Request for Proposals - Procedure 019

  1. PURPOSE

    To establish uniform procedures for processing request for proposals.

     

  2. SCOPE:

     

    1. This procedure applies to the procurement of the following:

       

      1. Architectural and Engineering Services (as defined in section 287.055 Florida Statutes) for projects (as defined in F.S. 287.055(2)(f)) under Florida Statute 287.017 thresholds:

         

        1. Planning or Study Activity (Category Two-currently $15,000.00)

           

        2. Design Services (Category Five-currently $120,000 construction cost estimate)

           

      2. Other Professional Services such as attorneys, certified public accountants, appraisers, medical doctors, and other professional people who are in keeping with the standards of their discipline; in which City funds are expended and the cost of the services exceed $15,000.00.

         

  3. RESPONSIBILITY:

    Formal Request for Proposals (RFP's) are to be processed and published by the Procurement Division with assistance from using agencies when necessary.

     

  4. GENERAL:

     

    1. The underlying philosophy of an RFP is to obtain maximum response from a broad group of potential vendors. RFP's require advertising in a newspaper of general circulation in the Central Florida area and notification to all vendors who have expressed an interest in the specific service.

      The RFP process is considerably more detailed and complex. The processing time from preparation of the legal advertisement to award of bid is approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks.

  5. PROCEDURES:

    1. Future Formal Bid/Proposal Notification

      To assist the Procurement Division in scheduling its bid calendar, it is recommended that departments review their proposed budgets during the last quarter of each fiscal year to identify goods and services requiring formal bids. A Future Formal Bid/Proposal Notification Form (Exhibit 18-A) should be completed for each and forwarded to the Procurement Division as soon as possible.

       

    2. Technical Specifications

      Establish minimum requirements and standards for the services to be provided.

       

      1. The preparation of specifications is the joint responsibility of the Procurement Division and the using department/division. In some cases, an outside source of expertise may be contacted for assistance. The Procurement Division reserves the right to alter or revise specifications, if necessary, to allow open competition without affecting the general scope of the work/service/project.

         

      2. Technical specifications for RFP's should be written in sufficient detail to describe the requirement completely, but allow enough flexibility for respondents to suggest their plan of performance. Specifications should be reasonable in their tolerances and fair to the consultant/contractor and should include the following:

         

        1. Detailed scope of work/service/project.

           

        2. Description of tasks involved

           

        3. Factors considered in evaluation of the proposals and weight factor of each. Some evaluation factors that may be included are:

           

          1. Project Approach

             

          2. Qualifications of Team/Firm and Capacity to Perform

             

          3. History of Firm

             

          4. Price (not allowed for Architectural and Engineering services)

             

          5. Completeness and Conformity to RFP

             

    3. The RFP Selection Committee will be chaired by the Procurement Division Manager or designee, who shall be a non-voting member.

       

      1. User Department Director

        The director of the department or designee of the city that will be the primary user or consumer of the procured services.

         

      2. User Division Delegate

        The manager of the division that will be the primary user or consumer of the procured service.

         

      3. Technical Delegate

        Any person(s), designated by the Department Director who is sufficiently qualified to evaluate the technical qualifications of the proposal, or can provide useful assistance to the particular procurement.

         

    4. Legal Advertisement

       

      1. The legal advertisement is prepared by the Procurement Division and shall appear two (2) times in the legal advertising section of a newspaper with general circulation in the Central Florida area. The first advertisement date should be 28 calendar days prior to the scheduled proposal bid due date, however, 14 calendar days is the minimum.

         

      2. In the event of an emergency requirement for services, the requesting department shall provide a written request to the Procurement Division that the City waive the requirement for public notice. The Procurement Division will forward this request to the City Manager for approval, who will notify the City Commission at the next scheduled commission meeting of such action.

         

    5. Request for Proposal

       

      1. The Procurement Division shall prepare documents for the RFP.

         

      2. The RFP generally consists of the following:

         

        1. Table of Contents

          Listing of all sections included in the RFP.

