Case Name: BOH BROS. CONSTRUCTION CO., L.L.C. v. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Frank Denton and Roddy Dillon
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1997-07-14
Citations: 698 So. 2d 675
Docket Number: No. 97 CA 0168
Parties: BOH BROS. CONSTRUCTION CO., L.L.C. v. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Frank Denton and Roddy Dillon.
Judges: Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS, FOIL, FOGG and CHIASSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 698
Pages: 675–685

Head Matter:
BOH BROS. CONSTRUCTION CO., L.L.C. v. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Frank Denton and Roddy Dillon.
No. 97 CA 0168.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
July 14, 1997.
W.P. Wray, Jr., Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff-Appellant Boh Bros. Construction.
Lawrence A. Durant, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellee Dept, of Transportation and Development, et al.
H. Bruce Shreves and Denise C. Puente, New Orleans, for Intervenor-Appellee Barri-ere Construction Co., Inc.
Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS, FOIL, FOGG and CHIASSON, JJ.
Judge Remy Chiasson, retired, is sitting by special assignment of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Opinion:
|2FOIL, Judge.
This appeal challenges a trial court's determination that the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development did not violate the Public Bid Law in awarding three contracts to the lowest numerical bidder. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
On July 31, 1996, the State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) advertised for bids on numerous public works contracts involving major highway overlay projects. The three contracts at dispute in this litigation are State Project Nos. [ XXX-XX-XXXX ], [ XXX-XX-XXXX ] and [ XXX-XX-XXXX ]. The bid advertisement stated that bids must be submitted on the proposal forms provided by DOTD, must be prepared in accordance with Section 102 of the 1992 Louisiana Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridges and must include all information required by the proposal. It stated further that the bid shall include a proposal guaranty in an amount not less than specified in the advertisement.
On August 28, 1996, DOTD received bids on all three of the projects from Boh Brothers Construction Co., L.L.C. and Barriere Construction Company. Barriere's bids of $2,349,234.20 on SP-0099, $2,705,937.96 on SP-0038 and $138,039.05 on SP-0012 were the lowest bids submitted to DOTD. Boh Bros, bid $2,462,701.38 on SP-0099; $3,047,-987.96 on SP-0038 and $145,661.44 on SP-0012.
All three of Barriere's bids were initially stamped "irregular" by DOTD. On SP-0099, two irregularities were cited in the proposal check list: (1) the bond was not for the amount specified in the proposal and (2) the Equal Employment Opportunity Certification Statement (EEO Statement) was incorrectly filled out. The advertisement for bids originally called for a $107,000.00 proposal guaranty, but by virtue of an addendum which increased the estimated cost on the project, this amount was changed to $108,000.00. Barriere's bid on this project contained a $107,000.00 proposal guaranty. The | ¡other two bids were stamped irregular for not having a correctly filled out EEO Statement; the proposal guaranty in these two bids matched the bond amount specified in the advertisements.
In a low bid analysis, Robert Pierce, Chairman of the DOTD Bid Review Committee, recommended that the contracts be awarded to Boh Bros. The recommendation was endorsed by Chief Engineer Roddy Dillon, and later approved by Secretary Frank Denton.
Barriere challenged DOTD's irregularity determination, charging that it simply made a mistake in filling out the EEO Statement, and pointed out that as part of the same bid letting, it submitted a bid on another state project which contained a correctly filled out EEO Statement. Barriere stressed that since 1984, it completed at least 12 federal aid projects for DOTD and filed the requisite EEO Statements therein. Therefore, Barri-ere urged, since DOTD had the properly filled out certifications on file, the error in filling out the forms on the three projects should have no bearing on the validity of its bids.
Thereafter, DOTD determined that its initial ruling that Barriere's bids were irregular was made in error, and it recognized Barri-ere as the lowest responsible bidder on the three contracts. DOTD found that the error in filling out the EEO Statement did not go to the substance of the bid, and concluded that the fact that Barriere's bid on SP-0099 contained a $1,000.00 less bid bond than required was not a substantive deviation from the bid because the bid advertisement initial ly contained a proposal guaranty of $107,-000.00, the precise amount of Barriere's proposal guaranty on the SP-0099 bid.
