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Construction Law Authority / Posts tagged "Florida" (Page 2)

Protect Awards By Intervention in Bid Protests

As competition for public contract awards continues to intensify, consider intervention in the event that an award to your firm is protested. If an administrative protest is filed, the particular agency rules and regulations may provide for intervention. In the context of a bid protest, intervention means having the chance to directly participate in the defense of a protest and participate in the proceedings. Florida case law has held that an awardee has a significant interest in the outcome of an award challenge, and therefore, standing to participate in proceedings. By intervening, you will have the opportunity to directly influence the outcome of a protest, and may in the process, be of significant assistance to the public agency in defense of the award. Don't sit on the sidelines while other parties dispute whether your firm should receive the contract award. Bear in mind, however, that there may be strict time limitations on...

The Good Faith Exception to Fraudulent Liens

The good faith exception to fraudulent liens does not protect all liens recorded in good faith from being deemed fraudulent. With the holding in Medellin v. MLA Consulting, Inc., it is more important than ever for a lienor to be sure the amounts in its lien are for work that will properly support a lien, or it runs the risk of its lien being deemed fraudulent....

Legislation Would Encourage Public-Private Partnerships

Although P3 projects have already been available in some form in Florida, they have been infrequently used and familiarity with these types of projects among public entities and contractors has been scant. The legislation has increased awareness of the opportunities for P3 projects. But the bills, in their current form, may inadvertently burden the process with well-intentioned, but impractical, requirements....

Bid Protest Filing Deadlines Are Strict, Unless….

The general rule is that bid protests must be timely filed in order to be considered. Most government agencies in Florida have specific deadlines for which a bid protest must be filed. These deadlines are expressed in terms of days, or even hours, and may specify the exact method that the protest or notice of protest must be submitted to be considered timely filed. A Protest filed after the deadline is usually considered a waiver of the protestor’s rights.  There are, however, scenarios where a protest technically filed after the deadline may still be considered. This is exemplified in the recent case Pro Tech Monitoring, Inc. v. State Department of Corrections. There, a protesting bidder was supposed to hand-deliver its formal bid protest petition to the clerk by a certain date. The agency’s clerk, however, did not stamp the petition in until the next day, and the agency determined the protest was untimely. However, the protestor had tried...

New Year Brings Potential CCNA Change

Florida Statutes, Section 287.055, known as the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act ("CCNA"), provides a framework for the public procurement of professional services. Professional services are defined to include those services "within the practice of architecture, professional engineering, landscape architecture, or registered surveying and mapping". The CCNA provides that the price of the service is not a factor in the evaluation and ranking of the firms. Price may only be considered as part of the negotiation phase. Further, an agency is limited to negotiating price with one firm at a time. In other words, the only pricing that is received is from the top ranked firm, and pricing from the second ranked firm is not received unless negotiations with the first firm are formally terminated. There is a Bill pending in the Florida Legislature that would modify the above process. Specifically, Senate Bill No. 246 provides for proposed amendments to the CCNA, including...

New Year Brings Potential CCNA Change

Florida Statutes, Section 287.055, known as the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act ("CCNA"), provides a framework for the public procurement of professional services. Professional services are defined to include those services "within the practice of architecture, professional engineering, landscape architecture, or registered surveying and mapping". The CCNA provides that the price of the service is not a factor in the evaluation and ranking of the firms. Price may only be considered as part of the negotiation phase. Further, an agency is limited to negotiating price with one firm at a time. In other words, the only pricing that is received is from the top ranked firm, and pricing from the second ranked firm is not received unless negotiations with the first firm are formally terminated. There is a Bill pending in the Florida Legislature that would modify the above process. Specifically, Senate Bill No. 246 provides for proposed amendments to the CCNA, including...