§ 30. Contracts for improvement, maintenance or repair of the canal system. Upon the completion and final approval of the plans and specifications for the improvement, maintenance or repair to the canal system, contracts therefor shall be executed as provided herein.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

1. Advertising for proposals. The corporation shall advertise for proposals in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by it for such improvement, maintenance or repair of the canal system as the corporation deems it expedient to have performed by contract. The advertisement shall be limited to a brief description of the work proposed to be done, with an announcement stating where the maps, plans and specifications may be seen, the terms and conditions under which the proposals will be received, the time and place where the same will be opened, the amount of the draft or certified check to accompany the proposal, and such other matters as the corporation may deem advisable to include therein. Such advertisement shall be published at least once in each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper published at the county seat of the county in which such canal work is to be performed and in such other newspapers as the corporation may designate. If no newspaper is published at such county seat, then the publication of the advertisement shall be in such newspaper or newspapers within the county as the corporation may select. If no newspaper is published in the county, the publication of the advertisement shall be in such newspaper or newspapers in an adjoining county as may be selected by the corporation. Failure of such newspaper, published in such county or adjoining county, to publish such advertisement as provided in this subdivision or as directed by the corporation shall not invalidate the publication of advertisement for proposals provided such advertisement is published in another newspaper or trade publication, which will be most likely to give adequate notice to contractors of the work contemplated and of the invitation to submit proposals therefor, at least once in each week for any two successive weeks preceding the date on which proposals described in such advertisement are to be received and opened.

2. Proposals. Each proposal shall specify the correct gross sum for which the work will be performed and shall also include the amount to be charged for each item specified on the proposal estimate sheet. The corporation may prescribe and furnish forms for the submission of such proposals and may prescribe the manner of submitting the same which shall not be inconsistent herewith. Accompanying each proposal there shall be a certified check or bank cashier's check for the amount of the bid deposit, to be fixed by the corporation and specified in the advertisement for proposals. The checks of the two low bidders shall be deposited by the corporation in a special account. Provided, however, that if prior to or upon receipt of said checks by the corporation a bidder who is one of the two low bidders shall have duly filed a bond as hereinafter provided, the corporation shall forthwith return to said bidder his aforesaid check without depositing the same. If alternate proposals are taken, the checks of the two low bidders of all alternate proposals shall be deposited. All checks other than those of the two low bidders shall be returned promptly by the corporation. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, the money represented by the checks of the two low bidders shall be paid from the special account when the contractor has duly executed and delivered to the corporation the contract and the bond or bonds required by law for the performance of the work of a public improvement for the state of New York, or upon the rejection of all bids. The low bidder, in the discretion of the corporation, and the second low bidder, as a matter of right, may at any time after the opening of the respective proposals, file with the corporation a bond, the principal amount of which shall at least equal the amount of the respective bidder's check, theretofore deposited with his proposal, in the form prescribed by the corporation, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the corporation, conditioned that the said bidder will execute a contract and furnish such performance or other bonds as may be required by law in accordance with the terms of the bidder's said proposal. If a bidder complies with the aforesaid provisions, the corporation shall forthwith return the money represented by the check of such bidder.

In case the bidder to whom the contract shall be awarded shall fail to execute such contract and bond, the moneys represented by such check shall be regarded as liquidated damages and shall be forfeited to the state and shall be deposited by the corporation with the commissioner of taxation and finance to the credit of the general fund. The gross sums indicated on the proposals when opened shall be publicly read. The corporation shall keep the bids for the several items of the proposals confidential until an award of the contract is made, after which the proposals shall be subject at all reasonable times to public inspection.

3. Award of contract. The contract for the improvement, maintenance or repair of any part of the canal system shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, as will best promote the public interest. No contract shall be awarded to a bidder other than the lowest responsible bidder without the written approval of the comptroller. The lowest bid shall be deemed to be that which specifically states the lowest gross sum for which the entire work will be performed, including all the items specified in the estimate therefor. The lowest bid shall be determined by the corporation on the basis of the gross sum for which the entire work will be performed, arrived at by a correct computation of all the items specified in the estimate therefor at the unit prices contained in the bid.

4. Rejection of proposals. The corporation may reject any or all proposals and may advertise for new proposals as provided in this section, if, in its opinion, the best interest of the state and the corporation will thereby be promoted.