On October 7, 1996, Boh Bros, filed this lawsuit, seeking injunctive relief in the trial court to prevent DOTD from awarding the contracts to Barriere. It also sought a mandamus ordering DOTD to award the contracts to it as the lowest responsible bidder.
The trial court denied the request for a preliminary injunction, finding that the irregularities in the EEO Statement were errors of form which DOTD could legally waive. The court also ruled that the $1,000.00 discrepancy in the bid bond on SP-0099 was insubstantial and this deficiency could be waived by |4DOTD. Noting that the deficiencies in Barriere's bids were insignificant coupled with the fact that Boh Bros.' bid was over half a million dollars higher than Barri-ere's, the court believed that DOTD did not act arbitrarily or otherwise favorably in accepting Barriere's bid as the lowest responsive bid despite its insignificant irregularities.
Boh Bros, appealed, challenging as a matter of law the power of DOTD to waive insignificant irregularities in bids on public works projects.
MOTION TO DISMISS THE APPEAL AS MOOT
During the course of this appeal, DOTD filed a motion to dismiss Boh Bros.' appeal, offering proof that all three disputed projects have been substantially completed. DOTD contends that the injunctive relief prayed for by Boh Bros, is no longer available as a remedy due to the completion of the projects. It also points out that Boh Bros, did not specifically ask for damages in its petition, and because the only relief sought is no longer available, this court should dismiss the appeal as moot.
It is true that Boh Bros, did not request damages in its petition. It did, however, request a declaration that DOTD violated the Public Bid Law and sought the relief available to it at that time: to enjoin DOTD from entering into the contract with Barriere. In public bid eases, our courts have recognized the dilemma created when an unsuccessful bidder files a timely application for injunctive relief which is denied by the trial court, and during the appeal delays, the project is substantially completed, resulting in the unavailability of injunctive relief. See Airline Construction Company, Inc. v. Ascension Parish School Board, 568 So.2d 1029 (La.1990).
In Stafford Construction Company, Inc. v. Terrebonne Parish School Board, 612 So.2d 847 (La.App. 1st Cir.1992), unit denied, 614 So.2d 82 (La.1993), this court held that an aggrieved bidder on a public works project who has timely filed a suit for injunctive relief may recover damages against a public entity. Thus, even though Boh Bros, may not be entitled to injunctive relief at this time due to the substantial completion of the project, because it timely sought injunctive relief, its remedy would convert to a cause of action for |5damages against the public entity. Therefore, the underlying legal issue in this case, that is, whether DOTD violated the Public Bid Law in awarding the contract to Barriere, is not mooted by the unavailability of injunctive relief. Accordingly, DOTD's motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.
POWER OF DOTD TO WAIVE IRREGULARITIES IN BIDS
We now turn to the merits of the challenged action, namely, whether the trial court erred in finding that DOTD did not violate the Public Bid Law in determining that Barriere was the lowest responsible bidder on the three contracts in dispute. Boh Bros, takes issue with the trial court's determination that the alleged irregularities Boh Bros, cited in the Barriere bids were insignificant errors that could be waived by DOTD. It urges that a public entity is statutorily prohibited from waiving any deviation in a bid proposal, no matter how insignificant or trivial that deviation is.
In support of this position, Boh Bros, points to a 1987 amendment to a provision of the Public Bid Law, La.R.S. 38:2212A(l)(b), which it argues was intended to preclude a public entity from waiving any deviations in a bid proposal. As it was originally enacted in 1984, La.R.S. 38:2212A(l)(b) provided that "[t]he provisions and requirements of this Section shall not be waived by any public entity." In 1986, the provision was amended to add that the provisions and requirements of the Public Bid Law and those stated in the advertisement for bids shall not be considered as informalities and shall not be waived by any public entity. In 1987, the statute was amended again by Act 398 of 1987, and states:
The provisions and requirements of this Section, those stated in the advertisement for bids, and those required on the bid form shall not be considered as informalities and shall not be waived by any public entity.
