HomeMy WebLinkAbout20160058.tiff ARTICLE IV - Purchasing Policy
Sec. 5-4-60 . - Purchasing limits and procedures .
These procedures are adopted pursuant to Section 14-9 of the Home Rule Charter. As discussed in Section 14-
9 , all purchases shall assure open and competitive bidding . All bid specifications shall be prepared in such a manner
as to invite and encourage bidding from all suppliers . No specifications shall be submitted to bidders so restrictive in
detail as to eliminate any line of competitive equipment. In all cases , the County shall reserve the right to reject any
and all bids and/or select the bid which is in the best interest of the County.
C . Formal Purchases . All vehicle purchases and purchases over $25 ,000 . 00 must go through the formal bid
process . The formal bid procedures may be used for purchases under the amount established by the annual
purchasing ordinance (twenty-five thousand dollars [$25 , 000 . 00]) when the best interest of the County so
dictates .
1 . All bidding shall be in accordance with , and pursuant to , Section 14-9( 1 )-(5) of the Home Rule Charter.
All purchases in excess of an amount to be set annually by the Board of County Commissioners by
ordinance shall be by written , sealed bid , and bids over the amount set annually by ordinance (twenty-
five thousand [$25 , 000 . 00]) by the Board of County Commissioners shall be followed by a ten-day
period for consideration and investigation of the bids submitted to determine comparisons of quality
and price . The ten-day waiting period may be waived by resolution of the Board for emergency
purchases . The Commissioners shall accept the bid they find to be most beneficial to the County . Prior
to advertising for such bids , the purchasing agent shall verify that the purchase is authorized in the
current budget.
2 . At the discretion of the Director of General Services , formal bids may be advertised in the official county
newspaper, except as statutorily required , and may be advertised in other publications or media , such
as an online bid advertisement service . Such advertisement shall include , but not be limited to , the
following :
a . General description of the required commodity or service .
b . The location to obtain required bid documents .
c. Cost of bid documents (if applicable) .
d . Amount of bid bond (when applicable) .
e . Time and place of bid opening .
f. Reservation of the right to : ( 1 ) Waive informalities , (2) Reject all bids , or (3) Accept the proposal
deemed most advantageous to the best interest of the County.
3 . Invitations to bid shall be sent to all appropriate vendors on the County's vendor list and/or through the
appropriate online bid advertisement service categories . The County may send invitations to other
qualified vendors and/or by advertising on the internet or through direct solicitation .
4 . When bids are received , they shall be stamped with the date and time received , initialed by the person
receiving them , and filed until opened . After the bids are opened , the proposals shall be reviewed by
the purchasing agent and the department head who initiated the requisition .
5 . All formal bids shall be publicly opened at the time and place indicated in the advertisement or as
specified in the bid documents . If bids are submitted by email or facsimile, the vendor must include the
following statement , " I hereby waive my right to a sealed bid . " Bidders are invited , but are not required ,
to attend the bid opening .
II 6 . The Department of Purchasing may introduce "other source" bids that serve the best interest of the
County . Other source bids are quotes for products and/or services which are obtained from entities
such as on-line sources , direct-buy from manufacturers or wholesalers , published catalogues , or other
sources which may increase competition and reduce cost.
7 . Formal bid review and award . When evaluating bids , consideration may be given , but not necessarily
limited to some or all of the following : price , bidder's previous record of performance and service
(internal/external) , ability of bidder to render satisfactory service in this instance (i . e. , training ,
4 maintenance and repairs) , availability of bidder's representative to call upon and consult with the end
users , quality and conformance to specifications , delivery schedule , life cycle costs , warranty .
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a . The department head and the purchasing agent will make a recommendation to the Board of
County Commissioners . The final award of the bid will be approved by the Board of County
Commissioners . If the low bid is found unacceptable because of some factual circumstance , the
Department should write a clear, concise , and factual justification for selecting other than the low
bid .
b . Per Section 14-9(3) of the Weld County Home Rule Charter, the County Commissioners shall
give preference to resident Weld County bidders in all cases where the bids are competitive in
price and quality .
c. Per Section 14-9(4) of the Weld County Home Rule Charter, the County Commissioners shall
enter in the minutes of the meeting , at which a purchase is made for other than a low bid , the
reason for not accepting the low bid .
d . Exceptions to this section include sole source purchases and professional services approved by
the Board of County Commissioners .
8 . Best and Final Offer (BAFO) . When deemed to be in the best interest of the County, the Director of
General Services or the applicable department head may request a BAFO as a part of any Formal Purchase .
Any request for a BAFO should be made following all pertinent discussions, questions , and all addendums
made to clarify full understanding of, and responsiveness to , the solicitation requirements. Vendors shall be
accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals.
