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New Legislation Affecting Construction Companies in Maryland
With the close of the 2016 Maryland Legislative Session, several bills affecting construction companies were passed. The following are summaries of each bill. Governor Hogan must sign each bill into law, at which time each shall go into effect on July 2, 2016. Liquidated Damages for Failure to Pay Prevailing Wage – under this law,…
Read MoreMaryland’s “Economic Loss Doctrine” Limits Contractor’s Ability to Recover against Design Professionals
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals reaffirmed the application of the “economic loss doctrine” to a dispute between a construction contractor and a design professional, holding that the lack of a contractual relationship between the two parties precludes the contractor from recovering damages, arising out of a negligence claim, from the design professional. In Balfour…
Read MoreMiss Utility’s Authority to Assess Violations and Impose Penalties Deemed Constitutional by Maryland’s Highest Court
The highest court in Maryland held that the Maryland Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Authority, also known as Miss Utility (“the Authority” or “Miss Utility”), is empowered to assess civil penalties against any contractor that damages underground pipes or cables. In Reliable Constr. Co. v. Md. Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Auth., Reliable Contracting Company, Inc. challenged…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Upholds State’s Right to Issue New Solicitation After Bid Opening
This appeal arose out of a solicitation for snow removal services at 14 MVA facilities across the State of Maryland. In the Appeal of McChesney Associates, Inc. 2907 (2015), the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals considered whether after bid opening but prior to contract award, the State may release all bidders and allow them to…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Dismisses Appeal Where Contractor Had No Reasonable Possibility of Being Awarded the Request for Proposal
In Appeal of Active Network, LLC, MSBCA 2920, the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals considered whether the appellant had standing to bring forth a bid protest. Specifically, in response to a Request for Proposal, appellant ranked 7th out of 7th for both price and technical expertise, but claimed it would be entitled to the…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Rules Bids Cannot Be Modified After Submission If Extrinsic Documentation Is Required
In Appeal of Concrete General, MSBCA 2918, the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals denied the appellant the opportunity to correct errors in its initially submitted bid because the requested corrections required reference to extrinsic information not included in the initial bid. As such, the bid was deemed non-responsive and ineligible to be considered for…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Rules That Procurement Officers, Not Reviewing Agencies, Are Authorized to Issue Notices of Final Decision for Projects
In Appeal of KBE Building Corporation, MSBCA 2915, the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals considered whether a procurement officer has the authority to issue a final determination or if the final determination must be issued by the “reviewing authority and the Office of the Attorney General”, pursuant to COMAR 21.10.04.04C. In this appeal, the…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Holds Agency May Reject All Bids And Re-Advertise The Solicitation If In The State’s Best Interest, But Requires Competitive Bidding For Extension to Existing Contract
In Appeal of Cigna Corporation, MSBCA 2910, the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals considered two issues on appeal: 1) whether the State’s properly rejected all bids and re-issued solicitations because of deficiencies in the originally requested pricing information and 2) whether the State’s extension of the contract to the incumbent vendor, while the bid…
Read MoreMaryland State Board of Contract Appeals Rules That The Refusal To Grant An Extension of A Bid Due Date Is Not A Basis For A Valid Protest or Appeal
In Appeal of Intelect Corp., MSBCA 2905, the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals found that the refusal to grant a prospective bidder’s request for an extension of a bid due date deadline is not a basis for a valid protest or appeal. In this appeal, the Maryland Transit Administration (“MTA”) issued an Invitation for…
Read MoreLower Price or Better Technical Proposal? MSBCA Upholds Award to Higher Priced Contractor
The appeal of Shirley Contracting Company, MSBCA 2932 (2015) arose out of an RFP issued by the State Highway Administration for intersection improvements in Prince George’s County. The RFP made clear that this was a “best value” procurement that would consider both price and certain evaluation factors set forth in the RFP. The RFP also…
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