Boh Bros, argues that by adding the language "required on the bid form" the legislature intended to preclude a public entity from waiving deviations that are properly characterized as a matter of the form of the bid, or a mere formality, rather than a substantive requirement of the bid.
16Prior to the 1987 amendment to La.R.S. 38:2212A(l)(b), in addressing a claim that a public entity should have rejected a particular bid, our courts have recognized the distinction between errors of substance in a bid on a public works project and errors of form in the bid. In Pittman Construction Company, Inc. v. Parish of East Baton Rouge, 493 So.2d 178 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 493 So.2d 1206 (La.1986), this court distinguished between errors of form which do not require a bid's rejection under the Public Bid Law, and errors of substance, which do require the public entity to reject the bid.
Even after the cited changes to La.R.S. 38:2212, this court has continued to apply the substance/form dichotomy to claims that a public entity should or should not have rejected a bid. See Stafford Construction Company v. Terrebonne Parish School Board, 560 So.2d 558 (La.App. 1st Cir.1990). The substance/form distinction is premised on the fact that where there is only an insignificant or insubstantial deviation from the bidding requirements, there has been competitive bidding as contemplated by the Public Bid Law.
The Public Bid Law was enacted in the interest of the tax paying citizens of the state, and its purpose is to ensure that tax dollars for public works are spent wisely, that the lowest responsible bidder is awarded the contract, and that favoritism does not enter into the decision making process. C.R. Kirby Contractors, Inc. v. City of Baton Rouge, 612 So.2d 132, 135 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1992); J.W. Rombach, Inc. v. Parish of Jefferson, 95-829 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/14/96); 670 So.2d 1305, 1310. To deny a public entity the power to waive insignificant deviations in order to select a low bid on every public works project is contrary to the interests of the taxpaying citizens of this state.
Therefore, we construe La.R.S. 38:2212A(l)(b) to preclude a public entity from waiving substantive provisions and requirements of the Public Bid Law, the advertisement for bids and the bid forms. The public entity may waive deviations that are not substantive in nature. However, it may not treat substantive requirements of the Bid Law, the advertisement for bids and the bid forms as mere informalities in order to justify its decision to waive a | ydeviation in a bid. Whether a public entity permissibly waived a bid requirement is reviewable by the courts, and the issue should be determined by using the substance/form analysis.
Thus, the question in this case is whether Boh Bros, has established that there were substantive defects in the Barriere bids which precluded DOTD from awarding the contracts to Barriere. Boh Bros, insists that Barriere's submission of an allegedly incomplete EEO Statement on each of the three disputed projects required DOTD to declare Barriere's bids irregular and reject those bids. In support of its argument, Boh Bros, points to the language of the Equal Employment Opportunity Certification Form itself which states: "This form must be completed in the proposal submitted for bidding purposes. Failure to complete this form will result in rejection of the bid." Barriere also relies on a provision of the Louisiana Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridges, applicable to the contracts under review, § 102.08(10) which provides:
102.08 IRREGULAR PROPOSALS. Proposals will be considered irregular and will be rejected for any of the following conditions:
(10) On Federal-Aid Projects, if the . Equal Employment Opportunity Certification forms in the proposal are not properly executed and submitted with the bid.
The pertinent language of the EEO Statement and Barriere's responses to it is as follows:
Certification with regard to the Performance of Previous Contracts subject to the Equal Opportunity Clause and the filing of the Required Reports Federal-Aid Contracts:
The bidder X or proposed subcontractor X certifies that he has_, has not_, participated in a previous contract or subcontract subject to the equal opportunity clause, as required by Executive Order 10925,1114 or 11246, and that he has X , has not_, filed with the Joint Reporting Committee, the Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, a Federal Government contracting or administering agency, or the former president's committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, all reports due under the applicable filing requirements.

Contractors and subcontractors who have participated in a previous contract or subcontract subject to the Executive Orders and have not filed the required reports shall submit a report covering the delinquent period or such other period specified by the Federal Highway Administration or by the Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance, U.S. Department of Labor.
|8The form is signed by Barriere's president, George Wilson Jr.
