§2163. Bid procedures; penalty

A.(1) It is the intent of this Section that only contractors who hold an active license be awarded contracts either by bid or through negotiation. All architects, engineers, and awarding authorities shall place in their bid specifications the requirement that a contractor shall certify that he holds an active license under the provisions of this Chapter by displaying his license number on the bid envelope. In the case of an electronic bid proposal, a contractor may submit an authentic digital signature on the electronic bid proposal accompanied by the contractor's license number in order to meet the requirements of this Paragraph. Except as otherwise provided herein, if the bid does not display the contractor's license number on the bid envelope, the bid shall be automatically rejected, shall be returned to the bidder marked "Rejected", and shall not be read aloud.

(2) Any bid that does not require the contractor to hold an active license shall state the exemption on the bid envelope and shall be treated as a lawful bid for the purpose of this Section.

(3) On any project that has been classified by the architect or engineer, prior to the bid, as a plumbing project, bids may only be accepted from those who have as a qualifying party a person who has complied with the provisions of Chapter 16 of this Title, R.S. 37:1361 et seq.

(4) Any contractor who submits a bid for a type of construction for which he does not hold an active license to perform shall be acting in violation of this Section and shall be subject to all provisions for violations and penalties thereof.

(5) Any subcontractor who submits a bid or quotes a price to any unlicensed or inactive prime contractor shall be subject to all provisions for violations and penalties thereof.

B. Where bids are to be received or forms furnished by the awarding authority, no proposal forms or specifications shall be issued to anyone except a licensed contractor who holds an active license or his authorized representatives. In no event shall proposal forms be issued later than twenty-four hours prior to the hour and date set for receiving proposals.

C. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as prohibiting the issuance of plans and specifications to recognized plan rooms, or material suppliers, or both when said plans and specifications will be used only to prepare proposals which will be incorporated in the bid prepared by the contractor or the issuance of plans to the contractor except in connection with federal aid or other projects as set forth in R.S. 37:2157(A)(6).

D. It shall be the obligation of the architect, engineer, or awarding authority to classify public projects. Once the project is classified, any interested person may object by sending a certified letter to both the board and to the architect, engineer, or awarding authority. Said objection shall be received by the board and by the architect, engineer, or awarding authority at least ten working days prior to the date on which bids are to be opened. The objection shall state with particularity the reasons for the objection. The objection shall be submitted to a committee for determination. The chairman of the board shall appoint the committee which shall consist of board members. The committee shall have the power to approve the project classification or add an additional classification by vote of a majority of the members of the committee. The matter shall be resolved and the board shall notify the architect, engineer, and awarding authority no less than five days prior to the time when bids are to be opened, unless all parties agree that a delay will not cause harm to others.

E.(1) Any awarding authority or its agent who violates the provisions of this Section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or more than two hundred dollars or imprisonment in the parish jail for not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days, or both, such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.

(2) In addition, the board may, after notice and a hearing, impose a fine upon any awarding authority or its agent who intentionally violates the provisions of this Section. The board may not impose any fine as authorized by this Paragraph on the state, its agencies, boards, or commissions, or any political subdivision thereof.

Added by Acts 1956, No. 233 §13. Amended by Acts 1962, No. 184, §1; Acts 1964, No. 113, §13; Acts 1976, No. 377, §1; Acts 1980, No. 606, §1, eff. July 23, 1980; Acts 1981, No. 668, §1; Acts 1988, No. 635, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1991, No. 865, §1, eff. July 23, 1991; Acts 1992, No. 681, §1, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 478, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1299, §1; Acts 2001, No. 802, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1072, §1; Acts 2017, No. 49, §1.