Expert witness: an owner’s contract award, upheld in court
A bidder who was not awarded a four-year treatment-plant contract sued the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission. Executrek analyzed the bids and testified as PVSC’s expert, and the court found our opinion credible.
- Budget
- $53.7M contract
- Duration
- 17-day trial
- Status
- Won at trial; affirmed on appeal (2021)
- Client
- Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission
- Owner’s rejection of an unbalanced bid
- Upheld
- Bench trial, Superior Court of New Jersey
- 17 days
- Appellate Division, May 2021
- Affirmed
The project
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) rejected the low bid on the rehabilitation of its sludge decant facility as unbalanced and awarded the contract to the next bidder. The low bidder sued, claiming the decision was arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unlawful. Executrek was retained by PVSC and its counsel to support the defense.
What we provided
- Forensic contract analysis
- Scope and bid documentation analysis
- Manpower analysis using earned value techniques
- Estimate verification
- Analysis of witness depositions and the plaintiff’s expert report
- Defense strategy support
- Expert witness testimony
What we did
Glenn W. Brunje, PMP, now Executrek’s Vice President of Program Management, analyzed the contract, the bids, the bid reviews, discovery documentation and depositions, and delivered the report accepted as PVSC’s expert witness report. He was qualified as PVSC’s expert in engineering, bid package preparation, bid review and construction project oversight, and gave live testimony in a 17-day trial.
How we handled it
The report showed the bid was unbalanced and that PVSC rejected it correctly and responsibly. The court found the testimony “credible, straightforward, and generally consistent,” and the opinion “grounded in an appropriate industry-based standard.”
Results
- The complaint was dismissed and the owner’s award stood
- The Appellate Division affirmed the decision in May 2021
- Expert testimony found credible by the court
