HEWITT CONTRACTING COMPANY, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
MELBOURNE REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY, ET AL., APPELLEES
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In a competitive bidding dispute, the Florida Court of Appeal held that a governmental agency has discretion to accept a late bid when the lateness is minimal and other circumstances warrant waiver of strict deadline compliance. The court affirmed the Airport Authority's acceptance of a bid submitted 1-10 minutes after the stated deadline.
The court held that a governmental agency soliciting bids has and should have the discretion to waive the irregularity of a late bid and accept it under the circumstances presented, affirming the Airport Authority's decision to accept Hubbard's late bid.
[1] A governmental agency soliciting bids has discretion to waive the irregularity of a late bid and accept it.
[2] A bid submitted after the stated deadline may be accepted by a governmental agency if the agency has the discretion to waive such irregularities.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We believe the governmental agency soliciting bids here had, and should have, the discretion to waive the irregularity of Hubbard's bid being late and to accept the late bid under the facts in this case.”
The court's core holding establishing that governmental agencies possess discretion to accept late bids in appropriate circumstances.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMelbourne Regional Airport Authority advertised for competitive bids on construction work, stating bids would be received until 11:00 A.M. Hewitt Cont…
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COWART, Judge.
This is a “late bid” case.
The advertisement of Melbourne Regional Airport Authority for competitive bids for certain construction work stated that the bids would be received until 11:00 A.M. on a certain date. The appellant, Hewitt Contracting Company, Inc., submitted a bid prior to 11:00 A.M. Between 11:01 and 11:10 A.M., Hubbard Construction Company placed its sealed bid package on a table along with the other unopened bids. At 11:10 A.M., the Airport Authority’s director entered the room, announced the bids were closed, and opened all bids. Hewitt objected to Hubbard’s bid as untimely, but Hubbard’s was the lowest bid and was ultimately accepted by the Airport Authority.
We affirm the trial court which upheld the Airport Authority’s legal authority to accept Hubbard’s late bid. We believe the governmental agency soliciting bids here had, and should have, the discretion to waive the irregularity of Hubbard’s bid being late and to accept the late bid under the facts in this case.1
AFFIRMED.
SHARP, C.J., and DAUKSCH, J., concur. . We write this opinion because we find no Florida “late bid” cases. See generally Liberty County v. Baxter’s Asphalt & Concrete, Inc., 421 So. 2d 505 (Fla.1982). See also Townsend v. McCall, 262 Ala. 554, 80 So. 2d 262 (1955); William M. Young & Co., Inc. v. West Orange Redevelopment Agency, 125 N.J.Super. 440, 311 A. 2d 390 (1973). The cases cited by appellant, being George A. Note & Son, Inc. v. Board of Education, 129 A.D.2d 873, 514 N.Y.S.2d 274 (1987) and Wiltom Coach Co., Inc. v. Central Highschool District No. 3, 36 Misc.2d 637, 232 N.Y.S.2d 876 (1962), merely hold that it was not a violation of the law of New York for the govern mental agencies soliciting bids in those cases to reject a late bid.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Liberty Cnty. v. Baxter's Asphalt & Concrete, Inc., 421 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 1982)