May 01, 2023 03:49 PM EDT

(Alert Date: May 01, 2023)

INDOT will now publish the apparent bid results at 11:30 AM for regular lettings that close at 10:00 AM. Look for real time messages on the bidding pages alerting you if an issue would cause a delay.

BIDDING INDOT CONTRACTS WITH COMPETING ALTERNATE PAVEMENT SECTIONS

(Alert Date: Aug. 6, 2019)

Bidders shall follow the instructions in the special provisions of the Contract Information Book relating to non-bid alternate pavement sections.  When not bidding an alternate pavement section, "... the bidder shall leave blank each line of the section not bid and shall deselect the "Use this Item" checkbox for all fixed price items in the section not bid."  When a bid for only one of the alternate pavement sections is submitted, the bidder will receive an error message regarding the non-bid alternate. The error message should be ignored if the bidder does not intend to bid that alternate.

EXPECTATIONS OF BIDDERS ON CONTRACTS WITH MBE, WBE, AND IVOSB PARTICIPATION CONTRACT GOALS

(Alert Update: May 01, 2023)

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is committed to the participation of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises and Indiana Veteran Owned Small Businesses (MBE/WBE/IVOSB) in its procurement and contracting process.  The MBE/WBE and IVOSB programs are administered by the Indiana Department of Administration Division of Supplier Diversity (DSD).  Bidders on INDOT contracts are expected to make and document their efforts to attain the MBE, WBE and IVOSB Contract Goals in good faith whenever they have been assigned.  The goal amounts of 7% MBE, 5% WBE and 3% IVOSB are mandated by the Indiana Department of Administration and will not be reduced, even though participation opportunity may be limited.

For locating IDOA certified MBE, WBE, and IVOSB firms, bidders must use the directory of certified firms located at    https://www.in.gov/idoa/mwbe/minority-and-womens-business-enterprises/certified-business-search/. The IDOA certified MBE/WBE/IVOSB list is updated every 24 hours. Bidders must use the most recent list to ensure that solicited MBE/WBE/IVOSB subcontractors are up to date with their IDOA certification. If a bidder is having difficulty achieving the Contract Goals, they are encouraged to contact the DSD office prior to the Letting. Staff will be available to assist Bidders in providing possible list of MBE, WBE, and IVOSB firms to engage in the contract. Emailed questions shall be addressed to mwbecompliance@idoa.in.gov. DSD may be contacted at (317) 232-3061.

If a Bidder cannot achieve the Contract Goals, the Good Faith Effort (GFE) process will be initiated for the lowest qualified bidder, after the Letting occurs. Evidence of good faith efforts shall be provided by the low bidder upon INDOT request. The GFE Request will usually be initiated by INDOT. If bidders have questions concerning the rules and details of the MBE/WBE program, information is available over the internet at   https://www.in.gov/idoa/mwbe/minority-and-womens-business-enterprises/laws-and-policies/. 

COMPLETING THE DBE OR MBE/WBE PARTICIPATION PLANS USING AASHTOWARE PROJECT BIDS BID COMPONENT

(Alert Date: May 01, 2023)

This is a step-by-step guide for successfully entering the contract commitment data. The following instructions should answer most questions about entering DBE, MBE, and WBE Commitments in the electronic proposal. The commitment entry process is similar for each. Therefore, throughout these instructions inserting MBE or WBE in place of DBE will be equally accurate.

1. Before DBEs are entered, an updated copy of the DBE.BIN file, which contain the certified DBE/MBE/WBE firms registered with INDOT, should be downloaded from the Bid Express letting webpage. The DBE.BIN file must be saved to the same folder containing the individual contract bid file(s) (Files with the .EBSX extension). The DBE.BIN file can be found listed in the Downloads box on the LETTING page. Contractors need to download the DBE.BIN file posted on the specific LETTING page.

2. DBE information can be entered any time after the contractor has downloaded and saved the bid files for a particular contract. Once the file for a particular contract has been opened, the contractor can start entering DBE information by first selecting DBE Participation Plan tab from the list on the left side of the screen. A two-part screen will appear to the right. The top half will show the existing overall DBE Participation Plan and indicate how much of the established goal has been met (which should show 0 initially). The bottom half of the screen is for use when entering new DBE commitments.

