South Carolina Public Construction Bid Requirements

For state design-bid-build competitive sealed bidding, construction contracts over one hundred thousand dollars require bid security of at least five percent of the bid. Bidders must complete the invitation's required subcontractor list, including qualified self-performance where permitted. Performance and payment security generally must each cover one hundred percent of the contract price excluding operation, maintenance, and finance, subject to statutory exceptions. Invitations for bids are published in South Carolina Business Opportunities, and bids are opened publicly.

The rules on this page come from the state's Consolidated Procurement Code, Title 11, Chapter 35. They govern state agencies and institutions. Counties and cities follow their adopted procurement rules, so bidders must read the solicitation together with the applicable procurement ordinances and law. A school district whose annual budget of total expenditures, including debt service, exceeds seventy-five million dollars is subject to the state code unless the Division of Procurement Services determines in writing that the district's own code is substantially similar. An exempt district must still undergo a procurement audit every three years by an audit firm approved by the Division of Procurement Services.

Where state construction is advertised

Notice of an invitation for bids must include publication in South Carolina Business Opportunities, the state's procurement notice service at scbo.sc.gov. For a state construction project, each invitation for bids is also filed with the State Engineer's Office. Contractors should monitor those notices and read each invitation in full, including its contract terms, bid form, and required subcontractor classifications or subclassifications.

How much bid security does a bid need?

Bid security is required for competitive sealed bidding on design-bid-build construction contracts over one hundred thousand dollars, and it must be at least five percent of the bid. Bid security may be a qualifying surety bond or another form allowed by regulation.

If a bidder submits bid security in the wrong amount or with the wrong rating, the code gives that bidder one working day from bid opening to cure the deficiency. A bidder who cannot cure it in that day has its bid rejected. After opening, bids are irrevocable for the period specified in the invitation, except where withdrawal is permitted under the applicable regulations, so the number a contractor submits is a number it has to be able to hold.

Performance and payment bonds after award

Unless a statutory exception applies, state construction contracts require performance and payment bonds or other permitted security, each covering one hundred percent of the contract price excluding operation, maintenance, and finance. The payment bond protects the people supplying labor and material to the contractor and its subcontractors.

Two exceptions matter in practice. On a construction contract valued at fifty thousand dollars or less, the governmental body may waive the bonds if it has otherwise protected the State. On construction management at-risk work, the solicitation may defer bonds during preconstruction, as long as construction does not start until they are in place. Our comparison of CMAR, design-build, and design-bid-build for public owners explains when each method applies.

Listing subcontractors in the bid

For state design-bid-build competitive sealed bidding, the invitation identifies subcontractor license classifications or subclassifications whose individual contracts are expected to exceed three percent of the prime contractor's total base bid. It may also identify work vital to the project. Bidders must complete every required entry, naming a subcontractor or themselves where qualified to self-perform; an incomplete list makes the bid unresponsive.

Can a bidder perform listed work with its own crews?

Yes, if it is qualified to. A bidder that will use its own employees for work that would otherwise require a listed subcontractor lists itself in that place, and it cannot then subcontract that work without the owner's approval for good cause.

Bid opening and the tabulation

Bids are opened publicly in the presence of one or more witnesses, at the time and place the invitation sets. The amount of each bid and the name of each bidder are tabulated, and the tabulation is open to public inspection at the opening. For state design-bid-build competitive sealed bidding, the governmental body must send every responsive bidder the tabulation within ten working days after bid opening.

What Bihn sends an owner before bid day

Bihn Construction is a licensed South Carolina general contractor, bonded and fully insured. We can furnish bid, performance, and payment bonds appropriate to the project through our surety, and we carry general liability, workers' compensation, and commercial auto insurance. For an owner building a prequalification file, we return licensing, bonding, insurance, and pricing documentation, and our capabilities and prequalification page summarizes what that file contains.

On public work we deliver under design-bid-build, construction manager at risk, and design-build. Our government and civic page covers the documentation and inspection side of public facilities, and our public works division covers water, site, and infrastructure work.

Send invitations to bid, RFQs, RFPs, and drawings to welcome@bihnconstruction.com or call (864) 305-5307.