QuestionsQuestions (PCAB BOARD Resolution NO. 186, S. 2014)
Section 38 of RA 4566 (Contractors’ License Law) expressly provides that it is unlawful for two or more contractors to jointly submit a bid without first having secured an additional license for acting in the capacity of a joint venture or any such combination.
Section 10.3 of Rule 10 of the IRR of RA 4566 requires a joint venture or consortium to secure an additional license so it can legally be authorized to submit a bid, in the form of a special license (joint venture/conortium license).
PCAB observed that project owners continued to allow joint ventures/consortia to participate in biddings without requiring the necessary joint venture/consortium license, which is an indispensable requirement to qualify as a bidder; and in some cases, projects were awarded to joint ventures/consortia that had no such license at the time of bidding.
PCAB described it as a “blatant disregard” of RA 4566 and its IRR, and said it must be “curbed and nipped in the bud.”
Any special license application for a joint venture or consortium must be filed at least five (5) working days before the bidding.
The ARC license of a contractor-partner must be valid for at least fifteen (15) days at the time of filing the special license application (and an application for re-registration must also be filed with PCAB).
An application for re-registration must be filed with PCAB, so that the ARC license remains valid for the required at-least fifteen (15) day period at the time of filing the joint venture/consortium special license.
It aims to strictly enforce the statutory and IRR requirements on joint venture/consortium license so that all contractors—whether individually or in combination—must possess the necessary license during the bidding for a particular project.
It shall take effect fifteen (15) days from publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
It indicates the license requirement is not merely for eventual award or contract execution; the joint venture/consortium must have the necessary special license while the bidding is ongoing and to qualify as a bidder.
The Resolution acknowledges instances where awards were made to joint ventures/consortia without the license at the time of bidding, and it seeks to prevent this by requiring strict compliance—especially licensing before bidding.
Because both the law (RA 4566) and its IRR mandate an additional/special license for joint venture or consortium bidding authorization; therefore, without the special license, the JV/consortium lacks legal qualification as a bidder.
No. The Resolution requires filing at least five (5) working days before the bidding.
At least fifteen (15) days validity at the time of filing the special license application (with re-registration application likewise filed if needed).
They must ensure that joint ventures/consortia have secured and can present the required joint venture/consortium special license, since PCAB criticized project owners for allowing participation without the necessary license.