314.1  Bidding procedures — basis for awarding contracts.
  1.  The agency having charge of the receipt of bids and the award of contracts for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or repair or maintenance of a highway, bridge, or culvert may require, for any highway, bridge, or culvert contract letting, that each bidder file with the agency a statement showing the bidder’s financial standing, equipment, and experience in the execution of like or similar work. The statements shall be on standard forms prepared by the department and shall be filed with the agency prior to the letting at which the bidder expects to bid. The agency may, in advance of the letting, notify the bidder as to the amount and the nature of the work for which the bidder is deemed qualified to bid. A bidder who is prequalified under this subsection by the department shall be deemed qualified for a highway, bridge, or culvert contract letting by any other agency and shall submit proof of the prequalification in a manner determined by the department if required to do so by the agency.
  2.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a public improvement that involves the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of a highway, bridge, or culvert and that has a cost in excess of the applicable threshold in section 73A.18, 262.34, 297.7, 309.40, 310.14, or 313.10, as modified by the director pursuant to section 314.1B, shall be advertised and let for bid, except such public improvements that involve emergency work pursuant to section 309.40A, 313.10, or 384.103, subsection 2. For a city having a population of fifty thousand or less, a public improvement that involves the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of a highway, bridge, or culvert that has a cost in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars, as modified by the director pursuant to section 314.1B, shall be advertised and let for bid, excluding emergency work. However, a public improvement that has an estimated total cost to a city in excess of a threshold of fifty thousand dollars, as modified by the director pursuant to section 314.1B, and that involves the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of a highway, bridge, or culvert that is under the jurisdiction of a city with a population of more than fifty thousand, shall be advertised and let for bid. Cities required to competitively bid highway, bridge, or culvert work shall do so in compliance with the contract letting procedures of sections 26.3 through 26.12.
  3.  a.  In the award of contracts for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or repair or maintenance of a highway, bridge, or culvert, the agency having charge of awarding such contracts shall give due consideration not only to the prices bid but also to the mechanical or other equipment and the financial responsibility and experience in the performance of like or similar contracts. The agency may reject any or all bids. The agency may readvertise and relet the project without conducting an additional public hearing if no substantial changes are made to the project’s plans or specifications. The agency may let by private contract or build by day labor, at a cost not in excess of the lowest bid received.
  b.  Upon the completion of any contract or project on either the farm-to-market or secondary road system, the county engineer shall file with the county auditor a statement showing the total cost thereof with certificate that the work has been done in accordance with the plans and specifications. Upon completion of a contract or project on the municipal street system, the city public works department or city engineer shall file with the city clerk a statement showing the total cost of the contract or project with a certificate that the work has been done in accordance with the plans and specifications. All contracts shall be in writing and shall be secured by a bond for the faithful performance thereof as provided by law.
[S13, §1527-s18; C24, §4651, 4700; C27, 31, 35, §4644-c41, 4651, 4755-b11; C39, §4644.39, 4651, 4686.15, 4755.11; C46, §309.57, 310.15, 313.11; C50, §308A.10, 309.39; C54, §309.39, 314.1; C58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §314.1]
2001 Acts, ch 32, §7, 14; 2006 Acts, ch 1017, §27, 42, 43; 2006 Acts, ch 1185, §80; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §106; 2018 Acts, ch 1097, §2; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §308
Referred to in §26A.3, 91C.2, 314.1B, 314.2, 314.14, 331.341
Subsection 2 amended