(a) Responsive, Responsible Bidder. The City Commission or City Manager shall award Municipal building construction project contracts in the amounts of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder as determined by this section.
(b) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) "City" means the City Commission, City Manager, Purchasing Agent or their designees.
(2) "Construction project" means the labor and material necessary for the construction, renovation, repair or improvements of a City-owned building, except repair in emergency situations.
(3) "Lowest responsive, responsible bidder" means the responsible contractor with the lowest cost bid which satisfies the requirements of all local, State and Federal laws, this section, any bid documents used to solicit bids, and any other guidelines and specifications required for the construction project.
(4) "Responsible contractor" means any contractor or sub-contractor who is sufficiently qualified to satisfactorily perform the construction project, or any relevant part of the construction project, as determined by the City, based on the following:
A. An overall review of the contractor or subcontractor's evidence of compliance or lack of compliance with the responsibility criteria, as described in this section;
B. The contractor or subcontractor's compliance with all applicable local, State and Federal laws; and
C. Input from the City's architect and/or construction manager, if applicable.
(c) Responsibility Criteria. The City Manager and City Commission shall consider at least each of the criteria listed in this section in determining whether a contractor is a responsible contractor. The list set forth in this section does not preclude any additional criteria that the City may deem relevant for making a determination of contractor responsibility. Any criteria deemed relevant by the City that is in addition to the items listed in this section shall be specified in the documents soliciting bids together with the requirements of this section.
(d) Bid Documents. The bid documents for a construction project shall require any contractor or subcontractor bidding on the construction project, or any part of the construction project, to submit with its bid, written responses and other supporting or explanatory information demonstrating its compliance, or non-compliance and the reason for such non-compliance, with the listed responsibility criteria and any other criteria declared pertinent by the City and included in the bid documents. For each separate bid package of a construction project, the City may accord such weight as it deems appropriate to the responsibility criteria and any other criteria included in the bid documents for purposes of determining whether a contractor is a responsible contractor.
(e) Criteria. The City will consider the following information in determining whether a contractor is a responsible contractor. As used in this section, "contractor" includes any subcontractor holding a subcontract of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more. This list is not intended to be all inclusive or exhaustive:
(1) General information about the contractor's company, its principles and its history, including the state and date of incorporation;
(2) Trade categories of contractor's employees and information regarding the State and local licenses and license numbers held by the contractor;
(3) A confirmation that all subcontractors, employees and other individuals working on the construction project will maintain current applicable licenses with the Michigan Bureau of Construction, Codes and Fire Safety, and as may otherwise be required by law for all licensed occupations and professions;
(4) The ratio of masters or journey persons to apprentices proposed to be used on the construction project job site;
(5) Documentation that the contractor maintains, participates in and contributes to a bona fide apprentice training program in which less than full journey-persons utilized on the project will be participants; as used in this section "bona fide apprentice training program" means a training program registered and approved by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training Programs;
(6) Documentation of a completed Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration approved safety training program for employees used on the proposed job site;
(7) Evidence of the contractor's Worker's Compensation Experience Modification Rating (EMR). A bidder with a current EMR greater than 1.1 will not be considered a responsible contractor under this section;
(8) A list of similar or comparable projects completed within the past five years, including dates of work and each project's approximate dollar value and size. Documentation from these previous projects of comparable size or complexity, including but not limited to all costs related to the bidder's timeliness, performance, quality of work, extension requests, contractual fines and penalties imposed, including proof of such fines and penalties, and liens filed, history of claims for extra work and any contract defaults with an explanation of the reason for the default and how the default was resolved;
(9) Evidence of contractor's experience with construction techniques, trade standards, quality workmanship, project scheduling, cost control, management of projects of comparable size or complexity, and building codes by documenting the bidder's ability and capacity to perform the project. The bidder must identify those portions of the project it reasonably believes will be subcontracted and the names of the subcontractors;
(10) A list of individuals or contact persons for entities that have received in the past five years, or are currently receiving, the contractor's services from which references may be obtained, which shall include contacts for any similar or comparable projects; and include information regarding the records of performance and job site cooperation;
(11) Audited financial information current within the past twelve months, such as a balance sheet, statement of operations, and bonding capacity. Evidence that the applicant has financial resources to start up and follow through on the project and to respond to damages in case of default, as shown by written verification of bonding capacity equal to or exceeding the amount of the project. The written verification must be submitted by a licensed surety company rated B+ or better in the current A.M. Best Guide and qualified to do business within the State of Michigan;
(12) A warranty statement regarding labor and materials;
(13) A list of all litigation and arbitrations currently pending and within the past five years, including an explanation of each. Evidence of satisfactory resolution of claims filed by or against the contractor asserted on projects of the same or similar size within the past five years. Any claim against the contractor shall be deemed to have been satisfactorily resolved if final judgment is rendered in favor of the contractor or any final judgment rendered against the contractor is satisfied within ninety days of the date the judgment became final;
(14) Proof of insurance, including certificates of insurance, confirming existence and the amount of coverage for liability, property damages, workers compensation and any other insurances required by the proposed contract documents;
(15) Evidence of compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, and with regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency; the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Workers' Compensation Agency, the Wage and Hour Division; and all other applicable State and Federal laws or agencies;
(16) Evidence of any quality assurance program used by the contractor and the results of any such program on the contractor's previous projects;
(17) Contractor's policy addressing drug and alcohol use for employees working on the project site;
(18) Documentation of whether the contractor provides health insurance and pension benefits to its employees;
(19) Assurance that all construction work for this project shall proceed economically, efficiently, continuously and without interruption.
(f) Effective Date. This section is effective for any solicitation of bids or proposals for construction projects issued by the City on or after January 1, 2008.
(Ord. 04-07. Passed 4-17-07.)