What is a Public Improvement Competitive Bidding Method?
Public Improvement Competitive Bidding is a procurement method to acquire construction, reconstruction or major renovation projects on real property. Public improvement (PI) projects do not include procurements for:
- Emergency work.
- Minor alteration.
- Ordinary repair or maintenance necessary to preserve a public improvement.
- Projects for which no agency funds are used, either directly or indirectly, except for participation that is incidental or related primarily to project design or inspection.
For this procurement method, DAS State Procurement Services on behalf of an agency, or an agency with delegated procurement authority, collectively termed, a procuring agency, issues an Invitation to Bid (ITB) to initiate the Public Improvement Competitive Bidding process.
Potential suppliers submit bids for the required project in response to the ITB. The procuring agency evaluates bid responses and awards a contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
When to Use Public Improvement Competitive Bidding Method
A procuring agency uses the Public Improvement Competitive Bidding method to acquire construction, reconstruction and major renovation projects on real property. The
Oregon Accounting Manual defines real property as land, structures and anything attached to a piece of land or building in a manner that it becomes a part of that property.
All public improvement contracts must use the competitive bidding process except for circumstances offering substantial cost savings and other benefits, such as:
- Contracts with qualified nonprofit agencies that provide employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities (refer to
Qualified Rehabilitation Facility Program).
- Contracts with a value of less than $5,000.
- Contracts with a value under $100,000 that use the Intermediate Procurement process (refer to
Intermediate Procurement).
- Contracts to repair, maintain, improve or protect properties of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
- Energy savings performance contracts.
An agency may request an exemption from the competitive bidding process for certain procurements. In seeking an exemption, the agency must submit written findings to DAS State Procurement Services that state the exemption:
- Is unlikely to encourage favoritism or substantially diminish competition.
- Will likely result in substantial cost savings and other substantial benefits.
- Requests a pilot project using an alternative contracting method.
Note: Prior to selecting any formal procurement method through the open market, an agency should refer to
Procurement Planning for more information on conducting appropriate planning activities that facilitate the procurement process.
Refer to the
Public Works for more information on construction, reconstruction, major renovation or painting of a road, highway, building, structure or improvement project of any type that serves the public interest, or equals or exceeds $750,000 in agency funds, and other distinguishing criteria of a public works project.
How to Process a Solicitation Using the Public Improvement Competitive Bidding Method
Prior to each budget period, an agency must submit a list of every public improvement contract that it plans to fund in the upcoming budget period to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
The agency must identify each improvement by name and estimate the total on-site construction costs. The agency must also indicate whether it intends to perform the construction through a private contractor. If the project is estimated to cost more than $125,000 and the agency intends to perform the work using its own equipment and personnel, the agency must also confirm that its decision is the least cost.
Resource: Use BOLI's
Planned Public Improvement Summary Form (WH-118) to submit planned public improvement projects.
A procuring agency must use a process that comprises the following eight tasks to conduct a solicitation through the Public Improvement Competitive Bidding method. Click on a task to view steps and instructions:
Unless an agency has delegated procurement authority to conduct Public Improvement Competitive Bidding, it must submit a public improvement project assignment request form to DAS State Procurement Services to tentatively assign a state procurement analyst to serve as a project resource and schedule the work. After DAS/SPS provisionally assigns an analyst, the requesting agency must provide plans, specifications, and other checklist items.
Amendments, Protests, and Change Orders
Read the full sections on each of these subjects to learn more about requirements and how to process: