1-RFQt-01-Instructions to Bidders.pdf

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CITY OF FORT WORTH PURCHASING DIVISION

REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQt)

INSTRUCTION TO BIDDERS

Contents

CITY OF FORT WORTH PURCHASING DIVISION

INSTRUCTION TO BIDDERS

1.0 BROWSERS

2.0 SUPPORT

3.0 QUESTIONS

4.0 CLARIFICATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF ADDENDA

5.0 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

6.0 CLOSE DATE AND TIME

7.0 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (PUBLIC FILES)

8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

9.0 REQUEST FOR QUOTE

10.0 BID

11.0 BIDDER

12.0 UNAUTHORIZED COMMUNICATIONS

13.0 PRE-BID CONFERENCE

14.0 PREPARATION OF BIDS

14.1 Tax Exemption:

14.2 Brand Name or Equal:

14.3 Delivery Time:

14.4 Free on Board (FOB) Point:

14.5 Prices:

14.6 Bid Preparation Costs:

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14.7 Proprietary Information:

15.0 INVOICE AND PAYMENTS

15.1 Registration:

15.2 Invoice:

15.3 Payment:

16.0 MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

16.1 Modification of Bids:

16.2 Withdrawal of Bids:

17.0 OPENING OF BIDS

18.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND AWARD

18.1 Evaluation:

18.2 Award:

18.3 Acceptance of Bid:

18.4 Reservations:

19.0 POST-BID DOCUMENTS FROM RECOMMENDED BIDDER

19.1 Certificates of Insurance:

19.2 Certificate of Interested Parties Form 1295:

20.0 AGREEMENT TERM

21.0 UNIT PRICE ADJUSTMENT

22.0 PROTEST PROCEDURE

23.0 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING

24.0 CHANGE IN COMPANY NAME OR OWNERSHIP

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1.0 BROWSERS

The City of Fort Worth’s online procurement portal (Bonfire Portal) can be accessed using Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. Javascript must be enabled. Browser cookies must be enabled.

2.0 SUPPORT

For technical questions about the Bonfire Portal, visit Bonfire’s help forum at https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us or contact the Bonfire support team at Support@GoBonfire.com or by calling 1-800-354-8010.

To get started with Bonfire, watch this five-minute training video:

https:// support.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and- Submission-VIDEO-

3.0 QUESTIONS

All questions, explanations, clarifications, or interpretations desired by bidders regarding any part of the solicitation must be electronically submitted to the City of Fort Worth’s Bonfire Portal through the “Vendor Discussion” section under the respective Project/Request for Quote (RFQt) before the Questions Due Date and time specified in the Bonfire Portal.

4.0 CLARIFICATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF ADDENDA

The Purchasing Division of the City of Fort Worth (City) will post an Addendum on the Bonfire Portal with answers to all questions received before the deadline before the submission Close Date and Time.

Interpretations, corrections, or changes to the RFQt made in any other manner are not binding upon the City, and Bidders shall not rely upon such interpretations, corrections, or changes. Oral explanations or instructions given before the award of the Contract are not binding.

If the City, in its sole discretion, determines that a change or additional information is needed or a clarification is required, the City shall issue an Addendum in the Bonfire Portal regarding such change, additional information, or clarification. Sole authority for issuing of Addendum shall be vested in the City’s Purchasing https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us mailto:Support@GoBonfire.com https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us/articles/6796500613655-Vendor-Registration-and-Submission-VIDEO-

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Division. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bonfire Portal frequently for any Addendum issued.

5.0 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Tentative Schedule of events are available in the Bonfire Portal for each RFQt. The City reserve the right to change those dates as and when required. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bonfire Portal frequently for any changes.

6.0 CLOSE DATE AND TIME

The deadline date and time for submission(s)/Bid against a Project/Solicitation shall be specified in the Bonfire Portal.

Your submission(s)/Bid must be finalized, uploaded, and submitted in the Bonfire Portal prior to the posted Close Date and Time for the Project/Solicitation.

Electronic submission is subject to electronic interface latency, which can result in transmission delays. All Bidders assume the risk of late transmission/ submission.

The City shall not be held liable if an interested Bidder is unable to submit a complete bid/response before the published deadline due to transmission delays or any other technical issues or obstructions. The City strongly recommends allowing sufficient time to complete the submission process (ideally a week before the deadline) to begin the uploading process and to finalize your submission to give adequate time in the event an issue arises.

7.0 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (PUBLIC FILES)

Supporting Documentation (Public Files) attached to the Bonfire Portal are integral parts of the Project. Bidders should download and review all those documents.

Bidders should complete the required documents and upload those to the “Required Information” section of the Project in the Bonfire Portal.

8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

All submissions must be submitted electronically prior to the close date and time under the respective Project/Solicitation via the Bonfire Portal:

https://fortworthtexas.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities Failure to complete and submit all required information listed in the respective Solicitation will be grounds for rejection of a bid as non-responsive. No late https://fortworthtexas.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities

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If, upon being opened, a submission is unreadable to the degree that material conformance to the requirements of the procurement specifications cannot be ascertained, such submission will be rejected without liability to the City, unless such bidder provides clear and convincing evidence (a) of the content of the submission as originally submitted and (b) that the unreadable condition of the Electronic Bid was caused solely by error or malfunction of the Bonfire Portal.

Failure to scan a clear or readable copy of a bid/response into the system does not constitute and shall not be considered an error or malfunction of the Bonfire Portal.

Bidders are encouraged to fully review each page of every document within their submission prior to submitting to ensure all documents are clear, legible, and complete.

9.0 REQUEST FOR QUOTE

An RFQt is the publication of the City’s intent to award an agreement based on a submitted Bid that presented the lowest price to the City based on the means and methods of how they will provide the requested goods and/or services to the City among other considerations. It may also be referred to as a Project or Solicitation.

The purpose of the consideration is to describe the goods and/or services to be procured. Bidders are expected to examine all documents that make up the consideration. Bidders shall promptly notify the City of any omission, ambiguity, inconsistency, or error that they may discover upon examination of the Solicitation.

The City assumes no responsibility for any errors or misrepresentations that result from the use of an incomplete consideration.

10.0 BID

An offer/submission by a Bidder for a product(s) and/or service(s) submitted in the Bonfire Portal against a Project/Solicitation before the submission Close Date and Time. A Bid may also be referred to as a Proposal.

11.0 BIDDER

An entity (which could be a person or a business) that (i) seeks or has the potential to do business with the City and serve as a Supplier (also referred to as Seller, 6 | P a g e

Vendor, Contractor, Consultant, etc.) and (ii) responds to a City procurement solicitation. Bidder may also be referred to as Proposer.

12.0 UNAUTHORIZED COMMUNICATIONS

Cone of Silence: the period of time that begins when a solicitation has been released until the Intent to Award has been published. During this period of time, Bidders’ contact regarding this Solicitation with employees or officials of the City other than the Purchasing Staff, the Access and Opportunities Services Division, or as otherwise indicated in the Solicitation is prohibited and may result in disqualification from the procurement process.

No officer, employee, agent, or representative of the bidder shall have any contact or discussion, verbal or written, with any members of the City Council, City staff, or City’s consultants, or directly or indirectly through others, seek to influence any City Council member, City staff, or City’s consultants regarding any matters pertaining to this solicitation, except as herein provided. Any violation of this prohibition may result in the bidder being disqualified from the procurement process.

Bidders should refrain from making comments regarding a specific solicitation or its subject matter – in the media or otherwise – until the selection process is complete. For the selected bidder, such comments are also inappropriate until the contractual engagement with the city has ended.

13.0 PRE-BID CONFERENCE

If a pre-bid conference is held, the time, place, and nature of the conference will be specified on the Bonfire Portal section under the respective Project. Attendance at pre-bid conferences is not mandatory but is highly encouraged.

