Surety meeting the requirements of paragraph 5.01 of Section 00 72 00 - General Conditions.

B. Bid Security of the Successful Bidder will be retained until such Bidder has executed Section 00 52 00 - Agreement and furnished the required Contract Security, whereupon it will be returned; if the Successful Bidder fails to execute and deliver the Agreement and furnish the required Contract Security within seven (7) days of the Notice of Award, the Owner may annul the Notice of Award and the Bid Security of that Bidder will be forfeited.

C. Bid Security of any Bidder whom the Owner believes to have a reasonable chance of receiving the award may be retained by the Owner until the earliest of the seventh day after the "Effective Date of Agreement" (which term is defined in the General Conditions) or the expiration of the hold period on the Bids. Bid Security of other Bidders will be returned within fourteen 14 days of the Bid opening, unless indicated otherwise in the Advertisement.

1.6 CONTRACT TIME

A. The number of days within which, or the date by which, the Work is to be Substantially Completed, if applicable, and also completed and ready for final payment (the Contract Time) are set forth in the Agreement.

1.7 SUBSTITUTE AND “OR-EQUAL” ITEMS

A. The Contract, if awarded, will be on the basis of materials and equipment described in the Plans or specified in the Specifications without consideration of possible substitute or “or-equal” items.

B. Whenever it is indicated in the Plans or specified in the Specifications that a substitute or an “or-equal” item of material or equipment may be furnished or used by the Contractor if acceptable to the Engineer, application for such acceptance will not be considered by the Engineer until after the effective date of the Agreement.

C. In addition, in no case will the Engineer’s denial of the Contractor’s application give rise to any claim for additional cost, it being understood by the Contractor that acceptance of substitute or an “or equal” item of material is at the sole discretion of the Engineer.

1.8 RECEIPT AND FORM OF BID

A. Bids must be submitted at the time and place indicated in the Advertisement for Bids and must be accompanied by the Bid Security and other required documents.

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1. Bids must be submitted electronically as specified herein.

B. PennBid prevents the submission of Bids beyond the scheduled time indicated in the Advertisement for Bids. Late submission of Bids is not possible and will not be accepted.

1. Bidders are encouraged to upload their complete Bids to PennBid well ahead of the the scheduled time indicated in the Advertisement for Bids. No exceptions to the Bid due date will be made for issues encountered during the upload process.

C. Owner invites bids on the Proposal and any other form(s) attached thereto.

D. The complete set of Contract Documents must be used in preparing Bids; neither the Owner nor the Engineer assumes any responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from the use of incomplete sets of Contract Documents.

E. Bidder must acknowledge of receipt of Addenda as provided for in the electronic bidding platform. Failure to acknowledge Addenda will be cause for rejection of bid.

F. The Legal Status of Bidder Form, located in Section 00 43 45 - Legal Status of Bidder, must be submitted with each Bid and must clearly state the legal position of a Bidder. In the case of a corporation, the home address, name and title of all officers must be given. In the case of a partnership, show names and home addresses of all partners. If an individual, so state. Any individual bid not signed by the individual must have attached, thereto, a power of attorney evidencing authority to sign.

G. Other documents to be attached to the Proposal and made a condition thereof are identified in the Proposal.

H. A tabulation of the amounts of the base bids and any alternates will be made available after the opening of Bids via PennBid.

I. To obtain Contract Documents and submit a Bid, Bidders:

1. Must register for a free account at https://pennbid.bonfirehub.com.

2. Must navigate to the Procurement Portal and click "View Opportunity" for the Library Road (SR 0088) Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project.

3. Must download Contract Documents to become a plan holder.

4. Must complete the Bid Form which is included with the Bidding Documents for Reference. Bidders shall complete the electronic bid form within PennBid (“Prepare Your Submission” tab), inclusive of all pricing items and required supporting documents as identified.

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5. Must submit Bids online via the PennBid Program (https://pennbid.bonfirehub.com) by the date and time indicated in the Advertisement for Bids along with the Bid security and the other documents required to be submitted as identified herein.

6. Through the PennBid Program, Bidders must confirm receipt of all Addenda issued. It is the sole responsibility of the Bidder to access and review the Addenda on PennBid.

1.9 MODIFICATIONS AND WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

A. A Bid may be withdrawn or modified at any time within PennBid prior to the due date and time identified in the Invitation for Bids.

B. If, within 24 hours after Bids are opened, any Bidder files a duly signed written notice with the Owner and promptly thereafter demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of the Owner that there was a material and substantial mistake in the preparation of their Bid, that Bidder may withdraw their Bid and the Bid Security will be returned.

1. Thereafter, at the sole option of the Owner, that Bidder will be disqualified from further Bidding on the Work to be provided under the Contract Documents.

1.10 AWARD OF CONTRACT

A. Owner reserves the right to reject any and all Bids for any reason, to waive any and all informalities not involving price, time, or changes in the Work and to negotiate contract terms with the Successful Bidder, and the right to disregard all nonconforming, non-responsive, unbalanced, or conditional Bids.

B. Discrepancies between words and figures will be resolved in favor of words.

Discrepancies in the multiplication of units of work and unit prices, will be resolved in favor of unit price.

C. Discrepancies between the indicated sum of any column of figures and the correct sum thereof will be resolved in favor of the correct sum.

D. In evaluating Bids, the Owner will consider the qualifications of the Bidders, whether or not the Bids comply with the prescribed requirements, and such alternates, unit prices and other data if requested in the Bid forms. It is the Owner's intent to accept alternates (if any are accepted) in the order in which they are listed in the Bid form but the Owner may accept them in any order or combination.

E. Subject to the approval of the Owner, the Contract will be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible Bidder. Responsibility of Bidder will be determined on basis of past performance and Work of similar character, equipment, and labor available to do the Work and financial status.

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F. The Contract will be considered to have been awarded after the approval of the Owner has been duly obtained and a formal Notice of Award duly served on the Successful Bidder by the Owner.

G. If the Contract is to be awarded, the Owner will give the Successful Bidder a Notice of Award within sixty (60) days after the day of the Bid opening, unless such other time is specified in the Advertisement for Bids.

H. The Contract will not be binding upon the Owner until the Agreement has been duly executed by the Bidder and the duly authorized officials of the Owner.

1.11 SIGNING OF AGREEMENT

A. Within seven (7) days after the Owner gives a Notice of Award to the Successful Bidder, the Contractor must sign and deliver the specified number of counterparts of the Agreement to the Owner with all other Contract Documents attached.

B. Within ten (10) thereafter, the Owner will deliver two (2) fully signed counterparts to the Contractor. Engineer will identify, date or correct those portions of the Contract Documents not fully signed, dated or executed by the Owner and the Contractor and such identification, dating or correction will be binding on all parties.

PART 2 PRODUCTS (NOT USED)

PART 3 EXECUTION (NOT USED)

END OF SECTION