General contractor prevails on bid protest with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Client(s) General contractor

Jones Day successfully represented a general contractor in connection with the filing of a formal bid protest with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of General Services relating to a request for proposal for the $37 million renovation and expansion of a university gymnasium. The Commonwealth used its version of best value/request for proposal process rather than a competitive sealed bid process. The Commonwealth selected another bidder even though the general contractor Jones Day represented received a higher technical score and proposed a lower lump-sum price. The general contractor claimed that the Commonwealth should reject the other bidder’s proposal based on possible violations on the restriction of contact with Commonwealth personnel and a deviation from the process of competitive bidding with respect to solicitations for Small Diverse Business (“SDB”) participation. Within one week of the general contractor filing the formal protest, the Commonwealth rejected all proposals for the project.