14.0 PREPARATION OF BIDS

Each Bidder must furnish all information required by a Solicitation on the documents provided and/or in the format required unless otherwise stated.

Bids submitted on different forms or in different formats than required in the Solicitation may be considered non-responsive. Any attempt to alter the wording in the Solicitation is ineffective and will result in the rejection of the Bid.

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14.1 Tax Exemption:

Purchases of Goods or Services for City use are usually exempt from City, State, and most Federal Taxes. Bids shall not include exempted taxes. The successful Bidder should request a Tax Exemption Certificate from the Purchasing Division. Under no circumstances shall the City be liable to pay taxes under any Contract for which the City has an exemption.

14.2 Brand Name or Equal:

If the Solicitation indicates brand name or "equal" products are acceptable, the Bidder may offer an "equal" product and must be prepared to demonstrate those features that render it equal. Final determination of a product as "equal" remains with the City.

14.3 Delivery Time:

Delivery time, if stated as a number of days, will be based on calendar days.

Time is of the essence in any City purchase. If the indicated date cannot be met or the date is not indicated, the Bidder shall state its best delivery time.

14.4 Free on Board (FOB) Point:

Freight Terms shall be FOB Destination, Freight Prepaid and Allowed. The Bidder should quote its lowest and best price, with the goods delivered to the place specified, at the Bidder’s expense and risk, and their tender delivery to the City. Bids offering any other delivery terms are not acceptable and may be cause for rejection.

14.5 Prices:

i. Bids shall be firm-priced offers unless otherwise specified.

ii. In the event of a discrepancy between unit price and extended price, the unit price shall govern; however, Bidder shall bear the risk of inaccurate extended pricing and shall be required to reduce its unit prices to meet the extended price included in the Bid in any event that the use of unit prices would increase the overall cost to the City for the items and quantities included in the Bid.

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iii. Prices shall be offered in the United States Dollars and cents.

iv. Unit prices shall include all costs associated with the specified good/service unless specified in the Solicitation, including but not limited to handling, delivery, fuel charges, fees and certifications fees.

No additional charges will be accepted or paid by the city.

v. The quantities listed on the bid solicitation are only estimates based on previous usage and do not indicate intent to purchase or a guarantee of future business. The City is obligated to pay for only those goods or services actually ordered by an authorized City employee and then received as required and accepted by the City.

Bidders should extend their best price based on the estimated quantities included in the Solicitation. Still, it is understood that the City may purchase more or less of any item included in the Solicitation.

vi. Following the award, additional goods and/or services of the same general category that could have been encompassed in the award of the Agreement, and that are not already on the Agreement, may be added based on the discount bid and price sheet provided with the bid so long as such inclusion does not violate state or local law.

vii. Any goods and/or services that have been omitted from this Solicitation that are necessary or in conformance shall be considered a requirement although not directly specified or called for in the Solicitation.

14.6 Bid Preparation Costs:

All costs associated with preparing a Bid in response to a Solicitation shall be paid for by the Bidder.

14.7 Proprietary Information:

i. All material submitted to the City becomes public property and is subject to the Texas Public Information Act upon receipt.

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ii. If a Bidder does not desire information that it believes to be proprietary in the Bid to be disclosed, the Bidder shall attach a listing of each page number in a chart as shown below and must clearly mark and identify each page by including the word “PROPRIETARY” in all caps and highlighted yellow on the bottom center of each page at the time of submittal. The City will, to the extent allowed by law, endeavor to protect such information from disclosure. The final decision as to the information that must be disclosed lies with the Texas Attorney General.

Note: Pricing may not be marked proprietary and will be made submitting a response, Bidders agree that pricing is not proprietary and may be released.

Pages with information believed to be Proprietary

Please indicate if only specific sections on the page are believed to be Proprietary

iii. Failure to identify proprietary information exactly as required in above paragraph will result in all unlisted and/or unmarked sections being deemed non-proprietary and available upon public request.

