Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

16B.07 Competitive bids.

Subdivision 1. Application. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, all contracts for construction or repairs and all purchases of and all contracts for supplies, materials, purchase or rental of equipment, and utility services must be based on competitive bids, and all sales of property must be to the highest responsible bidder after advertising for bids pursuant to this section.

Subd. 2. Requirement contracts. Standard requirement price contracts for supplies or services to be purchased by the state must be established by competitive bids as provided in subdivision 1. The standard requirement price contracts may contain escalation clauses and may provide for a negotiated price increase or decrease based upon a demonstrable industrywide or regional increase or decrease in the vendor's costs or for the addition of similar products or replacement items not significant to the total value of existing contracts. The term of these contracts may not exceed five years including all extensions.

Subd. 3. Publication of notice; expenditures over $15,000 and requests for proposal. If the amount of an expenditure or sale is estimated to exceed $15,000, sealed bids or requests for proposal as provided in section 16B.08, subdivision 4, clause (b), must be solicited by public notice inserted at least once in a newspaper or trade journal not less than seven days before the final date of submitting bids. The commissioner shall designate the newspaper or trade journal for that publication, and may designate different newspapers or journals according to the nature of the purchase or contract. The commissioner shall also solicit sealed bids by sending notices by mail to all prospective bidders known to the commissioner, and by posting notice on a public bulletin board in the commissioner's office at least five days before the final date of submitting bids. All bids must be sealed when they are received and must be opened in public at the hour stated in the notice. All original bids and all documents pertaining to the award of a contract must be retained and made a part of a permanent file or record and remain open to public inspection.

Subd. 4. Purchases, sales, or rentals; $15,000 or less. All purchases or sales the amount of which is estimated to be $15,000 or less may be made either upon competitive bids or in the open market, in the discretion of the commissioner. So far as practicable, however, they must be based on at least three competitive bids which must be permanently recorded.

Subd. 5. Standard specifications, security. Contracts and purchases must be based on the standard specifications prescribed and enforced by the commissioner under this chapter, unless otherwise expressly provided. Each bidder for a contract must furnish security approved by the commissioner to insure the making of the contract being bid for.

Subd. 6. Noncompetitive bids. Agencies are encouraged to purchase from small targeted group businesses designated under section 16B.19 when making purchases that are not subject to competitive bidding procedures.

HIST: 1984 c 544 s 12; 1986 c 363 s 1,2; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 613 s 4,5; 1990 c 541 s 2

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes