The Public Bid Law does not allow for any modification of a sealed bid, once submitted. In fact R.S. 38:2214(C ) places strict limitations on the ability of a bidder to withdraw a submitted bid for certain defects. R.S. 38:2214(D) prohibits submission of a revised bid upon withdrawal of a defective bid, or any subsequent involvement by the withdrawing bidder in the contract through any use of subcontracting, etc.

The only modification that the Attorney General (AG) has previously recognized is in regard to the use of a delete change order issued simultaneously with the execution of a contract for the winning bid amount.

See AG Op. No. 95-0028 and AG Op. No. 93-0118.

A delete change order would require that the public entity reduce the scope of the project in order to bring it within budget.

The AG in both of these opinions cautioned against a public entity allowing a lowest bidder from abusing its position in reducing the costs of the project. Further, the AG noted that a public entity can always reject all bids under R.S. 38:2214(B) and re-evaluate the project before re-advertising.

Our office would caution a public entity from relying too heavily on these older opinions as the Attorney General may no longer consider the use of a delete change order as viable given subsequent changes to the requirements for change orders under the Public Bid Law.