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<br />.~ <br />1. <br />OFFICE OF TfiE CITY ATTORNEY <br />OPINION 74-4 <br />JANUARY 16, 1974 <br />SUBJECT: Withdrawl of Public Works Contract Bids <br />After Date of Opening <br />REQUESTED BY: Assistant Director of Public Works <br />OPINION BY: James A. Withers, City Attorney <br />BY: Richard E. Lay, Deputy City Attorney <br />QUESTION l: Where a contractor bidding on a public <br />works contract has submitted the lowest <br />bid, but has, after the opening of the <br />bids but prior to the council's award <br />of the contract, requested withdrawal <br />of the bid due to mistake in calculation <br />of the total amount, may the City require <br />the contractor to enter into the contract <br />in the amount of the bid submitted? <br />ANSWER: No. The contractor would be entitled to <br />recission of the contract if the council <br />awarded it to him, and the City should <br />therefore permit withdrawal of the bid prior <br />to council action on the contract. The <br />contractor is also entitled to a return of <br />the ten percent bid bond. <br />QUESTION 2. In such circumstances, where the con- <br />tractor's bid, if revised upward to <br />allow for the mistake, would still be <br />the lowest bid, can the City acknowledge <br />the error and award the contract to <br />him in the corrected amount (original <br />bid + omitted cost)? <br />ANSWER: No. Reformation of bid amounts after <br />opening date is not permissible. The City <br />must either award the contract to the next <br />lowest responsible bidder or reject all bids. <br />ANALYSIS <br />I <br />The present question arises out of an advertisement <br />for bids for the construction of tennis courts at the new <br />Cabrillo Park Tennis Center, a project with an estimated cost <br />-8- <br />