SB60 Alabama 2021 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Will BarfootSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2021

Title

Public contracts, contracts for heating and air conditioning systems, exemption further provided, Sec. 39-2-2 am'd.

Summary

This bill adds an exemption from public bidding for government purchases of heating or air conditioning units or systems, under specific conditions, when buying through Alabama-approved vendors via purchasing cooperatives.

What This Bill Does

It allows state, county, and municipal governments to buy HVAC units without sealed bids if the purchase is through a purchasing cooperative and meets certain requirements, including using a competitive bid process and price parity with the state program. The exemption does not apply to other parts of a public works project, such as design or installation. It also preserves other bidding rules and exceptions, such as emergency lettings, sole-source rules, confidentiality for homeland security-related projects, pre-bid timing, and DOT-specific small-project allowances.

Who It Affects

• State, county, and municipal awarding authorities can bypass sealed bidding for HVAC purchases if conditions are met (cooperative, Alabama-approved vendor, etc.).
• Alabama HVAC vendors with approved vendor status participating in purchasing cooperatives can sell heating or air conditioning units to government entities under the exemption, subject to reporting and price rules.

Key Provisions

• Adds an exemption from sealed-bid requirements for purchasing HVAC units or systems when bought through an Alabama-approved vendor via a local purchasing cooperative and all conditions are met (competitive bid process, availability not on state program, DEPA-approved process).
• The purchasing entity must ensure price is equal to or less than the state purchasing program and may need to provide a sales report on request.
• Exemption applies only to HVAC purchases; public works projects still follow other bidding, design, installation, and standards requirements.
• Concurrent provisions include emergency letting without public advertisement, sole-source restrictions with criteria, confidentiality provisions for Homeland Security-related projects, pre-bid meeting timing rules, and DOT exceptions for small road projects with caps ($250k per project, $1M annual).
• Effective date is the first day of the third month after passage.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 23, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Public Contracts