A request to move to an online bidding system for public projects met with discussion in the May 10 meeting for the Village Council of Nakusp.
A preliminary recommendation of the need to go to digital bidding for projects over $350,000 in size was discussed.
Engineer Trevor Shephard asked the council to consider on-line bidding after researching the latest procedures for public tendering.
Over the years, the system went from contractors obtaining plans and contract booklets from the municipality or engineers office for a $50 to $100 non-refundable charge to cover printing to on-line “plan rooms” where contractors could view plans over the Internet, and still order printed copies – and still submit sealed bids at the municipal or engineer’s offices after driving the envelopes to the offices, Shephard outlined in a report to Village Administrative officer Linda Tynan.
The B.C. Construction Association and satellite construction associations have set in place guidelines that make it possible for contractors to submit on-line bids that are legal and binding, Shephard said.
“The procedure from uploading plans and contract documents, to the tendering period with questions, addendums, changes and document requests and printing, to the final tender, with bonding, can all be completed on-line,” Shephard said.
“Delterra is of the opinion that this is a good idea for Nakusp, as contractors are spread around B.C., Trevor is often in Kelowna and Village staff may be too busy to manage tendering issues,” he said.
Advantages include a digital audit trail left for the public process – who bid on the work, who looked at what, when, the trail of addendums and changes and document management after the project is done.
“The system automatically forces everyone to conform to the same forms, and procedure, reducing non-compliant bids,” he said.
Councillor Ulli Mueller expressed concern about the proposed process for bidders who could be excluded by the system if they’re not comfortable with computers and printers.
Tynan said the on-line process was particularly applicable for large, complex and costly projects.
“They would have to be applied for on-line if we went for this,” she said.
“I would speak against this because it would exclude any local bidders who are not comfortable with computers … This way we’re saying, ‘Well, sorry, we know you’re not computer savvy, so we’re excluding you automatically,’” said Mueller, who said she sees a number of people who aren’t online or using e-mail and other digital tools.
Newspaper advertising would still be used to advertise projects, said Mayor Karen Hamling, adding that bidders would still need to go on-line to tender bids.
“The engineer was concerned about having people to do big projects … This is exactly why I said it needs to come to council,” said Tynan, citing a couple of water treatment plant projects the village needs to get completed soon.
“Truthfully I do tend to agree with the engineer — when I look at the complexities we’re having, it’s likely (bidding contractors) are computer literate,” Tynan said, adding that the village public works assistant can be trained to walk prospective bidding contractors through the process.
Councillor Cam Leitch said the forestry industry saw similar moves toward digital tendering, and that he doesn’t see many contractors who aren’t online.
Hamling suggested talking with local contractors to get them on board to access the digital process or have someone else access it for them.
Software set-up and training on the new software, Infinite Source, would be paid for by the Village. The software would be purchased and owned by the Village for use with BCBid.com.
Councillor Joseph Hughes said he was comfortable moving ahead with a $350,000 floor on projects requiring online bidding in order to get pending Village projects underway.
The council voted to proceed with online bidding for large capital projects, while seeking clarification on what constitutes a “Large” capital project.
Staff is expected to report back with further recommendations, and will make sure local contractors are aware of bid opportunities and understand the new bid process.
