Authority, Purpose And General Requirements

(1) Legal Authority. – Section 54-5-117 of the Tennessee Code provides that bidders for construction contracts to be let and awarded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation shall be responsible and qualified under state law and any applicable regulations. It further empowers the Commissioner to adopt such reasonable regulations as the Commissioner deems proper for the qualification of bidders as to financial responsibility, experience, organization and equipment, the number of contracts, the aggregate of the contract amounts at the contract unit prices, the character of construction, the number of miles of construction each bidder or contractor may have under contract or construction at any given time, and/or any other matter which would in the Commissioner’s judgment promote the best interests of the State of Tennessee in its highway construction, with the power to adopt such regulations being expressly not limited to the matters expressly mentioned in the statute. (2) Purpose. – The purpose of these rules is to establish procedures and criteria by which the Department determines the responsibility and qualifications of prospective bidders and subcontractors to perform contracts or subcontracts for or related to the construction, improvement and/or maintenance of roads and bridges which are to be let, awarded and administered by the Department. In general, but without limiting any of the following rules, it is the intent of this chapter to govern the prequalification of bidders and subcontractors based on their demonstrated ability, experience and capacity to perform the work required; the quality and timeliness of their past work performance; their financial responsibility; and the integrity of their business practices. (3) General Requirements. (a) A prospective bidder or contractor must be prequalified by and in good standing with the Department prior to the issuance of a proposal form. (b) A prospective subcontractor must be prequalified by and in good standing with the Department prior to being approved as a subcontractor. (c) Nothing in this rule shall be construed to prohibit any person from requesting or obtaining a void proposal form for any purpose other than submitting a proposal to the Department.