D.H. Williams Construction, Inc. v. Clovis Unified School District

This is an appeal from a judgment granting a petition for writ of mandate. The issue before us is whether a bid on a public agency contract can be declared nonresponsive by the public agency when the bidder has listed an unlicensed subcontractor on the bid forms. We agree with the trial court that such a bid, in the circumstances of the present case, could not be declared nonresponsive. However, the appropriate remedy is for the agency to conduct a due process hearing before awarding the contract to determine whether the bidder is responsible. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment, which simply directed the awarding of the contract to the bidder in question.

Facts and Procedural History

Appellant Clovis Unified School District (the District) is building a $126 million educational center. Instead of soliciting bids for a single prime contract, the District is using the services of a construction manager and is soliciting bids for multiple prime contracts for various phases of the project. The bids involved in the present case were for the concrete and fencing work at the educational center.

The District solicited bids pursuant to a project manual that contains…