The Board refusing access to purchasing & bid documents after remodeling project was completed

Started by JohnA32 • 4 replies • 58 views

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JohnA32 (New Jersey)
Posts: 9

Posted:

Request were made to review the bid process for several contracts the were awarded as part of a significant clubhouse remodeling project
Here is the Boards response . Anyone have any thoughts as to how I should proceed

Boards response
After consulting with council, the board will make documents available as follows:

No bids or unawarded proposals will be disclosed or made available for review.

Executed contracts can be inspected following your signed agreement of the attached confidentiality agreement.

No documents are allowed to be photographed, copied or notes taken during inspection.

As per the confidentiality agreement, no information retrieved from your inspection is to be disclosed without written permission from the Board of Trustees.

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 1,334

Posted:

I have not checked the law in New Jersey. I can say in general that bids (or "proposals") are "proprietary." "Proprietary" means the bidder may have put information in the bid that reflects the bidder's expertise. The bidder does not want this expertise shared, since the expertise is a source of income. If the expertise falls into the hands of competitors, the expertise loses value.

Nationwide it is not unusual for cities to have restrictions on bids/proposals, for the aforementioned reasons.

Assuming NJ law does not say otherwise, I think the Board's response is reasonable. If you find the response not to your liking, your best recourse by far is to run for and win election to the board, with a majority who feel as you do.

If you check the law and find something that seems relevant, do post it.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Are you in an HOA (single family homes) or a condominium development?

JohnA32 (New Jersey)
Posts: 9

Posted:

We are a single family 376 homes HOA.
I asked an for information regarding contracts already approved. The Bid process was completed. The bids were submitted without confidentiality agreements attached. They were for carpet cleaning,painting etc. reread the first line of boards response. They are say no support my request to documents requested. Anyone have information that

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 1,334

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnA32 on 04/03/2026, 2:34 PM

The bids were submitted without confidentiality agreements attached.

This is not relevant.

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