3. Start the entry of a DBE commitment in the lower screen section by clicking on the drop down box for the Name field. The field will originally be blank. Once you click on the drop down box at the far right of this field, you can scroll through the list of DBE firms that were included in the DBE.BIN file downloaded earlier.  (While it is INDOT's intent to provide a current and accurate list of the certified DBEs in the DBE.BIN file, it is the bidder's responsibility to confirm the current certification of all proposed DBE subcontractors prior to including them in their proposal bid.)

4. Select the DBE firm that will be utilized by clicking on its name from the list. This will result in not only the company's name appearing in the Name field but also the correct entries for that firm in the FEIN, Addr1, and Certification Code fields. (Caution: Once this information is shown for a company, any changes to any of these fields will result in changing the name of the DBE firm since these four fields are linked.)

5. For the field marked "DBE Participation:", select RC from the drop down box if the utilization of this DBE will count towards the goal or RN if the DBE should not count towards the goal. (RN is to show planned voluntary additional DBE utilization.)

6. In the next lower field labeled "Used As," select from the drop down box the appropriate category from Lease, Subcontractor, MBE Supplier, WBE Supplier, DBE Supplier Broker, DBE Supplier Manufacturer or Supplier DBE Reg. Dealer.   (MBE and WBE Suppliers may be used ONLY on contracts with MBE and WBE goals.) Preceding each category a letter is shown. When anything other than Supplier DBE Reg. Dealer is selected, the  letter is N, while a Y shows when Supplier DBE Reg. Dealer is selected. This shows whether the contractor will get 100% credit for all dollars paid to the DBE (N) or if 60% credit will apply (Y). (Any Broker's participation value is limited to the amount of the Broker's fee. The value of the materials purchase arranged by the broker will not be counted toward meeting a goal. Only the Broker's fee should be entered.) 

7.  The Item Line Numbers and Descriptions of work to be performed by this DBE is now entered in the text box provided. Indicate if the DBE is performing only a portion of the work item by adding a "p" to the end of the line number listed, such as "72p".

8. The next step is to show the number of dollars being committed to the DBE firm. The total of all dollars committed to that DBE is entered in the "Bid Quote:" field. (The apparent lowest bidder is required to submit copies of all quotes from DBE firms for work and materials included in the bid within 24 hours of the letting. This requirement is detailed in the special provisions contained in the Contract Information Book. Submittal of quotes received for MBE, WBE, or IVOSB are not required on State funded contracts until requested.)

9. Click on the "Calculate goal achieved?" box entering a check-mark if you want the Bid application to calculate the DBE participation percentage attained to include this DBE commitment.

10. Complete the DBE commitment entry by clicking on the "Add Entry" button located in the lower right corner of the screen.

11. The DBE commitment data entered above may be updated by returning to this screen, selecting the DBE firm in the list in the top portion of the screen and editing the data that then appears in the lower section of the screen.  An "Update Entry" button located in the bottom right corner of the screen will need to be clicked to record and save any edits.

12. To add another DBE, repeat steps 3 through 10 above.

13. Since the official DBE business entity directory may be updated more often than the letting DBE.BIN file, bidders may want to use a DBE firm whose name cannot be found in the dropdown list of the Project Bid application. In that case, manual entry of a DBE is allowed. Care will be necessary not to use the dropdown lists for Name, FEIN, address and certification code. (These four field dropdowns are linked. Selecting an entry for one of them will change the other three entries.) Otherwise, continue following steps 5 through 10 as noted above.

State of Indiana Directory of Certified DBE Enterprises

https://entapps.indot.in.gov/DBELocator/

Indiana's Certified MBE, WBE and IVOSB Businesses

https://www.in.gov/idoa/mwbe/files/certification_list.xlsx

INDOT DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (DBE) DIRECTORY

(Alert Date:  May 21, 2019)

The online Indiana Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) directory (located here:    https://entapps.indot.in.gov/DBELocator/) is the most reliable source for all currently certified Indiana DBEs. Its use is required by the bidding instructions and crucial to utilize towards Good Faith Efforts. To allow ample time for verification of DBE status and DBE credit types, the directory will be frozen at 4:00 p.m. on the Friday before the letting.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON PERFORMANCE BONDS:

(Alert Date:  May 04, 2018)

Except as otherwise specifically noted in the Notice to Contractors, a fully executed performance bond with valid power of attorney must be submitted for each proposal bid,  and must be received by the Department by the time set for receipt of proposal bids.

1. The performance bond and valid power of attorney shall be submitted as an email message attachment addressed to ConstructionLetting@indot.in.gov or on paper to the Department.

