Treating Bidders Fairly

Where an owner puts a construction job out for bid, can it decide to make the final award on criteria other than those specified?  Not in Ontario, apparently.

The case of Southside Construction (London) Limited v. 734133 Ontario Limited, 45 C.L.R. (3d) 237 (Ont. Super. Ct. 2005), involved an owner who put a job out for bid but failed to specify a preference for local, unionized contractors.  The Ontario Superior Court held that the owner violated its obligation to treat all bidders fairly when it chose a higher bidder on the ground that it was local and union, even though the owner had included a clause specifically reserving the right to make award to other than the lowest bidder.  Kenneth Crofoot of Toronto’s Goodmans LLP has a brief rundown of the decision here.

[Frank Snyder]