All facilities construction projects which exceed an expenditure of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) shall be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation located in Carthage or Jasper County. In addition to the city or county newspaper, the District may also advertise in business, trade or minority newspapers. Competitive bids shall be solicited according to state law only after the plans and specifications have been approved by the Board of Education. In order to protect the Board of Education, each bidder may be required to submit, with his bid, a bidder's bond in an amount determined by the estimated cost of the project.
The construction contract shall be awarded to the best bidder whose bid is in accordance with the Board approved plans and specifications and has provided the required security. The Board reserves the right to waive any informalities in, or reject any or all bids or any part of any bid. No bid for the construction, alteration, or repair of any building shall be accepted if it does not conform to the Board approved plans and specifications. Notwithstanding Board policies and regulation providing for construction manager and design-build methods, the District may elect to proceed with the traditional method set out in this policy.
Whenever two or more proposals or bids of equal amount are the lowest proposals submitted by reasonable bidders pursuant to the advertisement of bids, the Board of Education may award the contract to any one of the bidders as determined by exercise of discretion.
The contractor shall receive monthly payments for the work completed, less a percentage to be determined to ensure completion. The contractor may be required to submit a performance bond and a material and labor bond to the satisfaction of the Board. The final payment shall be made only after acceptance of the project by the Board of Education and completion of the items to be corrected. Lien waivers shall be provided by the contractor and his subcontractors and suppliers.
All pay requests by the contractor shall be approved by the architect prior to submission to the Board of Education for payment.