Ohio law dictates that public agencies must award contracts to the lowest RESPONSIBLE bidders.

Ohio Revised Code 3313.46. Legislation passed in 1997 by the Ohio Legislature, and signed into law by then Governor, George Voinovich, helps direct school districts on how to proceed in the awarding of construction contracts. This legislation created the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC).

When state funding is involved in a school construction project, in the vast majority of the cases, the OSFC supervises the funding, management, oversight and technical assistance of the project. For school boards participating in OSFC construction and renovation programs, such as the Building Assistance Program, the standard of picking the lowest, responsible bidder is the same as other statewide public agencies. Ohio Revised Code 3318.10.

The OSFC works in partnership with local school districts on school construction projects. School boards do have discretion in the determination of whether a contractor is a responsible bidder. The term "responsible" primarily deals with the qualifications of the contractor. Historically in Ohio, the criteria a board of education uses in the determination of the responsibility of a contractor has been upheld unless:

The board acted unreasonably, arbitrarily or unconscionably in the determination process.

The board used unannounced criteria in the selection of a bidder.

The rejected bidder proves the award of a contract resulted in some tangible harm to the public in general or the rejected bidder individually.