Maine Construction builds office buildings. The buildings generally cost between $5 million and $8 million to build, and the plumbing can cost between $300,000 and $600,000 depending on the building requirements. Therefore, Maine always sends the plumbing work out for bid before deciding on whom to use as a subcontractor. The company has had 21 projects over the past five years with $10 million dollars in plumbing contracts being sent out for bids. 

Over the past five years, Maine has asked for bids from three contractors: Beltran Plumbing, Delgado Plumbing Services, and Wright Contracting–Plumbing Specialists. Each vendor has been reviewed by Maine and is on Maine’s approved vendor list. 

Required: 

For each of the following situations (each situation is independent), determine whether the auditor should be concerned about the controls over the bidding process. If yes, what control would you recommend to Maine to ensure a fair and honest bidding process? 

a. Of the 21 projects sent out for bid, Wright had the winning bid on 12 of the projects. 

b. Of the 21 projects sent out for bid, Wright had the winning bid on 12 of the projects. In each of these bidding processes, Wright’s bid was the last bid received. 

c. Of the 21 projects sent out for bid, each vendor had the winning bid on 7 of the projects. 

d. Of the 21 projects sent out for bid, Delgado was awarded 5 contracts even though he did not have the lowest bid.

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BAILEY BOOKS, INC Vendor Armour Burdick Canon DeBois, Inc. Elton Books Fergeson Guyford Hyman, Inc. Intertec Jerrico Julian-Borg King Features Lycorp Medallian Northwood Orion Corp. Peterson Quick Robertson Steele Telecom Union Bay Victory Williams Items Purchased Books Sundries Magazines Paper Books Books Magazines Supplies Books Paper Magazines Magazines Sundries Books Books Paper Supplies Supplies Books Magazines Sundries Books Magazines Sundries Selected Purchases 2018-2020 2018 $ 83,409 62,443 1,404,360 321,644 874,893 921,666 2,377,821 31,640 821,904 186,401 431,470 436,820 16,280 861,382 86,904 114,623 2,361,912 621,490 81,406 4,322,639 123,844 31,629 2019 $ 02,929 70,949 1,947,601 218,404 781,602 1,021,440 1,567,811 2,868,988 3,262,490 40,022 46,911 898,683 949,604 111,923 93,499 589,182 371,920 492,687 504,360 17,404 21,410 61,227 410,163 992,121 416,777 96,732 3,040,319 823,707 101,193 2020 $ 810,103 76,722 2,361,149 121,986 649,188 4,971,682 141,909 35,111 803,493 110,441 3,516,811 482,082 146,316 5,368,114 143,286 42,686 Date of Last Bid 12/01/16 11/03/18 06/08/18 07/21/18 09/08/18 10/08/18 10/22/18 11/18/18 10/04/18 02/07/18 11/18/18 - 12/15/18 12/07/17 11/02/17 N/A 11/03/18 12/01/18 11/03/18 - 12/03/18 06/09/18 Percent of Purchases Bid (3-yr. period) 87% 94 57 91 88 81 86 72 44 89 99 15 N/A 86 96 90 97 89