15.0 INVOICE AND PAYMENTS

15.1 Registration:

Successful bidders are required to register for direct deposit payments prior to providing goods and/or services using the forms posted on the City’s website at:

https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/finance/purchasing/registe r https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/finance/purchasing/register https://www.fortworthtexas.gov/departments/finance/purchasing/register

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15.2 Invoice:

The Supplier shall send invoices electronically to our centralized Accounts Payable department invoice email address:

supplierinvoices@fortworthtexas.gov. This email address is not monitored so please do not send correspondence to this email address. The sole purpose of the specific supplier invoices email address is to receive and process supplier invoices.

Please include the following on the subject line of your e-mail: Supplier name, invoice number, and PO number, separated by an underscore (ex:

Example, Inc._123456_FW013-0000001234)

To ensure the system can successfully process your invoice in an expedient manner, please adhere to the following requirements:

i. All invoices must be either a PDF or TIFF format.

ii. Image quality must be at least 300 DPI (dots per inch).

iii. Invoices must be sent as an attachment (i.e. no invoice in the body of the email).

iv. One invoice per attachment (includes PDFs). Multiple attachments per email is acceptable but each invoice must be a separate attachment.

v. Please do not send handwritten invoices or invoices that contain handwritten notes.

vi. Dot matrix invoice format is not accepted.

vii. The invoice must contain the following information:

a. Supplier’s Legal Name and Address;

b. Remit to Supplier Name and Address, if different;

c. Applicable City Department business unit# (i.e. FW013)

d. Complete City of Fort Worth PO number (i.e. the PO number must contain all preceding zeros);

e. Invoice number;

f. Invoice date; and mailto:supplierinvoices@fortworthtexas.gov

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viii. Invoices should be submitted after delivery of the goods or services.

To prevent invoice processing delays, please do not send invoices by mail.

Please email the invoice one time to supplierinvoices@fortworthtexas.gov.

Please do not send the same invoice more than once. To check on the status of an invoice, please contact the City Department ordering the goods/services or the Central Accounts Payable Department by email at:

ZZ_FIN_AccountsPayable@fortworthtexas.gov.

If you are unable to send your invoice as outlined above at this time, please send your invoice to our centralized Accounts Payable department instead of directly to the individual city department. This will allow the city staff to digitize the invoice for faster processing.

If electronic invoicing is not possible, you may send your paper invoice to:

City of Fort Worth Attn: FMS Central Accounts Payable 100 Fort Worth Trail Fort Worth, Texas, 76102

The City’s goal is to receive 100% of invoices electronically so that all supplier payments are processed efficiently. To achieve this goal, we need the Bidder’s support.

If the Bidder has any questions, please contact the Accounts Payable team at

(817) 392-2451 or by email to:

ZZ_FIN_AccountsPayable@fortworthtexas.gov. The Bidder shall not include Federal, State of City sales tax in its invoices. City shall furnish a tax exemption certificate upon the Bidder’s request.

15.3 Payment:

All payment terms shall be “Net 30 Days” unless specified in the bid.

mailto:supplierinvoices@fortworthtexas.gov mailto:ZZ_FIN_AccountsPayable@fortworthtexas.gov mailto:ZZ_FIN_AccountsPayable@fortworthtexas.gov

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16.0 MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

16.1 Modification of Bids:

Bids may be modified in the Bonfire Portal at any time prior to the Close Date and Time. NOTE: If a Bid is modified, it must be resubmitted by the Close Date and Time to be responsive; once a Bid is pulled from submitted status by the Bidder, it is no longer submitted for purposes of being evaluated.

16.2 Withdrawal of Bids:

Bids may be withdrawn in the Bonfire Portal at any time prior to the Close Date and Time. Withdrawn Bids may be resubmitted, with or without modifications, in the Bonfire Portal before the Close Date and Time. No Bids may be withdrawn after the Close Date and Time without forfeiture of the Bid guarantee, if any.

