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(a) Invitation for Bids. Except as otherwise authorized in this Code, for any Commodity or General Services purchase estimated to cost in excess of the Minimum Competitive Amount, an invitation for Bids shall be issued to solicit Bids and shall include a purchase description and all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement, including a reservation of the City's right to reject all Offers.
(b) Bid Opening. Bids shall be opened publicly by the Contracting Officer at the time and place designated in the Invitation for Bids in the presence of all Bidders who attend. Relevant information as the Purchaser may specify by regulation shall be recorded. Except for materials protected from disclosure pursuant to Administrative Code Section 67.24, the record and each Bid shall be open to public inspection following Bid opening.
(c) Bid Evaluation. Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirements and specifications set forth in the Invitation for Bids, which may include criteria to determine acceptability such as inspection, testing, quality, workmanship, delivery, and suitability for a particular purpose. Those criteria that will affect the Bid price and be considered in evaluation for award shall be objectively measurable, such as discounts, transportation costs, conversion costs and total or life cycle costs.
(d) Correction, Withdrawal, or Rejection of Bids; Cancellation of Awards. Correction or withdrawal of inadvertently erroneous Bids before or after award, or cancellation of awards or contracts based on such Bid mistakes, shall be permitted in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Purchaser. After Bid opening, no changes in Bid prices or other provisions of Bids prejudicial to the interest of the City or fair competition shall be permitted. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, all decisions to permit the correction or withdrawal of Bids, or to cancel awards or Contracts based on Bid mistakes, shall be supported by a written determination made by the Purchaser. The Purchaser may reject all Bids at any time prior to award.
(e) Award. Except for a showing of good cause, a Contract shall be awarded not less than five (5)-working days after Bid opening by written notice to the lowest responsible and responsive Bidder whose Bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the Invitation for Bids. In the event that all Bids exceed available funds and the lowest responsible and responsive Bidder does not exceed such funds by more than ten percent (10%), the Purchaser is authorized in situations where time and economic considerations preclude resolicitation of work of a reduced scope to negotiate an adjustment of the Bid price, including changes in the Bid requirements, with the low responsive and responsible Bidder, in order to bring the Bid within the amount of available funds.
(f) Awards in the Public Interest. If the Purchaser finds that the public interest would be best served by accepting other than the lowest total or unit price the Purchaser is authorized to accept the Bid(s) that in the Purchaser's opinion will best serve the public interest, to make the awards and to enter into the necessary contracts. Prior to making an award to a Bidder other than the lowest Bidder(s), the Purchaser shall submit a written statement of the basis for the finding to the Director of Administrative Services.
(g) Additional Purchases. Where the quantity of Commodities or General Services to be provided under a contract is fixed, the Contracting Officer may, within one year after award and subject to the Contractor's consent, purchase additional quantities of the specific Commodities or General Services for which award was made at the award price or a lower price, in accordance with the Purchaser's regulations.
(h) Multi-step Bidding. A Contracting Officer may prequalify Bidders prior to issuing an Invitation for Bids based on prequalification criteria set forth in a Solicitation.
(i) Bid Protests. The procedure for resolving Bid protests shall be established by regulations adopted by the Purchaser.
(Added by Ord. 156-99, File No. 990743, App. 6/2/99; Ord. 9-11, File No. 101007, App. 1/7/2011)
(a) Authorization; Evaluation Criteria. A Contracting Officer may issue a request for Proposals, or request for qualifications, for the selection of Professional Service Contractors following consideration of the evaluation factors set forth in the request for Proposals, which may include cost, except as prohibited by law. If a department determines that it would be in the best interests of the City to acquire combined Commodities and Services or General Services by means of a request for Proposals or qualifications, rather than an invitation for Bids, such request for Proposals or qualifications shall be issued by the Purchaser. A request for Proposals or qualifications for Professional Services may be issued directly by the department.
(b) Negotiation. The Contracting Officer is authorized to negotiate terms and conditions, including price, with the highest ranked Proposer. If the Contracting Officer cannot conclude a contract that, in the opinion of the Contracting Officer is in the City’s best interest, the Contracting Officer may terminate negotiations with the highest ranked Proposer. In the event that the Contracting Officer cannot conclude negotiations with the next highest ranked Proposer on terms acceptable to the City, then the Contracting Officer may negotiate with each successively ranked Proposer.
(c) Requests for Qualifications. The Purchaser may issue a request for qualifications ("RFQ") to determine the qualifications of prospective Contractors for particular types of Commodities and/or Services to the City. A department may issue a RFQ to determine the qualifications of prospective Contractors for Professional Services to be provided to that department.
(d) Prequalified Lists. The Purchaser may maintain City-wide lists of prequalified contractors for Commodities and Services as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) below, prequalification may be for the following purposes:
(A) maintaining a list of prequalified entities from which Contracting Officers may issue a further Solicitation for future contracts as needed by the City, or
(B) the selection of the highest available ranked Contractor(s) based on ranking of responses to an RFQ.
