§ 143-132. Minimum number of bids for public contracts.
§ 143‑132. Minimum number of bids for publiccontracts.
(a) No contract to which G.S. 143‑129 applies forconstruction or repairs shall be awarded by any board or governing body of theState, or any subdivision thereof, unless at least three competitive bids havebeen received from reputable and qualified contractors regularly engaged intheir respective lines of endeavor; however, this section shall not apply tocontracts which are negotiated as provided for in G.S. 143‑129. Providedthat if after advertisement for bids as required by G.S. 143‑129, not asmany as three competitive bids have been received from reputable and qualifiedcontractors regularly engaged in their respective lines of endeavor, said boardor governing body of the State agency or of a county, city, town or othersubdivision of the State shall again advertise for bids; and if as a result ofsuch second advertisement, not as many as three competitive bids from reputableand qualified contractors are received, such board or governing body may thenlet the contract to the lowest responsible bidder submitting a bid for suchproject, even though only one bid is received.
(b) For purposes of contracts bid in the alternative between theseparate‑prime and single‑prime contracts, pursuant to G.S. 143‑128(d1)each single‑prime bid shall constitute a competitive bid in each of thefour subdivisions or branches of work listed in G.S. 143‑128(a), and eachfull set of separate‑prime bids shall constitute a competitive single‑primebid in meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this section. If there areat least three single‑prime bids but there is not at least one full setof separate‑prime bids, no separate‑prime bids shall be opened.
(c) The State Building Commission shall develop guidelines nolater than January 1, 1991, governing the opening of bids pursuant to thisArticle. These guidelines shall be distributed to all public bodies subject tothis Article. The guidelines shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter150B of the General Statutes. (1931, c. 291, s.3; 1951, c. 1104, s. 3; 1959, c. 392, s. 2; 1963, c. 289; 1967, c. 860; 1977,c. 644; 1979, c. 182, s. 2; 1989, c. 480, s. 2; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c.1051, s. 4; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 985, s. 1; 1995, c. 358, s. 4; c. 367,ss. 1, 7; 2001‑496, s. 9.)