17.0 OPENING OF BIDS

For Projects/Solicitations that require a public bid opening as per state law, the Purchasing Division representative responsible for opening Bids will publicly open and read each Bid aloud in the Fort Worth City Hall located at 100 Fort Worth Trail, Fort Worth, Texas 76102, at approximately 2:00 P.M. CST on the Close Date and Time, unless otherwise noted in the Solicitation.

18.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND AWARD

18.1 Evaluation:

Bidders may furnish pricing for all or any portion of the RFQt (unless otherwise specified). However, the City may evaluate and award the Contract for any item or group of items shown on the RFQt, or any combination deemed most advantageous to the City. Bids that specify an “all or none” award may be considered if a single award is advantageous.

18.2 Award:

The City will award contracts to the responsive and responsible Bidder who offers the lowest price or combination of prices.

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18.3 Acceptance of Bid:

Acceptance of a Bid will be in the form of a Purchase Order or a Contract.

Subsequent purchase releases may be issued as appropriate. The contents of a Bid shall become a part of the Contract. Under no circumstances will the City be responsible for Goods or Services provided without an acceptance signed by an Authorized City Representative.

18.4 Reservations:

The City expressly reserves the right to:

i. Specify approximate quantities in the Solicitation;

ii. Extend the Solicitation opening date and time;

iii. Consider and accept alternate Bids, if specified in the Solicitation, when most advantageous to the City;

iv. Waive as an informality, minor deviations from specifications provided they do not affect competition or result in functionally unacceptable goods or services;

v. Waive any minor informality in any Bid or Solicitation procedure (a minor informality is one that does not affect the competitiveness of the Bidder);

vi. Add additional terms or modify existing terms in the

Solicitation;

vii. Reject a Bid because of unbalanced unit prices bid;

viii. Reject or cancel any or all Bids for any reason;

ix. Reissue a Solicitation;

x. Procure any item by other means;

xi. Cancel an RFQt prior to the Close Date and time; and/or

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xii. Award in the most advantageous manner to the City, which may include a single award, an award to multiple Suppliers on a non-exclusive award basis, or awarding primary and secondary suppliers.

19.0 POST-BID DOCUMENTS FROM RECOMMENDED BIDDER

19.1 Certificates of Insurance:

When insurance is required, the Bidder must provide Certificates of Insurance in the amounts and for the coverages required to the Purchasing Office within 14 calendar days after notification of award, or as otherwise required by the Solicitation.

19.2 Certificate of Interested Parties Form 1295:

If required, the successful bidder must complete the Certificate of Interested Parties Form 1295. The Purchasing Office will contact successful Bidder who will then submit the Form 1295 to the Purchasing contact listed in the solicitation within two (2) City business days. The form may be completed at:

https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/whatsnew/elf_info_form1295.htm

20.0 AGREEMENT TERM

Unless specified otherwise, the Initial Term of the agreement shall be one year.

Upon the expiration of the Initial Term, the agreement shall renew automatically under the same terms and conditions for up to four (4) one-year renewal periods, unless the City or Bidder provides the other party with notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before the expiration of the Initial Term or Renewal Periods. In the event no funds or insufficient funds are appropriated by the City in any fiscal period for any payments due hereunder, the City will notify the Bidder of such occurrence and this Agreement will terminate on the last day of the fiscal period for which appropriations were received without penalty or expense to City of any kind whatsoever, except as to the portions of the payments herein agreed upon for which funds have been appropriated.

https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/whatsnew/elf_info_form1295.htm

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21.0 UNIT PRICE ADJUSTMENT

Suppliers may require that unit prices be adjusted for increases or decreases in the Supplier’s cost during the contract period using the following procedure.

