Local Newspaper Advertisements 

The location of the advertisements in the local newspapers is determined by the estimated construction amounts for each project.  The local ads will appear in the Legal Notices in the Thursday and/or Friday editions. 

Prevailing Wage 

Once the approved specs and drawings are distributed to the Contract Specialist, a request for prevailing wage determination is fax’d.  The Contract Specialist sends a hard copy to the professional for the insertion into the specs prior to the distribution to the contractors.  If the prevailing wage is not received in time for the distribution, the prevailing sheets can be issued in an Addendum.  The University has 120 days to award the contracts with this determination.  Otherwise, a new prevailing wage determination will need to obtained. 

Date the Specs and Drawings are Available 

This is the Monday after the advertisement appears in the newspapers.  The date available should appear on the: 

1)                  Cover page of specification book

2)                  Notice to Contractor (upper right hand corner)

3)                  On all the drawings. 

PreBid Meeting

This meeting is usually set for 1 ½ to 2 weeks after the documents are available to the contractors.  The Pre-Bid meeting may or may not be mandatory for the contractors and it is held to review the administrative procedures, MBE/WBE (Minority Based Enterprises/Women Based Enterprises - MBE/WBE Guidelines) solicitation, the specs and drawings and to perform a walk-through.  Any questions from contractors should be submitted in writing to the professional.  The answers will be incorporated into the next Addendum that will be sent to all contractors who received specs and drawings.   

Questions Due

 KU sets a date when all questions (technical and administrative) are to be received from the contractors.  The technical questions are handled by the professional and project manager and any administrative questions are handled by the Contract Specialist.  We set the cut-off date with enough time to issue an Addendum.  The last Addendum is typically issued 7 days prior to the bid receipt.  If a question arises which will effect the cost of the bids and there is not the ” 7 days”, the bid receipt date may be moved back to give the contractors enough time to make the appropriate modifications to their bids. 

Bid Receipt/Open

KU sets the receipt date approximately 2 weeks from the Pre-Bid meeting.  This may vary due to the project size and scope of work.  This allows the contractors to review any addenda that are issued.  The bid receipt and opening is usually set for  2pm on the date specified in the Notice to Contractors (KU does not have an early delivery time by  Fed-Ex.  Fed-Ex is usually delivered at 11:00am). 

Example of the Time Frame: 

Local Ads 7/8/03
Available 7/12/03
Pre-Bid Tuesday 7/27/03
Questions Due in Writing by noon on 8/2/03
(This way the Addendum can be issued on or before 8/5/03)
Bid Opening  8/12/03 at 2pm

Bid Opening

The Bid Opening is open to the public and each base bid is read.  The bid tabulations are updated and available upon request.  (Please note that the on-line bid tabulations will be available the next working day.)

  Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity are the policies of the Commonwealth and the State System of Higher Education.