Self-Performance by General Contractor Forbidden under New Jersey Community College Contracts Law
D.A. Nolt, Inc. v. Camden County Coll., 2008 WL 2277095 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. June 5, 2008) (Unpublished)
In this case, a general contractor sued its client for breach and sought declaratory judgment when the college refused to allow the general contractor to self-perform work that had been assigned to a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) in the construction bid. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the college and dismissed the complaint. On appeal, summary judgment was affirmed. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s conclusion that self-performance is equivalent to substitution of another sub-contractor because the result is the same – the subcontractor on the bid does not perform the work. Moreover, both outcomes would thwart the aim of New Jersey County College Contracts Law (“CCCL”) to foster competitive bids by disallowing bid shopping. As substitution of another contractor is not permitted under the CCCL, then similarly, self-performance by the general contractor is likewise not permitted.