(a) Definitions.
(1) "Professional design firm" means any person legally engaged in rendering professional design services.
(2) "Professional design services" means services within the scope of practice of an architect or landscape architect registered under Chapter 4703, of the Revised Code, or a professional engineer or surveyor registered under Chapter 4733 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Qualifications" means all of the following:
A. 1. For a professional design firm, competence to perform the required professional design services as indicated by the technical training, education, and experience of the firm's personnel, especially the technical training, education, and experience of the employees within the firm who would be assigned to perform the services.
2. For a design-build firm, competence to perform the required design-build services as indicated by the technical training, education and experience of the design-build firm's personnel and key consultants, especially the technical training, education and experience of the employees and consultants of the design-build firm who would be assigned to perform the services, including the proposed architect or engineer of record.
B. Ability of the firm in terms of its workload and the availability of qualified personnel, equipment and facilities to perform the required professional design services or design-build services competently and expeditiously.
C. Past performance of the firm as reflected by the evaluations of previous clients with respect to such factors as control of costs, quality of work and meeting of deadlines.
D. Any other relevant factors as determined by the public authority.
E. With respect to a design-build firm, compliance with sections 4703.182, 4703.332 and 4733.16 of the Revised Code, including the use of a licensed design professional for all design services.
(4) "Design-build" means a project delivery system for improvements to real property by which a person is solely responsible contractually as a contractor to an owner for both the design and construction of the improvement, which design and construction may include a performance-based specification established by the owner rather than a specific design as an improvement goal.
(5) "Design-build contract" means a contract between the City of Chardon and another person that obligates the person to provide design-build services.
(6) "Design-build firm" means a person capable of providing design-build services.
(7) "Design-build services" means services that form an integrated delivery system for which a person is responsible to the City of Chardon for both the design and construction, demolition, alteration, repair or reconstruction of a public improvement.
(8) "Architect or engineer of record" means the architect or engineer that serves as the final signatory on the plans and specifications for the design-build project.
(9) "Criteria architect or engineer" means the architect or engineer retained by the City of Chardon to prepare conceptual plans and specifications, to assist the City of Chardon in connection with the establishment of the design criteria for a design-build project, and, if requested, to serve as the City of Chardon's representative, and to provide, during the design-build project, other design and construction administration services, including but not limited to, confirming that the design prepared by the design-build firm reflects the original design intent established in the design criteria package.
(10) "Open book pricing method" means a method in which a design-build firm provides upon the request of the City of Chardon all books, records, documents, contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, and other data in its possession pertaining to the bidding, pricing, or performance of a contract for design-build services awarded to the design-build firm.
(b) Submission and Updating of Statement of Qualifications; Evaluations.
(1) The City of Chardon shall encourage professional design firms and design-build firms to submit a statement of qualifications and update the statements at regular intervals.
(2) Before entering into a design-build contract, the City of Chardon shall evaluate the statements of qualifications submitted by design-build firms for the project, including the qualifications of the design-build firm's proposed architect or engineer of record, in consultation with the criteria architect or engineer before selecting a design-build firm pursuant to Section 127.052(e), (h).
(c) Public Announcement of Available Contracts. Before contracting for professional design services or design-build services, the City of Chardon shall publicly announce all contracts available for such services. The announcement shall:
(1) Be made in a uniform and consistent manner and published or delivered 21 days in advance of the deadline for responses from qualified professional design firms or design-build firms to allow the firms adequate time to submit a statement of interest in the project.
(2) Include a general description of the project, a statement of the specific professional design services or design-build services required, and a description of the qualifications required for the project.
(3) State how a qualified professional design firm or design-build firm may submit a statement of qualifications to be considered for a contract to design or design-build the project.
(4) Be sent to any of the following that the City of Chardon considers appropriate:
A. Design-build firms, including contractors or other entities that seek to perform the work as a design-build firm.
B. Architect, landscape architect, engineer and surveyor associations.
C. The news media.
D. Any publications or other public media, including electronic media.
(d) Prequalification Requirements. The City of Chardon may initiate prequalification requirements for professional design firms seeking to provide services to the City and may require the firm to maintain a current statement of qualifications on file with the City. The prequalification requirements shall be based on factors such as those set out in Section 127.052(a)(3).
(e) Prohibitions Against Compensation Estimates. The City of Chardon shall not require any form of fee estimate, fee proposal, or other estimate or measure of compensation prior to selecting and ranking professional design firms, except in instances when firms are selected and ranked by a state agency from a list of prequalified firms created under Section 153.68 of the Revised Code.
(f) Criteria Architect or Engineer. For every design-build contract, the City of Chardon shall first obtain the services of a criteria architect or engineer by doing either of the following:
(2) Using the municipal engineer or municipal architect or obtaining the services of an architect or engineer who is under contract with the City of Chardon.
(g) Evaluation and Selection Process.
(1) For every design-build contract, the City Manager, in consultation with the criteria architect or engineer, shall evaluate the statements of qualifications submitted by each design-build firm specifically regarding the project, including the design-build firm's proposed architect or engineer of record. The City Manager may hold discussions with individual firms to explore further the firms' statements of qualifications, the scope and nature of the services the firm's would provide, and the various technical approaches the firms may take toward the project. Following this evaluation, the City Manager shall:
A. Select and rank not fewer than three firms which the City Manager determines are the most qualified to provide the required design-build services. The City Manager shall select and rank fewer than three firms when fewer than three qualified firms are available.
B. Provide each selected design-build firm with all of the following:
1. A description of the project and project delivery method.
2. The design criteria produced by the criteria architect or engineer.
3. A preliminary project schedule.
4. A description of any preconstruction services.
5. A description of the proposed design services
6. A description of a guaranteed maximum price, including the estimated level of design on which the guaranteed maximum price is based.
7. The form of contract for the design-build services.
8. A request for a pricing proposal that shall be divided into a design services fee and a preconstruction and design-build services fee. The pricing proposal of each design-build firm shall include at least all of the following:
a. A list of key personnel and consultants for the project.
b. Design concepts adhering to the design criteria produced by the criteria architect or engineer.
c. The design-build firm's statement of general conditions and estimated contingency requirements.
d. A preliminary project schedule.
C. Evaluate the pricing proposal submitted by each selected firm and, at the discretion of the City Manager, hold discussions with each firm to further investigate its pricing proposal, including the scope and nature of the firm's proposed services and potential technical approaches.
D. Rank the selected firms based on the City Manager's evaluation of the value of each firm's pricing proposal. The evaluation shall consider each firm's proposed costs and qualifications.
E. Enter into contract negotiations for design-build services with the design-build firm whose pricing proposal the City Manager determines to be the best value under this section.
(2) In complying with subsection (g)(1)E. above, contract negotiations shall be directed toward:
A. Ensuring that the design-build firm and the City of Chardon mutually understand the essential requirements of the project and required design-build services, the provisions for the use of contingency funds, the terms of the contract, and the formula for distribution to the parties of the savings in the final costs of the project.
B. Ensuring that the design-build firm shall be able to provide the necessary personnel, equipment, and facilities to perform the design-build services within the time required by the contract.
C. Agreeing upon a procedure and schedule for determining a guaranteed maximum price using an open book pricing method that shall represent the total maximum amount to be paid by the City of Chardon to the design-build firm for the project and that shall include the costs of all work, the cost of its general conditions, the contingency, and the fee payable to the design-build firm.
D. Establishing criteria by which the design-build firm will prequalify prospective bidders on subcontracts awarded for work to be performed under the design-build contract. The criteria established shall be subject to the approval of the City Manager.
E. Identifying, for each subcontract to be awarded, at least three prospective bidders that are prequalified to bid on that subcontract, unless the design-build firm establishes to the satisfaction of the City of Chardon that fewer than three prequalified bidders are available. The City of Chardon shall verify that each prospective bidder meets the prequalification criteria and may eliminate any bidder it determines is not qualified.
F. Soliciting proposals from each prospective bidder who is prequalified and found acceptable. The solicitation and selection of a subcontractor shall be conducted under an open book pricing method.
(3) If the City Manager fails to negotiate a contract with the design-build firm whose pricing proposal the City Manager determines to be the best value as determined herein, the City Manager shall inform the design-build firm in writing of the termination of negotiations. The City Manager may then:
A. Negotiate a contract with the second highest ranked firm following the negotiation procedure described above;
B. If negotiations fail with the second next highest ranked design-build firm, the City Manager may negotiate a contract with the third highest ranked firm under this section following the negotiation procedure above and continue negotiating with the design-build firms in the order of ranking until a contract is negotiated.
C. If the City Manager fails to negotiate a contract with a design-build firm whose pricing proposal the City Manager determines to be the best value as determined hereunder, the City Manager may select additional design-build firms to provide pricing proposals pursuant to this section or may select an alternative delivery method for the project.
D. The City of Chardon may pay a stipend for the pricing proposal received from a design-build firm which is not selected and ranked as one of the design-build firms.
E. Nothing herein shall prevent the City Manager from accepting or rejecting any or all proposals in whole or in part.
(4) The City of Chardon may accept a subcontract awarded by the selected design-build firm or may reject a subcontract if the City of Chardon determines that the subcontract bidder is not responsible.
(5) If, after receiving the prior approval of the City Manager, the design-build firm intends to self-perform a portion of the work, the design-build firm shall submit a sealed bid for the portion of the work prior to opening and accepting any bids for the same work.
(h) Design-build Services for Projects Where Firm Selected as the Criteria Architect or Engineer. The architect or engineer selected as the criteria architect or engineer for the design-build project shall not provide the design-build services for the project.
(i) Professional Liability Insurance.
(1) A firm or person rendering professional design services to the City of Chardon or to a design-build firm, the criteria architect or engineer for a project and a person performing architect or engineer of record services for a design-build firm which contracts with the City of Chardon shall have and maintain, or be covered by, during the period the services are rendered, a professional liability insurance policy or policies with a company or companies that are authorized to do business in the State of Ohio and that afford professional liability coverage for the professional design services rendered. The insurance shall be in an amount considered sufficient by the City of Chardon. The City of Chardon may also require the design-build firm to carry contractor's professional liability insurance and any other appropriate insurance deemed necessary by the Law Director.
(2) Before construction begins pursuant to a contract for design-build services with a design-build firm, the design-build firm shall provide a surety bond to the City of Chardon.
(3) The requirements for professional liability insurance or a surety bond may be waived by the City of Chardon for good cause, or may allow the person providing the professional design services to provide other assurances of financial responsibility.
(j) Rules; Exemptions. The City of Chardon may waive the foregoing requirements, if either:
(1) The project as determined by the criteria architect or engineer will cost less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000);
A. A single design professional or firm from among those that have submitted a current statement of qualifications within the immediately preceding year may be selected by the City Manager as the most qualified to provide the required professional design services, and
B. The City Manager and the selected design professional or firm negotiate a contract; or
(2) The City Manager determines that completion of the project is an emergency requiring immediate action.
(k) Design-build Firm Authority. A design-build firm contracted for design-build services by the City of Chardon may do either of the following:
(1) Perform design, construction, demolition, alteration, repair, or reconstruction work pursuant to such contract; or
(2) Perform professional design services even if the design-build firm is not a professional design firm.
(Ord. 2820. Passed 3-13-14.)