Nov 2011 , Vol. VI, No.1

Recent Changes to Virginia's Public Procurement Act; Part I - Bid Withdrawls

Authored by Megan Caramore

Virginia’s Public Procurement Act received some notable revisions during the 2011 session of the Virginia General Assembly, perhaps the most important of which were changes to bid withdrawal procedures and new bid preferences for Virginia firms.  The changes went into effect on July 1, 2011. Part I of this two part series addresses bid withdrawal changes, while Part II addresses the new bid preferences.
 

When submitting bids to public bodies, contractors should be aware that recent changes to Section 2.2-4330 of the Virginia Public Procurement Act have changed the procedure and applicable time limits with respect to bid withdrawals.    Under the revised statute, the public body may select one of two procedures that a bidder must use to give notice of a bid withdrawal.  This choice must be included in the public body’s advertisement for bids.  One of the options, notice in writing within two (2) business days after the conclusion of the bid opening procedure, has not changed. 
 

The time limits provided by the second option, however, have been shortened considerably.  Previously, that option provided that when the public body opened the bids one day following the fixed submission time, the notice period for withdrawal was one day.  Now, that one day notice period has been shortened to two hours.   It is important to take note of which procedure is adopted and to be aware of the shortened deadline for submitting a claim for withdrawal under the second procedural option.
 

Remember that in order to take advantage of either of the bid withdrawal procedures, a bidder must submit its original working papers in accordance with the requirements of the statute.  For option number one, working papers must be submitted with the notice of withdrawal, while for option two the working papers must be submitted at or prior to the time fixed for the opening of bids.  The new alterations to the statute now also provide that the public body must notify the bidder of its withdrawal decision within five (5) days and must return the bidder’s work papers and any copies thereof with the notice of decision.

Authored by attorneys, these articles are meant to bring awareness to these topics and are not intended to be used as legal advice.
For more information, contact Mike at 757-446-8626 or Bill Franczek at 757-446-8600.
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