2. The surety agent signing a performance bond shall be an Indiana resident agent, a nonresident agent properly licensed in Indiana, or an employee of the surety company.

3. The power of attorney submitted with a performance bond must reference the performance bond.

4. Failure to submit a performance bond that conforms with these notes, with the Rules for Prequalification of Contractors and Bidding, and with any other applicable Indiana law is grounds for rejection of the proposal bid.  Errors or omissions in the performance bond or in the power of attorney are not correctable after the time set for receipt of proposal bids in the Notice to Contractors.

5. The specified form of a performance bond to be used is located at the following internet address URL=   https://www.in.gov/dot/div/contracts/letting/general/performancebond.pdf

CONSTRUCTION LETTING EMAIL BOX

(Alert Update:  May 01, 2023)

An email mailbox application was created so contractors have a way to submit electronic or scanned copies of contract documents they cannot submit through Bid Express.  These typically include the drug testing plan, the performance bond with the power of attorney letter and surety agent insurance license.

To use the email mailbox, you need the correct email address and the correct format for the subject line of the email.  This will ensure your documents get to the correct contract folder with a time stamp, and cannot be altered.

Use this email address:     ConstructionLetting@indot.in.gov .

Use a subject line formatted in the manner below:     

CompanynameDocumentmmddyy-R12345A

For example; if Jones Construction Co., Inc. is submitting a drug plan for Contract B -27780-A of the November 1, 2006 letting, the subject line should look like this:

JonesConstructionDrugplan110106-B27780A

*Note: the only dash is between the letting date and the contract number.

COUNTING DBE CREDIT FOR INDOT FIELD OFFICES

(Alert Update: Nov. 27th, 2018 )

Please be advised that due to a recent directive from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), INDOT has reclassified how it will count DBE participation for the "Field Office" pay item.  This replaces previous communications on the DBE utilization of field offices, including the August 8, 2010 Memorandum. Effective for the August 7, 2013 letting, INDOT will now consider field office providers that are currently certified as DBEs as either a service provider or a broker, rather than a regular dealer-supplier at 60%.

If a DBE subcontractor delivers their own trailers to a job site, they are classified as a service provider and 100% of the rental rate, delivery, set-up, maintenance, and associated charges of the service are eligible for DBE credit. On the Affirmative Action Certification (AAC), please note the field office service providers as lessors. However, if a DBE subcontractor delivers trailers from a non-DBE that they do not own, they are classified as a broker and 7% of the rental rate, delivery, set-up, maintenance, and associated charges are eligible for DBE credit. On the AAC, please note the broker as a broker at 7% of the bidder's quote.

Prime contractors can check INDOT's DBE directory to determine how INDOT classifies a particular DBE and therefore how much DBE participation credit INDOT will allow the prime contractor to receive for use of a particular DBE. You may also contact INDOT's Economic Opportunity Division at DBECertification@indot.in.gov with any questions regarding a DBE's status.

JOINT VENTURE ELECTRONIC BIDDING

(Alert Update: Jul. 5th, 2022)

105 IAC 11-3-5 of the Rules for Prequalification of Contractors and Bidding, sets out the requirements for joint ventures. Below is a summary of how joint ventures are handled in an electronic bidding situation.

1. All joint venture partners will acknowledge all revisions by emailing the acknowledgements to the construction letting email box. The sponsor of the joint venture will enter the revision dates on the electronic proposal form.

2. Each company will have their drug testing plan on file with the pre-qualification engineer, or email them to the construction letting email box.  The sponsor's drug testing date will be the date used in the electronic bid.

3. Each company will have to email their individual contractual obligations to the construction letting email box.  The sponsor will place the combined contractual obligations of the joint venture on the electronic bid form.

4. Each company will have to email their own CM 32-34 form to the construction letting email box.  The sponsor will complete the form on the electronic bid form.

5. The non-collusion form submitted with the electronic bid will be valid for both companies.

6. The bid bond will be sent in as other electronic bid bonds.  Surety2000 and Tinubu Surety Solution should be able to handle the bond with multiple surety companies.

7. The performance bond will be handled as in the past, with both parties signing the bond which is then emailed to the construction letting email box.

8. A digital signature must be acquired for the joint venture, using the vendor ID of the joint venture.  If a vendor ID does not exist for the joint venture, contact the Prequalification Engineer as soon as possible, because it takes up to five days to get a digital signature.  A vendor ID for a joint venture is given the following form:  99-9991234.

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