Bids for contractors

Started by KathyB10 • 6 replies • 1437 views

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KathyB10 (Virginia)
Posts: 4

Posted:

I am one of the Board Directors of our HOA. Our HOA has formed a Bid committee to solicit Bids from vendors for projects in which need done. We have a community manager. I am the chair of the committee and have been told two things. First all bids should be in a sealed envelope and presented to each Board Director at our monthly meeting. Bids should be opened in executive session, then we go back into a meeting with the members and discuss the bids and choose a contractor. Second I have been told that all Bids go to our community manager prior to the meeting and she checks out the Bids. At our Board meeting the Bids are placed in our meeting packets. I am new at this and would really like to do the correct thing. So,please give me your thoughts.
Thank You

JohnB26 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,001

Posted:

It is important to get actual bids and NOT proposals.

You may solicit proposals from multiple vendors,

select a proposal (scope of work)

then

solicit bids for that EXACT scope of work from vendors using the reworded proposal as your scope of work/job specifications.

Else;

You will being comparing apples to oranges.

KathyB10 (Virginia)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Thank You. Yes, I agree with you and that is exactly what our committee has done.

FredS7 (Arizona)
Posts: 927

Posted:

> all Bids go to our community manager prior to the meeting and she checks out the Bids.

This doesn't make sense and may be improper.

The idea is that (1) each potential contractor submits a sealed bid and (2) those sealed bids are handled so that there is no way for information about a submitted bid to be fed back to a potential contractor. This is why the bids should be kept sealed until opened in a meeting.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Kathy

Typically members do not get to comment/vote on signing a contract. Granted the BOD might should take member input, but the decision is theirs. A Committee can recommend, but the final decision is still the BOD's.

Thank you for you work. Committees can be very valuable.

KathyB10 (Virginia)
Posts: 4

Posted:

This is how we want to handle this but our community manager says, we always had them turned and she reviewed them and put them into Board packets. We are trying to change this and hand them to the Broad in sealed envelopes, along with the community manager. Mind you I am a Board member but this is the job in which I was voted to preform.
Thank You

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Kathy,

Our Association would have one or two individuals solicit bids. Those individuals would summarize the bids in a comparison chart and submit the chart as part of their report. The actual bids would be available to refer to but not provided until a decision was made. We referred to the companies as A,B&C on the chart.

If you desire to change how things are done in your Assocaition, my suggestion would be to create copies as needed for the board packets and place them in a sealed envelope (remember to make a set for the minutes as well). Then give these sealed envelopes to the CM with instructions to place them in the board packets but not to open them.

I suspect that you have concerns regarding bids and the CM's involvement. As a Board member, you may want to discuss this in executive session with the Board.

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