Contractor Shopping Subcontractor Bids

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West Construction, Inc. v. Florida Blacktop, Inc., 37 Fla. L. Weekly D959c, Case No. 4D11-408, filed April 25, 2012. Reversed final judgment entered for paving subcontractor against contractor for lack of an enforceable contract between the parties. Subcontractor’s bid proposal contained provisions that if the bid was used in any way to “shop” prices for the work, a binding contract would be created. Contractor had used subcontractor’s bid in its successful efforts to obtain a contract with a public entity (The Villages of Royal Palm Beach), and had even identified the subcontractor in its contract proposal, but hired a different paver to perform the work.  In holding that an offer cannot prescribe conditions of rejection so as to turn silence on the part of the offeree into acceptance, it distinguished W. R Townsend Contracting, Inc. v. Jensen Civil Construction, Inc., 728 So. 2d 297 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) in which an express contract was found to have been created by general contractor’s promise to contract with the subcontractor if it’s price was the lowest and the general secured the work. (from RPPTL Subcommittee).


Trenton H. Cotney
Florida Bar Certified Construction Lawyer
Trent Cotney, P.A.
1207 N Franklin St, Ste 222
Tampa, FL 33602

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