Contractor wins 'bid shopping' case against HRM
04.07.2008 10:00
Shopping
- Source: cbc.ca
A Dartmouth construction company has discovered that sometimes you can beat City Hall. A court has awarded Amber Contracting Ltd. nearly $150,000 in damages after the company took the Halifax Regional Municipality to court over a sewer project. The company had accused the municipality of "bid shopping." In July 2005, Amber Contracting was the lowest bidder on a pumping station project in Dartmouth. Two months later, the municipality cancelled the tender. The company went after the job again when a similar tender was reissued the next spring. However, the contract was awarded to another business that had the lowest bid. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Heather Robertson ultimately sided with Amber Contracting, saying the municipality's act amounted to a classic example of bid shopping. She awarded the company $147,560, the amount it estimated was lost profit. "What [she] has done is uphold the integrity of the bidding process, which is fundamentally important to the construction industry, that everybody knows the rules and how you're going to be treated," said George MacDonald, lawyer for Amber Contracting. Carol MacCulloch, president of the Construction Association of Nova Scotia, said the industry wants fair tendering. "We're looking for a better, fairer system that gets things built, is the most efficient use of taxpayer money and doesn't see things resolved in the courts this way," MacCulloch said. The municipality has not responded to the ruling. Consumer HeadlinesJazz Air eliminating 270 jobs, cutting serviceRegional carrier Jazz Air LP, based in Halifax, said Thursday it is cutting 270 jobs and trimming its capacity by five per cent in the wake of cutbacks announced last month by Air Canada. First Canadian case linked to U.S. salmonella outbreakHealth officials have discovered the first Canadian case linked to a massive salmonella outbreak in the United States that has sickened more than 900 people.Historic China-Taiwan flights a sign of warming relationsDirect tourist flights began Friday between China and Taiwan for the first time in six decades, a sign of warming relations between the longtime foes.Track fruits and veggies from farm to store, consumer groups urgeConsumer groups are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to introduce a new tracking program while investigators continue looking into a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 887 people in the U.S.No pay-then-pump law for Nova Scotia, premier saysPremier Rodney MacDonald says he has no plan to bring in rules requiring motorists to pay for gas before fuelling up. Consumer Life FeaturesCRUDE AWAKENINGSPricey oilFrom bloomers to bagels, the trickle-down costENERGYGasolinePeculiar pump price protestsTECHNOLOGYDesign softwareThe building blocks of LegoBLOGFood BytesHunting for the perfect fruitBLOGComm-OdditiesLife fetches $384,000 on eBayPeople who read this also read …
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