Following a DCA member’s low bid being thrown out by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) due to what was essentially a formatting error, Courtney Stewart, Deputy Director of OMB and I began a conversation on what could be done to limit taxpayers losing out on a low bid because of such a situation. To the Deputy Director’s credit, after the General Assembly session ended, she took up the effort in earnest along with Jennifer Coverdale, Director, Division of Facilities Management (DFM).

Around August of last year, OMB, DCA contractors and I met virtually to discuss ways to modernize DFM’s bidding process. OMB was very open and receptive to the issues pointed out during our discussion while sharing some ideas they believed could improve the process. Over the past several months, DFM has been working to stand up an electronic filing process for bids in addition to examining how they can make the bid form more user friendly with the goal of reducing formatting errors.

Last week, the Director of Facilities Management joined DCA contractor members in our boardroom to discuss how her office would be rolling out the new initiatives. DFM issued a notice to contractors earlier this week laying out the first steps in their effort to modernize the bidding system – electronic filing. DFM has joined Government Support Services (GSS), DHSS, DelDOT and DTI in accepting online bid submission through the Bonfire interactive portal. The Bonfire Portal can be accessed at http://DFM.bonfirehub.com. For solicitations that use Bonfire to receive documents, the Vendor will need to register for the Bonfire Portal to submit a bid. Bonfire registration and utilization are at no cost to contractors.

The first two pilot projects for electronic bid filing will be Troop 2 AHU Replacement and the Stevenson House Boiler. These projects are anticipated to be put out mid-May. Hopefully, this collaborative effort between DCA and DFM will result in a win for all involved. Greater efficiency for contractors as well as DFM staff with taxpayers not having low bids thrown out for clerical errors.