           

        2. Legal Advertisement

          Includes a general description of the scope of services, where and how the bid documents may be secured, and the date, time, and place the proposal is due.

           

        3. Request for Proposal Letter from the Procurement Division

          Letter from the Procurement Division, on behalf of the City, inviting the bidder to submit a proposal.

           

        4. Proposal Instructions, Terms, and Conditions

          Instruction on how to submit and prepare a proposal and the contractual terms and conditions that are generally applicable to all proposals.

           

        5. Insurance Requirements Specifications

          Insurance requirements as determined and/or approved by the City's Risk Manager.

           

        6. Technical Specifications

          Includes general information about the proposal process, scope of services, submittal format, and evaluation criteria.

           

        7. Proposal Bid Form (PBF)

          Form on which the bidder enters his price. Architectural and Engineering services are excluded from price proposals (F.S. 287.055).

           

        8. Proposer's Warranty

          Form on which the responding firm acknowledges, by signature, that it understands and agrees to the terms, conditions, and specifications detailed in the proposal.

           

        9. "No Bid" Response Form

          Bidders should complete this form if they elect not to submit a bid. A vendor who fails to submit a bid or a "No Bid" three times is subject to removal from the City's official vendors list.

           

      3. The RFP may also include the following:

         

        1. a. Attachments

          Any additional information that is helpful and related to the proposal.

           

        2. Drawings and Plans

          Drawings and plans related to the project.

           

    6. Notice of Proposal

       

      1. The Procurement Division shall distribute a Notification of Proposal (NOP) to those vendors whose names appear on the City's official vendors list.

         

      2. The Procurement Division may also distribute this notification to vendors listed in publications, catalogs, previous vendors who have supplied the services being requested and to vendors suggested by the using department.

         

    7. Distribution of Proposal DocumentsThe Procurement Division is the only authorized party to distribute the RFP documents to vendors or other interested parties. Vendors or other interested parties must call or visit by the Procurement Division to receive an RFP package. This is necessary to assure that the official version of the RFP package is distributed and that the Procurement Division has all the necessary information recorded on the Proposal Distribution List, in the event that an addendum must be issued.

       

    8. A meeting held with prospective vendors prior to the proposal due date to discuss the services being requested and to allow vendors to ask questions related to the proposal. The meeting can be non-mandatory or mandatory. However, due to the potential of eliminating and reducing competition, mandatory conferences should only be considered if the scope of services or project is extremely complex in nature.

       

    9. Vendors Questions or Concerns

      Inquiries, whether technical or general, should be directed to the Procurement Division and must be in writing. Bidders must not contact the requesting department directly unless explicitly authorized by the Procurement Division.

       

    10. Addenda (if necessary)

      Some inquiries made concerning the bids will be addressed in the form of an addendum. The addendum will be mailed no less than five (5) calendar days (or faxed or express mailed no less than 24 hours) prior to the bid due date and time to all parties listed on the Bid Distribution List.

       

    11. Receive Open Proposals

       

      1. Proposals must be enclosed in a sealed envelope, as instructed in the RFP, and received in the Procurement Division by the due date and time specified in the RFP. It is the bidders' responsibility to allow for any delays such as: post office delays, weather, traffic, parking, etc. and to assure that the proposal is properly addressed and delivered to the Procurement Division.

         

      2. Proposals must be received and officially recorded in the Procurement Division ONLY. Proposals must be received before the official due date and time. The Procurement Division will record the date and time the proposal is received. The time of the clock in the Procurement Division prevails. Proposals received after the specified due date and time will be rejected and returned to the sender unopened.

         

      3. Proposal Opening

         

        1. If the RFP calls for the respondent to submit a price, a public bid opening will take place immediately after the posted proposal due date and time. The total base bids (as tabulated by each respondent) will be read aloud. Once the proposals have been opened, they become public record and may be examined in accordance with the Florida Sunshine Law.

           

        2. If the RFP does not call for the respondent to submit a price, there will not be a public opening. Proposers may be present at the posted proposal due date, time and place to record the names of the respondents who submitted proposals.

