Okaloosa County BOCC — May 4, 2013 — Compare version 5 with original — reading text

assist the initiating Department to fill the order. d. Continued broken promises, partial deliveries and/or poor service results in the Purchasing Director evaluating such performance to determine if action to remove the vendor from the bid and quotation list is warranted. e. All follow-up action shall be documented in detail. Revised – 11/09/98, 03/21/00, 09/18/01, 03/19/02, 09/07/04, 05/15/07, 09/04/07, 09/03/08, 09/12/2011 30 SPECIFICATIONS 1. Specifications: An accurate description of materials or services to be purchased. a. As quality and service are as important as price, the Purchasing Department must be furnished with specifications that will fulfill, but not exceed, the requirements for which the materials and/or services are intended. b. In considering and developing specifications, it must always be borne in mind that expenditures derived from public source and administered by public bodies cannot be expected to provide for “deluxe” or luxurious levels of quality. It is, therefore, necessary to follow a general policy toward the purchasing of good, standard grades of merchandise that represents an optimum relationship between quality and price, at all times consistent with providing a satisfactory level of service. c. Bids and quotations must be based upon adequate specifications. A lengthy specification composed or designed solely for the purpose of eliminating competition other than those able to supply a particular brand name commodity should be avoided. Actual brand name or common description should be used only when no other of its kind would be equally satisfactory. Specifications should be detailed so as to afford a basis for full and fair competitive bidding upon a common standard, and they should be free from restrictions that would tend to stifle competition. d. Detailed lengthy specifications should be faxed or e-mailed directly to the Buyer handling the order. 2. Responsibilities: The responsibility for purchase rests with the Purchasing Department and, therefore, a joint responsibility is shared with the requesting department for the specifications. Should modification or alteration to a specification to permit competitive bidding be required, the Purchasing Director will communicate such intent to the requesting department. This communication will furnish full particulars as to why a change in specifications is desired and the extent and nature of such changes. Revised – 11/09/98, 03/21/00, 09/18/01, 03/19/02, 09/07/04, 05/15/07, 09/04/07, 09/03/08, 09/12/2011 30  BID INVITATIONATTACHMENTS 1. Formal bid invitations are the means of conveying to various vendors’ equipment specifications, a list of materials and/or supplies that the County intends to order: a. Orders in excess of $50,000.00 will normally be requested by sealed bid invitations. b. The Purchasing Department will insure that only bids from responsible vendors are accepted. The Purchasing Department will be responsible for investigating all vendors requesting permission to submit bids to the County. Investigative action must be completed prior to the execution of a contract. c. Responsible vendors are furnished a bid invitation that will indicate all pertinent information necessary to submit an accurate formal bid. It will indicate the deadline for submitting their sealed bids and the time and place for the pre-bid conference and the bid opening. d. The Purchasing Department should hold pre-bid conferences prior to bid openings. The Purchasing Director, representatives from the requesting department and the vendors interested in submitting a bid should attend these conferences. The purpose of these conferences is to gain a common understanding of the bid specifications and to gain feedback from the private sector (vendors) concerning the specifications. e. At least 14 days prior to the date for opening the sealed bids, a notice will be in a local newspaper(s) announcing the bid invitation to insure all interested vendors not on file in the Purchasing Department the opportunity for submitting a bid. f. On the time and date specified, the sealed bids will be opened and recorded. The specifications will be checked for accuracy and, where applicable, samples will be requested for testing. Tabulations will be made available for review by anyone interested. g. The Tabulating Committee, consisting of the Purchasing Director and the Department Director involved, will review the bids and recommend to the Board of County Commissioners the vendor or vendors to receive the order on a basis of the lowest and best bid meeting specifications. h. Awards and Rejections: (1) The Board, in its absolute discretion, may reject any bid of a bidder that has failed, in the opinion of the Board, to complete or perform an Okaloosa County contracted project in a timely fashion and has directed the Okaloosa County Purchasing Director to emphasize this condition to potential bidders. (2) There is no obligation on the part of the County to award the bid to the lowest bidder, and the County reserves the right to award the proposal to proposer submitting a responsive proposal with a resulting negotiated agreement which is most advantageous and in the best interest of Okaloosa County, and to reject any and all proposals or to waive any irregularity or technicality in proposals received. Okaloosa County shall be the sole judge of the proposal and the resulting negotiated agreement that is in its best interest and its decision shall be final. Revised – 11/09/98, 03/21/00, 09/18/01, 03/19/02, 09/07/04, 05/15/07, 09/04/07, 09/03/08, 09/12/2011 30  (3) The Board of County Commissioners reserves the right to waive any informalities or reject any and all proposals, in whole or part, to utilize any applicable state contracts in lieu of or in addition to this proposal and to accept the proposal that in its judgment will best serve the interest of the County. (4) The Board of County Commissioners specifically reserves the right to reject any conditional proposal and will normally reject those that made it impossible to determine the true amount of the proposal. Each item must be proposed separately and no attempt is to be made to tie any item or items to any other item or items. i. Upon acceptance and approval of the bid by the Board of County Commissioners, the Purchasing Department will prepare and execute the necessary contract as required for all contracts involving services and materials. j. A contract is absolutely required on all projects involving services, labor, material and equipment when in excess of bid limitation, or on services less than the bid limitation if deemed to be in the best interest of the County. k. Any increase in transportation cost established by the ICC shall also be documented and additional cost paid by the County. l. Deviation from the $50,000.00 limit for emergencies is authorized for the replacement of materials, parts, repair and maintenance of existing equipment. However, the deviation will be coordinated with the Chairman of the Board or, in his absence; coordination will be with the Vice- Chairman and will be reported at the next Board meeting. 2. Local Bidder Preference: Okaloosa County grants a preference to in-county bidders only when bids are received from firms located in states, counties, municipalities or other political subdivisions which offer preference to bidders located in such political subdivisions. The amount of preference given to local bidders will be the same as that given by the state, county municipality or other political subdivision in which the out-of- county bidder is located. If the political subdivision in which a bidder is located offers a preference to its local firms, that bidder must plainly state the extent of such preference to include the amount and type preference offered. Any bidder failing to indicate such preference will be removed from the County list and any and all bids from that firm will be rejected. “Okaloosa County will grant no local preference when bids are let or acquisitions made involving the use of Federal Transit Administration Funds or any other grant funded program which prohibits against geographical preferences.” The3. Bid Bonds: All bidders are required to submit a bid bond (when deemed by Purchasing in the best interest of the County), cashier’s or certified check in the amount of 5% of their total bid. The bid bond is to be attached to their bid. 4. Bids will not be considered from vendor(s) and/or on a product(s) from a manufacturer(s) who is currently involved in financial reorganization or bankruptcy proceedings. 5. All bids involving the use of Federal Transit Administration Funding will have incorporated all pertinent requirements as listed in Attachment “A,” pages 44 through 53. Revised – 11/09/98, 03/21/00, 09/18/01, 03/19/02, 09/07/04, 05/15/07, 09/04/07, 09/03/08, 09/12/2011 30 6. At the discretion of staff, the following paragraph may be entered into the are requirements of any advertised bid document: “Direct contact one-on-one with the Committee Members or any elected County Officials is not allowed. Failure to comply with this requirement can and will cause disqualification”. 7. Protection of Resident Workers – The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners actively supports the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which includes provisions addressing employment eligibility, employment verification, and nondiscrimination. Under the INA, employers may hire only persons who may legally work in the United States (i.e., citizens and nationals of the U.S.) and aliens authorized to work in the U. thatS. The employer must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired, which includes completing the Employment Eligibility Verification. The Contractor shall