This law defines two key terms: 'Public entity' and 'Bid'. A 'Public entity' includes the state, universities, cities, counties, districts, and other government groups in California. A 'Bid' is any proposal made to these public entities for construction or improvement projects.

This law outlines what happens if a bidder wants to withdraw their bid due to a mistake. A bidder can only be let off the hook if the authority in charge agrees. If allowed, a detailed report must be prepared explaining the mistake, which becomes a public record. If no consent is given, the bidder can sue the public entity, but if they lose the case, they must cover the entity's legal costs, including attorney fees.

For state projects, the mistake report is public and specific to entities like the University of California or California State University, it's filed with specific bodies in those institutions.

If you want to challenge a government contract bid in court, you need to file your complaint and notify the right public official within 90 days of when the bid was opened. If you miss this deadline, your case will be thrown out.

This law states that a bidder must prove to the court's satisfaction that a mistake occurred with their bid. The bidder needs to show that: (a) there was an honest mistake, (b) they informed the public entity in writing within five working days after bids were opened, detailing how the mistake happened, (c) the mistake significantly altered the bid from what was intended, and (d) the mistake was about filling out the bid itself, not due to bad judgment or careless review of the site or documents.

Before you can bring a legal action against a public entity, the only thing you need to do is give them notice. You don't have to file any other kind of claim beforehand.

If a bidder makes a mistake on a bid or loses their bid security, they cannot continue to bid on that same project.

This law allows a public entity to offer a contract to the second lowest bidder if the initially selected bidder refuses or fails to sign the contract. If the second lowest bidder also fails to sign, the contract can be offered to the third lowest bidder. If either the second or third lowest bidder does not execute the contract when awarded, their financial security or deposit (known as 'bidder’s security') is taken away as a penalty.

This law requires that any legal actions brought under this chapter be given priority over other civil cases. This means these cases should be scheduled and heard more quickly than other types of cases.

This law deals with situations where a construction, alteration, or repair contract was awarded through competitive bidding, but the award is contested. If it's later found that only the public entity made a mistake in the bidding process, the contractor can still get paid for reasonable costs like labor and materials, excluding profit, if they believed the contract was valid, completed satisfactory work, didn't commit fraud, and the contract wasn't otherwise illegal.

However, payment can't exceed the costs stated in the contractor's bid, including approved changes, or the non-profit part of the contract amount at the time the contract becomes invalid. Importantly, this law does not interfere with any ongoing protests or legal actions regarding contract awards and bidding laws.