4 Quick Facts To Know About Florida Bid Protests
Any time you are working on a construction project involving a federal, state, or local government body, you will need to go through the bid solicitation process under Florida law. The requirement aims to provide all potential companies with an opportunity to win a contract, while also ensuring the government gets the best quality for the right price. However, much can happen along the timeline from opening a bid publicly to accepting bids to awarding a contract.
If you have concerns about misconduct or mistakes, you might consider a bid protest to uncover the issues and ensure fairness in the process. The details are extremely complicated, incorporating strict deadlines and notice rules. Still, when you have invested resources in preparing a bid, you do your company a disservice by not pursuing your legal remedies. A Palm Beach County bid protests attorney can assist with the complex legal process, but you should be aware of four facts on the subject.
- Who Qualifies to File a Bid Protest: You must have standing to seek relief through a bid protest, which essentially means you must be directly affected by the government’s mistake in awarding the contract to another company. Typically, you have the required standing by coming in second, since you would have theoretically received the go-ahead had the error not occurred. If your bid ranked further down on the list, you would not be eligible.
- Compliance with Deadlines is Crucial: Florida law deems you as waiving any bid protest if you do not take action in accordance with statutory deadlines. Initially, you have 72 hours to announce a Notice of Protest, i.e., your intent to officially dispute the bid and supply essential proof of errors. Your formal, written bid protest must be filed within 10 days thereafter, along with all documents, evidence, and legal concepts supporting your position.
- Your Bid Protest Freezes the Process Until Resolution: The filing date of your bid protest puts a hold on the contract in question until the formal process runs its course. There are two potential outcomes in through the proceedings:
- All parties are required to meet with the relevant government agency within seven days of the written protest, to determine whether the dispute can be resolved by agreement.
- When the parties cannot compromise, officials will schedule an administrative hearing. The proceeding is similar to a trial, so the administrative law judge will issue an order on the bid protest after reviewing testimony and evidence.
- Retaining a South Florida Bid Protests Lawyer is Key to Your Success
As you can see, you may win a contract in a bid protest; however, you could also lose, and spend considerable time and money – on top of what you already invested to prepare the initial bid. It is important to trust a knowledgeable Florida bid protests attorney who can help you understand the different outcomes, so you can make informed decisions about how to proceed. For more information, please contact Linkhorst & Hockin, P.A. to set up a consultation at our office.
Resource:
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0200-0299/0255/Sections/0255.0518.html
