Authority_October_2020

46 October 2020 - The Authority Minimizing In-Person Contact During Bidding Activities by The PennBid Team - - - R egardless of limitation or con- strains, keeping your authori- ty’s infrastructure operating without disruption is critical to the public’s health and welfare. Key to these operations are the products and services you acquire through bidding. Before COVID-19, physically ex - changing documents and holding meetings were the norm. This is no longer the case. Face-to-face inter - actions with vendors while social distancing during the pandemic has been problematic, but it has also been insightful. As you know, there are at least three distinct areas of in-person contact during the bidding process: 1) when bidding documents are distributed; 2) when pre-bid and site meetings are held; and 3) when sealed bids are received and publicly opened. As the managers of the PennBid Program, we are in a unique position to examine and share methods authorities have started using to minimize – and even eliminate – this contact. Distribution of bidding documents Of the three contact points outlined above, eliminating in-person ex - changes when distributing bidding documents can be accomplished with minimal ef fort. Many authorities and their design professionals currently use some form of electronic document distribution and tracking. Options range from pro viding bidders with thumb drives and discs to online document sharing sites (known as ftp sites) and full e-procure ment, or electronic bidding sites. “Bid- lead” firms are included in the latter options, and it is important to note that some charge potential bidders a fee to access electronic documents. In gener al, though, authorities that use elec - tronic bid management sites do not.