Legal Question in Construction Law in California

I would say that the term "Bidder" would ordinarily refer to and mean the actual entity that was placing the bid. However, at least in private contracting, the owner or architect who is soliciting the bids would be entitled to some flexibility in how it interpreted the term and what information it would take into account in evaluating bids. In public contracting, there'd be less latitude, but I don't know if submitting such improper credentials would be automatically disqualifying.

Now THIS is a question RIGHT up my alley. Having been the lead Construction Counsel in the San Francisco Intl. Airport's General Counsel's Office, I can assure you that there is no concrete legal rule on this. The law permits pre-qualification of bidders, and as long as the pre-qualification requirements are not arbitrary and capricious, are reasonably related to the work of improvement, and are not a guise for discriminating in the award of public contracts, the law does not restrict what pre-qualifications a public entity can require. So the answer to your question is that you have to ask the awarding authority. This would be a perfect question to submit in the pre-bid period as a request for clarification, which the authority should put in a published answer.