All pricing and information shall remain confidential until the successful proposal is accepted by the Board
of County Commissioners .
a . Best and Final offers shall be requested in writing . The request shall include :
1 . Notice that discussions are concluded .
2 . Notice that this is an opportunity to submit a best and final offer.
3 . A due date for submission of the Best and Final Offer.
After receipt and analysis of BAFO's , proposals shall be evaluated and a recommendation made to the
Board of County Commissioners in accordance with this section of the Code
Sec. 5-4-80 . - Expenditures not requiring a procurement process .
A . It has been determined that it is in the best interests of the County to exempt certain purchases of goods
or services from the requirements of this code . The following is a list of the expenses which will be
processed for payment in the Department of Accounting without a requisition and purchase order:
32 . Ammunition . The purchase of ammunition where criteria other than price are considered paramount;
i . e . quantity, quality, delivery date .
Sec. 5-4- 150 . - Qualification-based selection process for professional services .
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A . Applicability . This qualification-based selection (QBS) process must be used whenever required by state or federal
law. Appendix 5- P provides additional guidance .
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B . QBS procedure .
1 . Step 1 : RFQ . A Request for Qualifications (" RFQ") shall be advertised by the Department of Purchasing ,
outlining general project requirements and proposal guidelines .
a . The RFQ may be advertised at the time that a project need arises or prior to any project need arising .
If the RFQ is not project-specific, the RFQ shall be advertised annually , in order to create a short list
of qualified individuals or firms that are able to provide professional service . Nothing in this Section
precludes the County from accepting qualifications and/or vendors as allowed in Section 5-4-60 of this
Article .
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b . Individuals or firms responding to the RFQ shall submit a statement of interest to the Department of
Purchasing by a designated date . Such statements shall address the categories provided in Appendix
5-Q
c. The department head or elected official shall designate a review team which shall review the
individuals/firms based upon their statements of interest according to the criteria provided in Appendix
5-Q . The Director of General Services , or his or her designee , shall participate on every review team .
The review team shall create a short list of three (3) to five (5) individuals/firms .
2 . Step 2 : RFP/Interviews . The department head or elected official shall provide a Request for Proposal (RFP)
to each of the individuals/firms on the short list, who shall be required to attend a mandatory pre-proposal
meeting . The review team shall interview all individuals/firms responding to the RFP and shall rank each
proposal according to the criteria provided in Appendix 5-S .
3 . Step 3 : Negotiation .
a . The department head or elected official , or his or her designee , shall negotiate in good faith with the
highest ranked firm or company in order to come to agreement on all aspects of the contract, including
total contract price .
b . If no agreement can be made with the highest ranked company or firm , the department head or elected
official , or his or her designee , may stop negotiations and begin negotiations with the next highest
ranked firm or company . This process may be repeated as may be necessary . If negotiation is not
successful with any of the ranked companies or firms , the department head or elected official may
begin the QBS process over or may begin the negotiation process over.
C . Best Value QBS procedure .
1 . Step 1 : RFQ . Whenever the project is not required by state or federal law to be procured through the
QBS Procedure outlined above , the following Best Value QBS process may be used at the discretion
of the Board of County Commissioners . Step 1 of the process is identical to Step 1 under Subsection
B . above .
2 . Step 2 : RFP . The department head or elected official shall provide a RFP to each of the
individuals/firms on the short list, who shall be required to attend a mandatory pre-proposal meeting .
The review team shall review all proposals according to the criteria provided in Appendix 5- R and shall
interview the lowest bidders .
A. When deemed to be in the best interest of the County, the department head may request a Best
and Final Offer (BAFO) . Any request for a BAFO should be made following all pertinent discussions ,
questions, and all addendums made to clarify full understanding of, and responsiveness to , the
solicitation requirements . Vendors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any
opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals. All pricing and information shall remain
confidential until the successful proposal is accepted by the Board of County Commissioners .
a . Best and Final offers shall be requested in writing . The request shall include :
1 . Notice that discussions are concluded .
2 . Notice that this is an opportunity to submit a best and final offer.
3 . A due date for submission of the Best and Final Offer.
3 . Step 3 : Interview/Award . If the low bidder's proposal meets the specifications provided in the RFP , the
department head or elected official shall recommend that the Board of County Commissioners award
the contract to the low bidder. If the low bidder's proposal does not meet the specifications of the RFP ,
the department head or elected official shall interview the next lowest bidder until the lowest bid that
meets specifications is identified .
D . Approval of contract. The results of the selection process , including the name and address of the
recommended firm or company, and a Professional Services Agreement, shall be presented to the Board of
County Commissioners for approval and specific Board action . No QBS-negotiated contract shall be
approved except through this process .
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