(a) Except as authorized by Code Sections 32-2-79 and 32-2-80, the department shall award the contract to the lowest reliable bidder, provided that the department shall have the right to reject any and all such bids whether such right is reserved in the public notice or not and, in such case, the department may readvertise, perform the work itself, or abandon the project.
(b) If only one bid is received, the department shall open and read the bid. If the bid is at or below the department's cost estimate for the project as certified by the chief engineer, such cost estimate shall be read immediately and publicly. If the bid exceeds the department's cost estimate for the project, the department may negotiate with the bidder to establish a fair and reasonable price for the contract, provided that the resulting negotiated contract price is not greater than the bid and that the department's cost estimate is disclosed to the bidder prior to the beginning of the negotiations.
(c) If the department made errors in the bidding documents which resulted in an unbalanced bid, the department may negotiate with the lowest reliable bidder to correct such errors, provided that the lowest reliable bidder is not changed.
(d) If the lowest reliable bidder is released by the department because of an obvious error or if the lowest reliable bidder refuses to accept the contract and thereby forfeits the bid bond, the department may award the contract to the next lowest reliable bidder, readvertise, perform the work itself, or abandon the project.
(e) For purposes of this Code section, posting of a bid on the department's website shall be equivalent to having read the bid.
(f) The signed, notarized affidavit required in subsection (b) of Code Section 13-10-91 shall be submitted to the department prior to the award of any contract.
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