Builders and Contractors Exchange
Weekly Bulletin: 09 May 2005
Virginia Public Procurement Act - Preference For Virginia Firms
By: Michael Sterling
In the last session of the General Assembly the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) §2.2-4324 was amended to provide greater preference to Virginia firms. In a nutshell, the law provides that whenever the lowest responsive and responsible bidder (the "low bidder") is a resident of another state (a foreign entity), and the other state under its laws provides a resident of that state a bidding preference, a similar preference will be provided to the low bidder that is a resident of Virginia.
In addition, the law now provides that if the low bidder is a resident contractor of a state with an absolute preference (where the in state bidder always wins), the bid of the contractor from that state will not be considered. The Department of General Services is required to post a list of states with bidding preferences on its web site, and is also required to keep the list current. However, if are the second low Virginia bidder and the low bidder is from another state you should independently check that state's preference law. You may be able to protest and have the out of state low bidder disqualified, or you may obtain the benefit of a bidding preference such as a percentage mark down on your bid.
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This article is meant to bring awareness to this topic and is not intended to be used as legal advice.