A certified DBE at work on W County Line Road in Southeastern Wisconsin

GFE Guidance

49 CFR PART 26.53: WisDOT's AUTHORITY

When WisDOT establishes a contract goal on a federally funded contract for procuring construction, equipment, services, or any other purpose, a bidder must, in order to be responsible and responsive, make sufficient good faith efforts to meet the goal.

Per 49 CFR Part 26, Appendix A – the following guidance is taken into account when reviewing good faith effort requests in lieu of meeting the assigned Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal:

V. In determining whether a bidder has made good faith efforts, it is essential to scrutinize its documented efforts. At a minimum, you must review the​ performance of other bidders in meeting the contract goal. For example, when the apparent successful bidder fails to meet the contract goal, but others meet it, you may reasonably raise the question of whether, with additional efforts, the apparent successful bidder could have met the goal. If the apparent successful bidder fails to meet the goal, but meets or exceeds the average DBE participation obtained by other bidders, you may view this, in conjunction with other factors, as evidence of the apparent successful bidder having made good faith efforts. As provided in §26.53(b)(2)((vi), you must also require the contractor to submit copies of each DBE and non-DBE subcontractor quote submitted to the bidder when a non-DBE subcontractor was selected over a DBE for work on the contract to review whether DBE prices were substantially higher; and contact the DBEs listed on a contractor's solicitation to inquire as to whether they were contacted by the prime. Pro forma mailings to DBEs requesting bids are not alone sufficient to satisfy good faith efforts under the rule.

GFE Forms

• DBE Commitment Form (DT1506)
  
• Attachment A
• Documentation of GFE (DT1202)
• Administrative Reconsideration Appeal Process (ASP-3, Section 4)

Bureau of Aeronautics (BOA) bidders should use the GFE resources including the GFE Toolkit, GFE Toolkit Appendix, DT1202 Excel Workbook and refer to BOA Special Provisions and the DBE Provisions for BOA.

GFE Resources

• Good Faith Effort Toolkit (Updated 12/2022)
• GFE Toolkit Appendix (Updated 12/2022)
  
• D1202 Excel Workbook (Updated 5/31/2023)​
  
• Prime contractor tool to organize GFE documentation. If your company has a GFE request submit a completed DT1202 Excel Workbook and back-up pdf documents via eSubmit.

Updated GFE Rubric, Information Session:

An updated and simplified version of the GFE Rubric, which includes examples of Good Faith Effort for each category, is now in effect as of October 2022. The video from the 8/3/2022 information session is available, should your company need further information. The DT1202 Excel Workbook has also been updated. Please make sure to use the most current version if your company is submitting a GFE request.

Questions, or for more information contact:

Kathleen Panak
kathleen.panak@dot.wi.gov
(262) 548-6459