(a) Conditions for Use. Contracts shall be awarded by competitive sealed bidding except as otherwise provided in § 5210 of this Article.

(b) Invitation for Bids. An Invitation for Bids shall be issued and shall include a purchase description, a recitation of the Wage Determination most recently issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, and all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement including a demonstration of compliance with §§ 5801 & 5802 of this Chapter, if applicable..

(c) Public Notice. Adequate public notice of the Invitation for Bids shall be given a reasonable time prior to the date set forth therein for the opening of bids, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Policy Office. Such notice may include publication in a newspaper of general circulation a reasonable time prior to bid opening. If a bid is given public notice which is within the time specified in the Policy Office’s rules and regulations on the subject, it shall not be challenged unless the bidder can show exceptional circumstances which would render

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the rules and regulations inapplicable in the case of a particular bid being requested.

(d) Bid Opening. Bids shall be opened publicly in the presence of one or more witnesses at the time and place designated in the Invitation for Bids. The amount of each bid, and such other relevant information as may be specified by regulation, together with the name of each bidder shall be recorded; the record and each bid shall be open to public inspection.

(e) Bid Acceptance and Bid Evaluation. Bids shall be unconditionally accepted without alteration or correction, except as authorized in this Chapter. Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirements set forth in the Invitation for Bids, which may include criteria to determine acceptability such as inspection, testing, quality, workmanship, delivery and suitability for a particular purpose. Those criteria that will affect the bid price and be considered in evaluation for award shall be objectively measurable, such as discounts, transportation costs, and total or life cycle costs. The Invitation for Bids shall set forth the evaluation criteria to be used. No criteria may be used in bid evaluation that are not set forth in the Invitation for Bids.

(f) Correction or Withdrawal of Bids; Cancellation of Awards. Correction or withdrawal of inadvertently erroneous bids before or after award, or cancellation of awards or contracts based on such bid mistakes, shall be permitted in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Policy Office. After bid opening, no changes in bid prices or other provisions of bids prejudicial to the interest of Guam or fair competition shall be permitted. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, all decisions to permit the correction or withdrawal of bids, or to cancel awards or contracts based on bid mistakes, shall be supported by a written determination made by the Chief Procurement Officer, the Director of Public Works or head of a purchasing agency.

(g) Award. The contract shall be awarded with reasonable promptness by written notice to the lowest responsible bidder whose bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the Invitation for Bids and whose bid amount is sufficient to comply with Article 13 of this Chapter, if applicable. In the event all bids for a construction project exceed available funds as certified by

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the appropriate fiscal officer, and the low responsive and responsible bid does not exceed such funds by more than five percent (5%), the Chief Procurement Officer, the Director of Public Works, or the head of a purchasing agency, is authorized, in situations where time or economic considerations preclude resolicitation of work of a reduced scope, to negotiate an adjustment of the bid price, including changes in the bid requirements, with the low responsive and responsible bidder, in order to bring the bid within the amount of available funds.

(h) Multi-Step Sealed Bidding. When it is considered impractical to initially prepare a purchase description to support an award based on price, an Invitation for Bids may be issued requesting the submission of unpriced offers to be followed by an Invitation for Bids limited to those bidders whose offers have been qualified under the criteria set forth in the first solicitation.

SOURCE: GC § 6959.1. MPC § 3-202; Subsection (c) modified. Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 28-165:3 (Jan. 4, 2007). Subsection (g) amended by P.L. 28-165:4 (Jan. 4, 2007).

2022 NOTE: Reference to “”Territory”” replaced with “”Guam”” pursuant to
1 Guam Code Ann. § 420.

COMMENT: See Official Comments for full commentary. Subsection (c) is modified to make sure that a dissatisfied bidder cannot challenge a bid because of lack of time where the bid is in conformance with the rules and regulations unless there has been some serious and exceptional reason for the challenge, such as where the time for bids was extended and, for some reason, one bidder was not notified. Further modified by P.L. 28-165 (Jan.
4, 2007).