(a) Public Works In Excess of the Threshold Amount. Except as otherwise provided by the Charter or the Administrative Code, any Public Work or Improvement estimated to cost more than the Threshold Amount shall be performed under Contracts awarded to the Responsible Bidder submitting the lowest Responsive Bid. To split or divide any Public Work or Improvement into two or more Contracts for the purpose of evading this Section 6.20 shall constitute official misconduct.
(b) Public Works Less Than or Equal to the Threshold Amount. Any Public Work or Improvement estimated to cost less than or equal to the Threshold Amount may be performed (1) under Contract or (2) by City employees. If the work is to be performed under Contract, the department shall obtain not fewer than three Quotes and shall award the Contract to the Responsible Bidder offering the lowest Quotation. If the department is unable to obtain three Quotes, the Award may be based on the Quote or Quotes received. For Contracts for Public Works or Improvements less than or equal to $10,000, no competitive solicitation is required, however departments are encouraged to solicit Quotes, especially from LBE Contractors, and award the Contract to the Responsible Bidder offering the lowest Quotation. The total contract value for Contracts for Public Works or Improvements less than or equal to $10,000 cannot exceed $200,000 per department per fiscal year.
The department administering the Contract shall maintain records as to whom the request for Quotations was directed and the Quotations received. It is the policy of the Board of Supervisors for contracting departments to make every effort to eradicate prejudice and favoritism in the Award of City Contracts. In order to effectuate this policy, Department Heads and their staff members shall collaborate with CMD periodically to create a list of Responsible Contractors qualified to perform various types of Public Work or Improvements for projects estimated to be less than the Threshold Amount, making every effort to include qualified, Responsible, and certified LBE contractors on that list. CMD shall be responsible for outreach efforts to make sure that certified LBE Contractors are aware of the opportunity to be considered for the list. The departments or commissions shall be responsible for evaluating and determining whether Contractors are Responsible and qualified to perform the various scopes of work.
(c) Estimates Required. For Public Works or Improvements in excess of the Threshold Amount, no Department Head shall recommend a construction Contract for or issue an order of Award without preparing detailed program requirements and detailed estimates for the work to be performed. There shall be a separate accounting for each work or improvement, which accounting shall include all direct, indirect, and supervisory elements of costs chargeable to such work or improvement. All such accounts shall be reported to the Controller and to either the Mayor or to the board or commission concerned, as appropriate.
(d) Comparison of Bids on Basis of Time of Completion or Cost of Compensable Delay. Department Heads may compare Bids on the basis of time of completion and/or the cost of any compensable delay, and any Contract awarded in consideration, in whole or in part, of the relative time estimate of Bidders for completion of the work and/or the cost of any compensable delay in completing the work, shall be subject to the provisions of this Chapter 6.
(e) Time for Award. Except when a Contract is funded by Federal or State grants or funds, all Public Work Contracts shall be awarded within 90 days of the date the City receives the Bids. Such time may only be extended prior to award of the Contract and only upon written agreement of the apparent Responsible Bidder with the lowest Responsive Bid and approval by the Department Head.
(f) Prequalification. Department Heads may require that prospective Bidders be prequalified to Bid either on a specific project or on an identified group of projects. The procedure for prequalification is as follows:
(1) The Department Head shall issue a prequalification statement. The prequalification statement may, at the discretion of the Department Head, be issued in conformance with California Public Contract Code Section 20101 and/or the California Department of Industrial Relations Model Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. The Department Head may, at his/her own discretion, apply the Model Pre-Qualification Questionnaire guidelines for scorable questions and scoring as the basis for any prequalification. The Department Head may also, at his/her own discretion, issue the Model Pre-Qualification Questionnaire with additional questions or may use an alternative questionnaire. The Department Head responsible for the Public Work may include in any questionnaire a request for special qualifications, experience or expertise necessary to perform the project or projects for which the prequalification is sought. For any project-specific information required, the department shall set objective scoring criteria and incorporate the criteria into any scoring procedure.
(2) The department responsible for the Public Work shall advertise any prequalification questionnaire in the same manner required for Bids, as set forth in Section 6.21.
(3) Prequalification shall be valid for not more than two years following the date of initial prequalification.
(4) A prospective Bidder may dispute a finding that he/she is not prequalified. The dispute and request for review must be in writing and received by the department within ten calendar days from the date the department issued notice of non-prequalification. The department shall then provide the prospective Bidder with the basis for its finding and any supporting evidence used in the determination. The department shall give the prospective Bidder the opportunity to rebut the evidence provided and to present evidence as to why the prospective Bidder should be found qualified. If a Bidder fails to avail itself of this dispute process, the department's finding shall become final without further notice. Failure to be prequalified shall not by itself preclude a prospective Bidder from participating in other or future prequalifications.