The Iowa DOT's Contracts Bureau normally has a highway letting the third Tuesday of each month. These lettings include interstate, primary and secondary road work, and maintenance projects. The Iowa DOT also lets local projects that involve federal aid.
The Iowa DOT uses The Des Moines Register to advertise its letting dates for bids because the Register has the widest newspaper circulation in Iowa. The official letting advertising is on the first Monday of each month.
Information provided here is of a general nature. The contract documents supersede this information in all circumstances.
Requests to bid and the Bidder Status Form must be submitted by noon the day prior to letting as provided in Article 1102.05 of the Standard Specifications.
Information concerning the Bidder Status Form (.docx)
Contractors must be authorized by Contracts to submit a bid as a prime contractor. To submit a request to bid as a prime contractor, use the “Request Bidder Eligibility” function on the Bid Express website.
A Bid Express subscriber must log in. Once logged in, select the desired letting date and click on the “Plan holders” link. In the bottom-right corner, click the “Request eligibility” button. Select the desired proposals from the list and hit “Continue” and a dialogue box will appear. Enter your "Bidder ID" (all uppercase) and complete all remaining fields as required.
Contact the Iowa DOT's Contract Bureau if you don’t know the "Bidder ID" or a "Bidder ID" has not been assigned to the company.
You must report the total amount of uncompleted work under contract for your company, the amount of incomplete work that is subcontracted to others.
Vendors who want to be shown on the list of eligible bidders must leave the “Confidential bidder” box unchecked. When the request is approved by the Iowa DOT, the vendor’s name will appear on the list of eligible bidders. Vendors who check the “Confidential bidder” box and who are approved by the Iowa DOT will not appear on the list of eligible bidders. It is the responsibility of the vendor to ensure that they have been approved as an eligible bidder before submitting a bid.
A company must have sufficient resources to complete the work outlined in the proposal. When Contracts receives a company’s request to bid, staff will analyze the company’s bidding capacity by subtracting the uncompleted work under contract from the maximum prequalification limit. This will provide the company’s bidding capacity for the upcoming letting. Additional information may be requested to furnish evidence of the company’s ability to do the work as specified.
Competency and qualification of bidders is addressed in Article 1102.01 of the Standard Specifications.
To be prequalified to bid as a prime contractor on most work types, a contractor must submit a Contractor Financial-Experience-Equipment Statement Contractors’ Forms (Iowa DOT Form 650004) at least five calendar days prior to the scheduled letting date. This form can be viewed at Form 650004 or by calling the Iowa DOT’s Contracts Bureau at 515-239-1414.
Form 650004 contains important information about maximum prequalification amounts and bidding restrictions. On Form 650004, a contractor identifies the class of work that best represents the company's experience. To be prequalified to submit a bid on a particular proposal, a company must be recognized as a contractor engaged in the class of work provided for in the plans and specifications of that proposal.
Prequalification is not required on projects involving furnishing materials, granular surfacing, lighting, building demolition, salvage and removal, wells, mowing, traffic signals, pavement markings, clearing and grubbing, and designated small business initiative contracts. However, prospective bidders who will only be submitting bids for these types of work, must submit a Contractor’s Qualified Bidder Statement which includes a record of past work experience. The company must also be recognized as a contractor engaged in the class of work provided for in the plans and specifications of each proposal on which the company is bidding.
As per Article 1102.01 of Iowa Department of Transportation’s (Iowa DOT) Standard Specifications for Highway and Bridge Construction, prequalification is NOT required for projects involving only Granular Surfacing of Roadway, Mowing, Clearing and Grubbing, Rest Area/Weight Scales, Building Demolition, Asbestos Removal, Miscellaneous Building Site, Lighting/Signals, Pavement Markings, Signing, and Miscellaneous. As a result, these work types will NOT be displayed on the Pre-Qualified Bidders List.
Projects involving these work types that are NOT bid through the Iowa DOT Contracts and Specifications Bureau, shall be administered and reviewed by the governmental entity that will be accepting bids.
For all projects NOT let through the Iowa DOT Contracts and Specifications Bureau, please review your bidding documents and contact the bid recipient to verify bid requirements.
Letting Details
View detailed letting information by topic concerning the letting process, including requesting eligibility, submitting bids, and the awarding of contracts.
The Plans and Estimating Proposal page includes the notice to bidders, downloadable electronic plans and estimating proposals, and other letting-related information. Letting documents for the regular monthly lettings are available beginning the third Tuesday of the month prior to the letting.
It is the responsibility of the bidder to examine the site of work and contract documents for any proposal on which the contractor is bidding.
Standard specifications book and supplemental specifications
The Standard Specifications for Highway and Bridge Construction and Supplemental Specification contain requirements pertaining to the method and manner of performing work or the quantity and quality of materials to be furnished under the contract. The book and specifications can be viewed at Electronic Reference Library or ordered through the Iowa DOT’s Support Services Bureau at 515-239-1324.
Division 11 of the Standard Specifications contains many of the requirements for the bidding process.
Standard road plans
The Standard Road Plans Manual contains standard drawings that are not reproduced in the plan. The standards designated on the plan are used for the contract. This manual can be viewed at Electronic Reference Library or ordered through the Iowa DOT’s Support Services Bureau at 515-239-1324.
Materials Instructional Memorandums
The Iowa DOT's Materials Bureau Instructional Memorandums (IMs) contain specific information about procedures concerning the acceptance of materials. These memorandums can be viewed at Electronic Reference Library or ordered through the Iowa DOT’s Services Bureau at 515-239-1324.
A contractor may join with another contractor to request to bid a project as a joint venture. Each of the contractors must be prequalified with the Iowa DOT. The joint venture's bidding capacity will be the sum of each contractors' maximum qualification minus the sum of each contractors' uncompleted work under contract.
In a joint venture, a letter should be sent to the Iowa DOT's Contracts Bureau requesting the joint venture and designating one contractor as the lead contractor. All contract documents will be sent to the lead contractor. For joint ventures, both contractors must sign the bidding proposal and bid bond.
A new Bid Express Digital ID must be created for the joint venture. Both contractors must sign the Submission of Electronic Bids form before the Contracts Bureau will approve the digital ID.
This information is posted in two lists on the Bid Express website. Contractors authorized to bid as a prime are included in the “Plan Holders” list and the “Eligible Bidder” column is marked “Yes.” A company is not eligible to bid as a prime contractor unless shown accordingly.
Subcontractors, suppliers and others may include themselves in the “Voluntary Plan Holders” list.
A company may access either list for all proposals in the letting. On the Bid Express website, select the letting of interest. In the “Also Available” box on the right side of the page, select “Plan Holders/Eligible Bidders.” The “Plan Holders” list, including eligible bidders, appears immediately above the “Voluntary Plan Holders” list.
A company may also access either list for a single proposal in the letting. On the Bid Express website, select the desired letting and then select the proposal of interest. In the “Also Available” box on the right side of the page, select “Plan Holders/Eligible Bidders.” The “Plan Holders” list, including eligible bidders, appears immediately above the “Voluntary Plan Holders” list.
Each list may be exported. At the right hand side of the page, just above each list, is a selection to “Export (csv)” or “Export (tab).” Make a selection and follow the instructions in the dialogue box.
To be included on the “Voluntary Plan Holders” list, add the company information through the Bid Express website. Select the desired letting and then select the proposal of interest. In the “Also Available” box on the right side of the page, select “Plan Holders/Eligible Bidders.” Scroll down to the top of the “Voluntary Plan Holders” list, choose the “Add” button on the left side of the page and enter the information in the dialogue box. Bid Express subscribers who login prior to accessing this function will have many of the data fields pre-populated with their company information.
When a proposal has been advertised for bid, all questions must be directed to the Contracts Bureau though the Q&A feature on the Bid Express website. To ask a question or view submitted Questions and Answers go to the individual proposal and click on ‘Questions and Answer’ in the ‘Also Available’ box.”
Between the time of advertisement and letting date, it is sometimes necessary to issue an addendum to correct or modify the contract documents. Addendums are posted on the Bid Express website. The contractor is responsible to check if any addendums have been issued for a proposal. The bid may not be read if all addendums issued have not been acknowledged.
A company may subscribe to receive an email notification of every addendum written. In addition, Bid Express offers addenda notification subscriptions through the Bid Express website.
With very few exceptions, a company must submit a proposal guaranty/bid bond with each bid as per Article 1102.11 of the Standard Specifications. The required amount of the proposal guaranty/bid bond is shown on the first page of each estimating proposal.
Bidders have two options to meet the proposal guaranty/bid bond requirements.
Obtain an electronic bond using the electronic bid bond verification feature authorized by the department. The authorized vendors for this feature are listed below:
Tinubu Surety (F/K/A SuretyWave)
Email: supportba@tinubu.com Phone: (818)-783-3460
Surety 2000
Email: help@surety2000.com Phone: (800) 660-3263
Other options as provided in Article 1102.11 of The Standard Specifications, or as provided elsewhere in the contract documents. A bidder may submit a certified check or credit union certified share draft, cashier's check, money order, or bank draft drawn on a solvent bank or credit union, TSB Bond Waiver, AND make sure theContracts Bureau has received your Proposal Guaranty/Bid Bond PRIOR to letting.
Only contractors authorized to bid a proposal may submit a bid for a contract.
Attention: Beginning with the July 15, 2014 letting, the Contracts Bureau will no longer accept paper bids on any proposals.
Unless otherwise specified, bidders shall submit an electronic bid with digital signature using bidding software furnished by the Iowa DOT and electronic bid submittal procedures of the Iowa DOT. To do so, a company must use the software provided by the Iowa DOT and submit a bid through the Bid Express website. A company must submit a “Submission of Electronic Bids” form to the Iowa DOT’s Contracts Bureau. A digital ID will be required. The software, instructions for both how to obtain the digital ID and on the internet bidding process, are all available on the Bid Express website. The "Submission of Electronic Bids" form is part of the Contractor’s Financial Experience-Equipment Statement.
Bids are received until the bidding deadline as listed on the estimating proposal. After opening, all bids are reviewed for responsiveness prior to being read publically. The apparent bid results are posted on Bid Express beginning approximately a half-hour after the bid deadline. If the bid is incomplete or irregular, the bid is not read and the reason it is not read is listed on Bid Express under “Apparent Bids.” A letter is also sent to the contractor explaining why the bid was not read.
The Iowa DOT's practice is to award a contract to the lowest responsive bidder within 30 days of the letting or reject all bids on the project. Contracts for state projects are normally sent to the contractor within one week of the letting. Contracts for city and county projects are sent to the appropriate local jurisdiction. The local agency makes the final award decision.
A contract bond is required as specified in Article 1103.05 of the
The total amount to be subcontracted cannot exceed 70 percent of the contract amount unless a different percentage is designated on the proposal (Article 1108.01 of the Standard Specifications).
Subcontractors are not required to complete the prequalification process, however, an approved equal employment opportunity (EEO)/affirmative action (AA) policy may be required as described under EEO/AA Policy requirements.
Negotiation is prohibited between the bid deadline and contract execution. After a contract is fully executed, any questions concerning contract administration should be directed to the assigned project engineer. The project engineer will be shown on the contract.
Construction Manual
This document provides guidance on administrative procedures during the construction phase. While not legally defined as a “contract document”, it provides a framework for industry and project engineers to successfully complete the construction process. This manual can be viewed at Electronic Reference Library or ordered through the Iowa DOT’s Support Services Bureau at 515-239-1324.
This information is now located in the “Downloads” on the Bid Express website for each letting.
Tabulation of bids for Iowa DOT contracts are usually available one week after the bid opening. Bid tabulations for non-Iowa DOT contracts are posted one month after the bid opening. This information can be found on the Bid Tabs page.
EEO/AA requirements apply to all prime contractors and subcontractors who have been awarded a subcontract equal to or exceeding $10,000.
Each contractor must have an EEO/AA policy approved by the Iowa DOT’s Employee Services Bureau prior to being awarded a contract. The EEO/AA policy must be reviewed by the company and resubmitted each year.