(2) For Contracts less than or equal to the Minimum Competitive Amount, selection of a Contractor(s) for a particular contract may be made without the use of a further Solicitation provided that the department selecting from the prequalified list shall notify other prequalified list members for that contract and document the selection process. At a minimum, the written documentation shall address the following:
(A) The Commodities and/or Services required to meet the department’s needs;
(B) The proposed Contractor’s unique qualifications or experience to provide the Commodities and/or perform the Services, or why the nature of the Commodities and/or Services requires use of the Contractor; and
(C) The anticipated cost to the City and the department’s determination that such cost will be in the best financial interest of the City.
The department shall maintain the selection documentation for at least three years after termination or expiration of the contract. The Controller shall periodically audit the procurement of these prequalified list contracts as provided in Charter Section F1.106.
(3) Except as provided below, prequalification shall be valid for not more than two years following the date of initial prequalification. Prequalification may be valid for not more than four years so long as both the following two conditions are met:
(A) The City re-opens the list by reissuing the same RFQ within two years of the original RFQ; and,
(B) The City uses the same panel of evaluators to score the responses to the RFQ.
Entities included on the list of prequalified entities pursuant to the original RFQ shall not be required to re-qualify under the re-issued RFQ, but may choose to submit updated information regarding their qualifications when the RFQ is re-issued. A list of prequalified entities may only be extended once under this subsection (d)(3) and may not be used for more than four years from the issuance of the original RFQ.
(e) Content of Requests for Proposals. A request for Proposals shall specify evaluation criteria for selection, and shall reserve the right to reject or cancel the request for Proposals in whole or in part.
(f) Mass-transit Vehicles. Notwithstanding any other provision of the charter or laws of the City, the Public Transportation Department, through its department head and through the Purchaser is authorized to include among its purchasing specifications the use of negotiated procurement procedures for the purchase of mass-transit vehicles.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, procurement of the following shall be made in accordance with the Purchaser's regulations:
(a) Commodities or services where the total amount of the purchase does not exceed the Minimum Competitive Amount. It shall constitute official misconduct to divide any proposed procurement in excess of the Minimum Competitive Amount into two or more units for the purpose of evading this Code's competitive solicitation requirements.
(b) Commodities or services available only from a sole source.
(c) Perishable foods.
(d) Proprietary articles.
(e) Contracts involving a pilot project with a term not to exceed two years; provided, however, that any further procurement beyond the pilot project phase shall be subject to all applicable competitive procurement requirements.
(f) Contracts set aside for competitive award to Micro-LBEs in accordance with Chapter 14B.7(K) of the Administrative Code.
(g) Commodities or Services purchased with federal grant funds when an informal solicitation is consistent with Federal contracting requirements. Federal grant funds include federal monies awarded to the City through the state or other governmental entities. This subsection does not cover Commodities or Services identified by the grant as an administrative or management cost or expense.
(Added by Ord. 156-99, File No. 990743, App. 6/2/99; Ord. 296-04, File No. 041450, App. 12/24/2004; Ord. 17-10, File No. 091162, App. 2/10/2010; Ord. 35-10, File No. 091231, App. 2/18/2010; Ord. 9-11, File No. 101007, App. 1/7/2011)
When a Contracting Officer issues a Solicitation for Commodities and/or Services and no responsive and responsible Offers are received, the Contracting Officer shall review the Solicitation to determine whether the Solicitation could be altered and reissued in a manner that would be likely to attract responsive offers. If the Contracting Officer determines that the lack of responsive Offers is not due to the content of the Solicitation, the Contracting Officer may purchase the Commodities or Services called for from any source. If two or more Bids received are for the same amount or unit price and Such Bids are the lowest Bids from responsive and responsible Bidders, then the Contracting Officer may award a contract to either of the lowest responsive and responsible Bidders in accordance with the Purchaser's regulations.
(Added by Ord. 156-99, File No. 990743, App. 6/2/99)
The Contracting Officer, in his or her sole discretion, is authorized to cancel any Solicitation or reject any and all Offers, in whole or in part, prior to award, and may readvertise under such terms as the Contracting Officer deems to be in the City's best interests.
(Added by Ord. 156-99, File No. 990743, App. 6/2/99)
(a) Generally. A Contracting Officer may award contracts to more than one Offeror if the Contracting Officer determines that it is in the City’s best interest to have more than one Contractor provide one or more similar Commodities and/or Services and the Solicitation states that the contract may be subject to multiple award. The Contracting Officer may either require all multiple award contractors to do business with the City under a single set of terms and conditions, or if the Solicitation is made by means of a request for Proposals, may negotiate separate terms and conditions with each Offeror for specified Commodities and/or Services. Following multiple award and in the administration of multiple award contracts, the Contracting Officer shall use best efforts to fulfill the policies of Chapter 14B of this Code.
(b) Technology Marketplace. Any department ordering Commodities or Services through the Technology Marketplace may be required to pay an administrative fee as determined by the Purchaser..1
CODIFICATION NOTE
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