Requesting Entity: Municipality of Compostela, Cebu

Issues Concern: Clarification on the Eligibility Criterion for the Procurement of Infrastructure Projects Provided Under Section 23.11.2 (3) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations Part A of Republic Act 9184

Details

Whether or not, for purposes of eligibility under Section 23.11.2 (3) of IRR-A of R.A. 9184, the requirements for a Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) license and a similar experience on the contract to be bid should both be complied with.

Requirement for PCAB License

The restrictions provided by PCAB on the maximum allowable amount of contract cost per contractor category should be observed. Although this is not expressly provided in the IRR-A, a contractor can bid only on government infrastructure projects which are within its PCAB registration’s allowable range of contract cost as can be inferred from Section 23.6 (g) of the IRR-A which requires the submission of a PCAB license and registration for the type and cost of the contract to be bid.

In this regard, regardless of the experience of a contractor, it can only bid for projects in the amount allowed by his PCAB license. Without a valid PCAB license and registration for the type and cost of the contract to be bid, a prospective bidder cannot be declared as eligible even if it was able to show proof that it has a largest single completed contract at least equal to the amount of and similar to the contract to be bid.

Requirement for Similar Experience on the Contract to be Bid

It can be readily construed from Section 23.11.2 (3) that contractors without similar experience to the project to be bid, if registered in the PCAB under Small A and Small B categories, are allowed to bid on contracts not costing more than fifty percent (50%) of their allowable range in their registration. This exemption does not apply to experienced contractors even if they are registered either under Small A or Small B category as long as the value of their largest single completed contract similar to the contract to be bid is at least fifty percent (50%) of the approved budget thereof.

In view of the foregoing, it is not enough for San Narciso Builders to show that it has the capacity to undertake the completion of Compostela Gym – Phase III costing Php3,294,950.00 by satisfying the eligibility criterion on largest single completed contract. The project must also be within the allowable range of the contract cost of its PCAB registration to be eligible to bid in such project. Hence, considering that its PCAB registration is only under the Small B category, it can bid only on government infrastructure projects costing up to Three Million Pesos (Php3,000,000.00).