5. Form of contract. The corporation shall prescribe the form of contract and may include therein such matters the corporation may deem advantageous to the state and the corporation.

6. Bond of contractor. Each contractor before entering into a contract for such improvement, maintenance or repair of the canal system shall execute a bond in the form prescribed by the corporation, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the corporation, on condition that it will perform the work in accordance with the terms of the contract and the plans and specifications, and that it will commence and complete the work within the time prescribed in the contract. The bond shall also provide against any direct or indirect damages that shall be suffered or claimed on account of such construction or improvement during the time thereof, and until the work is finally accepted.

7. Payments on contracts, state taxes. The contract shall provide for partial payments as the work progresses as hereinafter provided:

(a) Ten per centum shall be retained from each progress payment or estimate until the contract work is fifty per centum completed, after which no further moneys shall be retained from any progress payments or estimates paid thereafter, and when the entire contract work has been completed and accepted, the corporation shall, pending the payment of the final estimate, pay not to exceed fifty per centum of the amount of the retained percentage.

(b) Whenever in the judgment of the corporation the withholding of the retained percentage on account of the closing of the working season would be an injustice to the contractor, the corporation may, provided the district engineer certifies that the essential items in the contract have been completed in accordance with the terms of the contract and the provisions of this chapter, direct the district engineer to include in the final account such uncompleted items and pay therefor at the item prices in the contract upon the contractor depositing with the corporation securities equal to double the value of such uncompleted work. The deposit may be used by the corporation to complete the uncompleted portion of the contract and shall be returned to the contractor if it completes the uncompleted portion within a specified number of working days after it has been notified to proceed with the work.

(c) No certificates approving or authorizing a partial or final payment shall be made by the corporation until it is satisfied that all laborers employed on the work have been paid for their services for the last payroll period preceding the said partial or final payment. The corporation may, if it deems necessary, require an affidavit to such effect from the contractor or it may depend on any other source which it deems proper for such information.

(d) Contracts in force at the date of the enactment of this subdivision may, in the discretion of the corporation, be amended to provide for the withholding and the payments contemplated by the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, if the surety or sureties upon the performance and labor and material bonds given by a contractor upon any such contract shall consent in writing thereto.

(e) No such certificate authorizing or approving the first partial payment or any final payment to a foreign contractor shall be made unless such contractor shall furnish satisfactory proof that all taxes due the commissioner of taxation and finance by such contractor under the provisions of or pursuant to a law enacted pursuant to the authority of article nine, nine-A, twelve-A, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-eight, twenty-nine or thirty of the tax law have been paid. The certificate of the commissioner of taxation and finance to the effect that all such taxes have been paid shall be, for purpose of this paragraph, conclusive proof of the payment of such taxes. The term "foreign contractor" as used in this subdivision means, in the case of an individual, a person who is not a resident of this state, in the case of a partnership, one having one or more partners not a resident of this state, and in the case of a corporation, one not organized under the laws of this state.

8. Contingencies and extra work. Whenever the corporation determines that from any unforeseen cause the terms of any contract should be altered to provide for contingencies or extra work, it may, if funds are available for payment of the cost thereof, issue an order on contract therefor to the contractor, a copy of which shall be filed with the director of the budget and the state comptroller. The estimated expenditure pursuant to the order on contract shall not increase the total amount of the primary contract until the estimated expenditure shall have been approved by the corporation and a duplicate of such approval shall have been filed with the comptroller. No such extra work shall be commenced or undertaken until the corporation has issued an order on contract as herein provided.

When such order on contract provides for similar items of work or materials which increase or decrease the itemized quantity provided for in the primary contract, the price to be paid therefor shall not exceed the unit bid price in the primary contract for such items. Agreed prices for new items of work or materials may be incorporated in the order on contract as the corporation may deem them to be just and fair and beneficial to the state, including the corporation.

Whenever the corporation also determines that in the cases herein provided it is impracticable for it to ascertain in advance the just and fair prices to be paid by the state for new items of work or materials, the order on contract therefor may provide for performance of the work and the furnishing of the materials and equipment, in which event the contractor shall keep and shall make available at all times to the corporation such accounting records, data and procedure as may be required by the corporation.