 Federal-aid contracts must be awarded based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid. Responsible is determined <u>prior to award</u> and therefore is referred to as pre-qualified. Responsive means that a bidder has submitted all required documents as outlined in the bid proposal. See [[000.00 Advertisement for Bid and Project Award|EPG 000.00]] for more information on awarding a contract. If using innovative contracting such as add alternates, the bid proposal must have award language stating how the alternates will be considered and how the job will be awarded. See [[000.0 Design#000.0.0 Innovative Contracting|EPG 000.0.0]] for more information on innovative contracting. Federal-aid contracts must be awarded based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid. Responsible is determined <u>prior to award</u> and therefore is referred to as pre-qualified. Responsive means that a bidder has submitted all required documents as outlined in the bid proposal. See [[000.00 Advertisement for Bid and Project Award|EPG 000.00]] for more information on awarding a contract. If using innovative contracting such as add alternates, the bid proposal must have award language stating how the alternates will be considered and how the job will be awarded. See [[000.0 Design#000.0.0 Innovative Contracting|EPG 000.0.0]] for more information on innovative contracting. 