Court Opinion

ID: 9850426
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:57:02.14179+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:36.987410
License: Public Domain

COMPTON, Justice,
with whom BURKE, Justice, joins, concurring.
If this court were to follow the notion that similar cases should be similarly decided, then it should affirm the trial court on the basis of Alaska International Construction v. Earthmovers of Fairbanks, 697 P.2d 626 (Alaska 1985). Since I dissented in Earthmovers, I should be pleased to see the court adopt an analysis which declines to follow Earthmovers. Unfortunately, Earthmovers is not being rejected, rather it is being disregarded in order to achieve “the best result.”
*849The court comments on and quotes from Chris Berg, Inc. v. State, Department of Transportation, 680 P.2d 93 (Alaska 1984) as follows:
We held that this determination was an abuse of discretion and invalid, noting that “the mistake and bid actually intended are reasonably ascertainable from the invitation to bid and the bid itself, and the mistake was discoverable immediately by the agency.”
Op. at 847. The case at bar fits quite clearly within this framework, and it should not be necessary to say more than that Chris Berg controls.1 However, Earthmovers is there for all to see, and thus must be rationalized.
The court remarks that at least three important principles are involved in the construction bidder cases cited:
They are (1) that the lowest bid price is preferred; (2) that rules of construction which are expressed in specifications should be followed in order to resolve discrepancies; and (3) that the intent of the bidder when it is evident from the face of the bid is significant.
Op. at 848. I agree in the abstract, but I continue to believe that the court has failed to construct a coherent analytical framework based upon these principles.
I submit that the principles applied by the court in fact are as follows: (1) the lowest bid price is paramount; (2) rules of construction such as those expressed in Standard Specifications are followed as long as they, by themselves or in conjunction with other principles, produce the lowest bid. Otherwise, they are to be disregarded; and (3) the intent of the bidder when evident from the face of the bid is significant, as long as it, by itself or in conjunction with other principles, produces the lowest bid. Otherwise, intent is to be disregarded.
In each case, the erring bidder whose bid became or stayed lowest by the application of any principle was awarded the bid. Thus, in practice, achieving the lowest bid price has been paramount in all cases. Rules of construction were applied in Earthmovers in spite of the actual intent2 of the bidder, thereby producing the lowest bid, while they are disregarded in this case in favor of the actual intent of the bidder, which in this instance produces the lowest bid. In Vintage, rules of construction were applied to produce the lowest bid in the absence of intent, yet disregarded in Chris Berg in deference to the bidder’s intent.
As the court correctly notes, AS 35.15.-050 requires that a contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. However, this statute does not tell us how to determine which bidder is lowest when errors are made in the bidding process. If the sole consideration is to achieve the lowest bid, sealed bids do not serve that end. A public outcry auction at which contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder would better serve this purpose. Yet as noted by the attorney general, avoidance of favoritism and assurance of fair play in dealing with state government and in competing with others for state contracts are also important. 1959 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 27 (Alaska, November 4, 1959).
I recognize that construction bidding cases do not always lend themselves to “black letter” law from the Restatement of Contracts. However, there is no reason to ignore time honored notions of offer and acceptance when they may be applied. Thus, I reiterate my view that when the bidder’s intent is not ambiguous, it should be effectuated, regardless of the result. Resort to rules of construction is proper only to resolve ambiguities, again regardless of the result. We should establish an analytical framework within which we can proceed to a predictable result. Trying to *850justify a predetermined result leads to inconsistencies in the process and decisions that should not be tolerated. Those directly involved in the bidding process need certainty. They should not be left to wonder what “principles” they should look to on a case by case basis to determine who is the lowest bidder. Earthmovers is an aberration which should be overruled.

. In my view Vintage Construction v. State, Department of Transportation, 713 P.2d 1213 (Alaska 1986), was also a Chris Berg case.

. The court remarks that in Earthmovers it "assumed” that the bidder intended the higher figure. Op. at 847. No assumption was necessary as the higher bid in Earthmovers was the admitted, intended bid.