Bidding on public construction contracts? Massachusetts AG's Office offers searchable online archive

At the heart of a successful bid for public projects is a firm understanding of the process ahead of you.  That involves knowing the important dates and other timing issues of the bid, understanding the information required for an accepted bid, and familiarizing yourself with the applicable law and your rights under the law.  Advance planning and good organization can take a lot of the stress out of what can be a confusing and unnecessarily confounding process.

Last August, Massachusetts added a resource for those bidding on public construction contracts: a searchable online archive of bid protest decisions.  The Bid Protest Decision Lookup is a new feature on the Attorney General’s website and covers bid protest decisions dating back to 2003. In reaching its decisions, the Massachusetts AG applies decisions law from statutes, cases, and prior bid protest decisions of the former Department of Labor and Industries and the Attorney General’s Office.  Reviewing past decisions of the AG’s office should be an important tool to help the aspiring bidder avoid previously established pitfalls and roadblocks to a successful bid.

At present, the database covers protest decisions dating back to 2003 with a selection of decisions from 1989-2002.  The Attorney General’s Office is hoping to expand the coverage to include the remaining decisions from 1989-2002.  The Bid Protest Decision Lookup is available here.

For more information on construction law, contact Preti Flaherty attorneys Neal Pratt at 207.791.3000 or William Whitney at 603.410.1500.