It is obvious that Barriere did in fact submit a completed, signed EEO Statement. It certified therein that it filed all reports with the federal agencies under the applicable filing requirements. It is also clear that when filling out the form, Barriere's agent simply put the X in the incorrect box, marking, the space after proposed subcontractor rather than the space certifying that it has participated in a previous contract subject to the equal opportunity clause. It is axiomatic that a bidder cannot be both a contractor and a subcontractor. Furthermore, the certification that the reporting. requirements had been met necessarily implied that the contractor had participated in a prior contract subject to the equal opportunity clause. Indeed, the record reflects that on the same day Barriere submitted bids on the projects under review, it submitted a bid on State Project No. [ XXX-XX-XXXX ] which contained a correctly filled out EEO Statement certifying that it had participated in previous contracts subject to the equal opportunity clause and had filed all reports due under the applicable filing requirements.
Barriere's simple mistake in filling out the forms does not, in our opinion, rise to the level of an "irregularity." The EEO form is designed to ensure that contractors working on contracts involving the federal government have filed appropriate documents regarding equal employment concerns with the pertinent federal agencies. Barriere certified that it did in fact file the required reports with the respective agencies and the EEO forms submitted by Barriere in the bid proposals thus were fully responsive. DOTD acted within its power in determining that the mistake did not require rejection of the Barriere bids.
The only other alleged irregularity is that Barriere's bid on SP-0099 contained a proposal guaranty of $107,000.00, whereas the advertisement called for a $108,000.00 bid bond. Boh Bros, contends that the $1,000.00 discrepancy mandated rejection of Barriere's bid.
La.R.S. 48:253, which governs bid bonds in proposals submitted to DOTD, provides, in pertinent part, that "[t]he . bid bond submitted shall be for Ran amount fixed by the Department and shall be approximately five percent of the cost estimate of the contract that has been prepared by the department's engineer."
When SP-0099 was originally advertised, DOTD estimated the cost of the project to be $2,134,000.00. The proposal guaranty in the original notice to contractors was set at $107,000.00. DOTD later increased the estimated cost of the project to $2,222,000.00. The estimated cost increase raised the proposal guaranty to $108,000.00. In the record there appears a revision sheet wherein the errors regarding the date for submission of the bids, the estimated cost and the proposal guaranty were corrected. On the section dealing with the $107,000.00 proposal-guaranty, there appears the note "OK as is."
An addendum to the notice to contractors was issued by DOTD in which DOTD set forth that among other things, the estimated cost and the proposal guaranty were revised. The bid was advertised with a $108,000.00 proposal guaranty.
In accepting Barriere's bid containing a $107,000.00 proposal guaranty instead of a $108,000.00 bid bond, DOTD noted that the original advertisement called for a $107,-000.00 bond. Furthermore, DOTD believed that the discrepancy in the proposal guaranty and Barriere's bid bond was not legally significant because Barriere's bond fell within La.R.S. 48:253's requirement that the bid bond be "approximately five percent" of the estimated cost of the project.
Due to DOTD's original advertisement calling for a $107,000.00 bid bond, and the fact that the $107,000.00 was within the approximately five percent of the estimated cost on the project, we agree with DOTD's position that the $1,000.00 discrepancy is a minor one which had no bearing on the substance of the bid, and therefore the deviation in the bid proposal on SP-0099 could legally be waived by DOTD.
Because Boh Bros, has failed to demonstrate any substantive deviations in Barri-ere's bid proposal precluding the award of the contracts to Barriere, the trial court acted correctly in denying Boh Bros, request for injunctive relief.
I iqCONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, the judgment appealed from is affirmed. All costs of this appeal are assessed to appellant, Boh Bros. Construction Co., L.L.C.
AFFIRMED.
LOTTINGER, C.J., concurs in part and dissents in part and assigns written reasons.
CHIASSON, J., concurs and dissents for reasons assigned by LOTTINGER, C.J.