Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • August 2016 | Page 12

SPECIFICATION PROTESTS

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Contractors are facing ever
increasing competition for
government contracts. For this
reason, it is important for you to
understand your rights as a bidder and how to protect those
rights if you suspect there may
be an irregularity or discrepancy in a contract solicitation.

As we all know, state agencies
such as the Florida Department
of Transportation are generally
required to competitively
solicit bids or proposals
for public projects, and a
disappointed bidder has the
opportunity to challenge the
agency’s decision through a
bid protest. Although most bid
protests occur at the end of
the solicitation process, after
the agency issues its notice of
intended award, often times the
disappointed bidder’s basis for
challenge is not based on the
agency’s actions in evaluating

12

DITCHMEN • AUGUST 2016

and awarding the project, but
rather on deficiencies in the
solicitation’s specifications.
However, if a bidder waits to
challenge the specifications
until after the agency has
posted its intended award of
the project, its protest will likely
be denied as untimely.

(e.g. an Invitation to Bid or
Request for Proposal), but
can also be brought against
any subsequent revisions or
addenda.

What is a
Specification
Protest?

[a]llow an agency, in order to
save expense to the bidders
and to assure fair competition
among them, to correct or
clarify plans and specifications
prior to accepting bids.

As the name implies, a
specification protest is a way for
a potential bidder to challenge
or seek clarification of the terms
or requirements in an agency’s
solicitation documents prior to
submitting a bid or proposal.
A specification protest is not
limited to the terms of the
initial solicitation document

(emphasis added). Thus, if there
is a term or provision in the bid
documents that is ambiguous,
vague, unreasonable or is
inconsistent with other portions
of the bid documents and/or
the agency’s governing statutes
and rules, a potential bidder has
the opportunity to protest that
provision and seek correction or

As one court has explained, the
purpose of a bid solicitation is
to