poetry
Facts: Martin Pariag submitted a bid for the construction of a mental health hospital. The advertisement noted that bids would be assessed on the basis of price and technical competence and that the South Regional Health Corporation would not be bound to the highest or lowest tender. Martin received a letter indicating that a decision was taken to pursue discussions with the lowest bidder.
Issue: Can the SRHC go against its stated criteria for bid assessment, that is, price and technical competence, and make an award on the basis of the lowest bid alone?
Law:
A tender is considered as an invitation to treat. As opposed to an offer, an invitation to treat is not made with the intention that it is to become binding as soon as the person to whom it is addressed simply communicates his agreement with the terms; although, it is not always simple to differentiate between the two. Kiyo Itakura Investments v Bentall Properties Ltd. 1993 CanLII 289 BCSC (CA), Tenders are generally placed in the category of invitation to treat, where a party is merely being invited to make a bid which constitutes the offer and the party issuing the invitation is merely seeking offers. Typically, the party issuing the invitation for tenders is not bound to accept any submitted tender, unless the invitation for tenders indicates very clearly that the party seeking the tender binds himself to accept a particular offer. While the party inviting tenders is not bound to accept any submitted tender unless it is specifically stated, there are circumstances under which a submitted tender must be considered by the party inviting the tenders.
Harvela Investments Ltd. v Royal Trust Company of Canada (C.I.) Ltd. and Others [1986] AC 207 (CA)
The Canadian courts have developed the concept of Contract A and Contract B to deal with issues arising out of invitations to tender. Contract A, also known as the process contract, is the contract that arises between the tenderer and the tenderee
Issue: Can the SRHC go against its stated criteria for bid assessment, that is, price and technical competence, and make an award on the basis of the lowest bid alone?
Law:
A tender is considered as an invitation to treat. As opposed to an offer, an invitation to treat is not made with the intention that it is to become binding as soon as the person to whom it is addressed simply communicates his agreement with the terms; although, it is not always simple to differentiate between the two. Kiyo Itakura Investments v Bentall Properties Ltd. 1993 CanLII 289 BCSC (CA), Tenders are generally placed in the category of invitation to treat, where a party is merely being invited to make a bid which constitutes the offer and the party issuing the invitation is merely seeking offers. Typically, the party issuing the invitation for tenders is not bound to accept any submitted tender, unless the invitation for tenders indicates very clearly that the party seeking the tender binds himself to accept a particular offer. While the party inviting tenders is not bound to accept any submitted tender unless it is specifically stated, there are circumstances under which a submitted tender must be considered by the party inviting the tenders.
Harvela Investments Ltd. v Royal Trust Company of Canada (C.I.) Ltd. and Others [1986] AC 207 (CA)
The Canadian courts have developed the concept of Contract A and Contract B to deal with issues arising out of invitations to tender. Contract A, also known as the process contract, is the contract that arises between the tenderer and the tenderee