The B.C. government is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court judge’s decision that it committed “bid shopping” after awarding a water systems treatment contract.
John Logan, a Vancouver lawyer representing Stanco Projects Ltd. of suburban Richmond, said the province has filed a notice of its intention to appeal after Madame Justice Sandra Ballance ordered it to pay the company approximately $100,000.
In her July 30 decision, the judge concluded the province had already awarded Stanco the contract to install a water tank near Cypress Bowl ski area in Cypress Provincial Park. The government gave the contract to another company, Ballance found, after the second firm saw Stanco’s price quote – $385,000 – and undercut it with a bid of $365,000.
The dispute arose over the price of a tank with an epoxy coating. The province’s bid guidelines neglected to set out the bidding rules for one epoxy-coated tank after Victoria originally asked for quotes on two tanks, but also indicated it might want just one.
Ballance dismissed the province’s claim, filed in conjunction with its defence against Stanco, that the engineering company Aplin and Martin Engineering Ltd., hired to oversee the contract, was ultimately at fault.
Logan said the province has agreed to pay Stanco the judgment – provided that the company puts up security in case the government wins the appeal – plus $50,000 in legal costs. The total amount has been worked out to $94,132.