           

    12. Proposal Tabulation or List of Responding Firms

       

      1. After the proposal due date and time, the Procurement Division shall prepare a Proposal Tabulation (if price called for) and/or a List of Responding Firms.

         

      2. The tabulation/list should be available for public inspection within 48 hours after the proposal due date.

         

      3. The Procurement Division will distribute copies of the tabulation/list to all respondents.

         

    13. Proposal Evaluation

       

      1. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.

         

      2. The City may accept any or part of any proposal, unless the respondent qualifies the proposal by specific limitation.

         

      3. The City reserves the right to waive minor technicalities. Technicalities that shall not be considered minor include, but may not be limited to, the following:

         

        1. Failure to sign the Proposal Bid Form, Proposer's Warranty Form or failure to provide some other binding signature that indicates the respondent's intent to honor their proposal as submitted.

           

        2. Failure to deliver proposal by the posted due date and time.

           

      4. Selection Committee members shall independently review and score all submittals and such individual scoring shall be done on ranking sheets provided by the Procurement Division. Scoring shall be based on the criteria provided in the RFP. No criteria may be used that are not set forth in the RFP. During deliberations and discussion by the Committee members, individuals may change initial scoring as long as such changes are initialed by the individual. Scores should represent the evaluator's best objective judgment.

         

      5. A summary of the total scores for all vendors will be prepared after all members of the team have reviewed and evaluated the written proposals.

         

      6. If the RFP stipulates that oral presentations may be required and the Committee determines that oral presentations would be beneficial, the Committee shall prepare a short list of at least three firms (fewer if fewer than three proposals were submitted). The Committee should evaluate the firms based on the same criteria set forth in the RFP. If different or additional criteria will be used to evaluate the short listed firms during their oral presentations, the short listed firms must be notified in advance.

         

      7. Ranking of firms shall be by consensus if possible. If a consensus cannot be reached, selection and scoring shall then take place by totaling individual score sheets.

         

      8. The evaluation forms completed by each committee member (or the committee's consensus score) shall be forwarded to the Procurement Division for review and audit records.

         

    14. Award Recommendation

       

      1. Based on the Selection Committee's final ranking, the Procurement Division shall prepare an award recommendation for approval by the City Commission. The City Commission approves the ranking, authorizes contract negotiations and approves the execution of the contract by the Mayor.

       

    15. Intent to Award

      The Procurement Division attempts to notify, by mail or fax, all the vendors who submitted a proposal of the City's award recommendation.

       

    16. Proposal Award Protests

      Receive and respond to vendors concerns or questions regarding the recommendation for award in accordance with Procedure Number 021.

       

    17. Award Recommendation

       

      1. The City Commission shall approve or deny the award recommendation of the Selection Committee.

         

      2. The City Clerk Department forwards to the Procurement Division, a copy of the City Commission Agenda indicating approval or denial of the award recommendation.

         

    18. Notice of Award

      After approval of the award by the City Commission, the Procurement Division attempts to notify, by mail or fax, all vendors who submitted a proposal.

       

    19. Contract Negotiations

       

      1. The user department enters into contract negotiations with the top ranked firm as approved by the City Commission. Such negotiations shall be conducted by the user department/division with assistance, as necessary or desirable, from the City Attorney, City Manager, Procurement Division, and other City departments.

         

      2. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the top ranked firm, negotiations will be formally terminated. Contract negotiations will then proceed with the next ranked firm and so on until a contract can be successfully negotiated.

         

      3. The user department should forward to the Procurement Division five (5) original sets of contract documents signed by the successful respondent.

       

    20. Contract/Purchase Order Processing

      The Procurement Division will request the Mayor's signature on the contracts and monitor the status of all paperwork required to complete the contract. Paperwork required includes, but is not limited to: Certificates of Insurance and Notice of Contract.

    21. Purchase Order

      After approval of the award recommendation and upon receipt of all required paperwork, a purchase order will be issued (unless exempted by Procedure Number 009).