Unless otherwise stated, price adjustments may only be requested on an annual basis in conjunction with the contract’s renewal:

i. The Supplier must submit its price adjustment request in writing at least sixty (60) days before the requested effective period. The Supplier shall provide written proof of cost increases with the price adjustment request.

ii. If the City concludes that the rate increase being requested is unacceptable, the City reserves the right to adjust the rate request, or reject the rate request in its entirety and allow the contract to expire at the end of the contract term. If the City elects not to exercise the renewal option, the Purchasing Division reserves the right to issue a new solicitation or procure the goods or services by any other allowable means.

iii. Prices bid shall remain firm for the term of the Agreement and shall include all associated freight and delivery costs, unless otherwise specifically stated and agreed to by City.

iv. Upon expiration of the Agreement term the successful bidder, agrees to hold over under the same terms and conditions of the executed Agreement for a reasonable period of time to allow the city to re-bid an agreement, not to exceed ninety (90) days.

v. The provision of goods and/or services shall not be suspended by the Supplier except as expressly allowed by the contract’s terms and conditions.

22.0 PROTEST PROCEDURE

i. Bidders who respond to the RFQt have the right to protest the solicitation process or the bid award if they believe that the proper procedure has not been followed, there has been any impropriety or unfair criteria in the process, or that an error has occurred.

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ii. The Bidder must submit any protest in writing to a Senior Purchasing Manager or the Chief Procurement Officer in the City of Fort Worth Purchasing Division within four (4) days after the Bidder knows, or should have known, of the facts relating to the proposed action or award. Bid protests may not be sent via email and must be delivered in person to ensure timely receipt.

iii. The Senior Purchasing Manager, or designee, is authorized to attempt to resolve a protest concerning a purchasing action through telephone discussions, mail, e-mail or in-person meetings with the protesting Bidder.

iv. After discussions or meetings, the Senior Purchasing Manager or designee will issue a decision in writing, state the reasons for the action taken and inform the protesting Bidder of the right to review by a panel made up of City staff. If the Bidder wants a panel review, the Bidder must submit an e-mailed request to fmspurchasingresponses@fortworthtexas.gov within 2 business days of receiving the Senior Purchasing Manger’s written decision.

v. A City protest review panel will consist of an Assistant City Attorney, a representative of the operating department, the Chief Procurement Officer, and any other appropriate personnel or employees. The panel will provide the protesting Bidder its determination regarding the protest within 3 business days of the panel convening.

vi. If the panel is unable to resolve the protest, or if the Bidder does not agree with the Panel’s decision, the protesting Bidder may attend the City Council meeting at which the recommended award is to be presented to the City Council and make known his/her concerns. The protesting Bidder will need follow all applicable rules and deadlines to sign up to speak in front of the City Council or to submit a comment card.

vii. Bidders wishing to speak before the City Council should review the rules for registering to appear before City Council located at:

http://fortworthtexas.gov/citysecretary/info/default.aspx?id=2914 on the City’s website.

mailto:fmspurchasingresponses@fortworthtexas.gov http://fortworthtexas.gov/citysecretary/info/default.aspx?id=2914

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23.0 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING

i. The City has interlocal agreements with many other governmental entities that provides the ability for other entities to use the City’s contracts, so long as the Suppliers agree to extend the same terms, conditions, and pricing to the other entities. Bidder shall indicate in their bids/proposals whether they agree that to extend the terms, conditions, specifications, and pricing of its agreement with the City to other governmental entities.

ii. If the successful Bidder agrees to extend the resulting contract to other governmental entities, the following shall apply: Governmental entities with interlocal agreements with the City shall be eligible, but not obligated to purchase material/services under contract(s) awarded as a result of City solicitations. All purchases by governmental entities other than the City shall be billed directly to that governmental entity and paid by that governmental entity. The City shall not be responsible for another governmental entity’s debts. Each governmental entity shall order its own material/services as needed.

24.0 CHANGE IN COMPANY NAME OR OWNERSHIP

The successful Bidder shall notify the City’s Purchasing Division, in writing, of a company name, ownership, or address change for the purpose of maintaining updated City records. The president of the company or authorized official must sign the letter. A letter indicating changes in a company name or ownership must be accompanied with supporting legal documentation such as an updated W-9, documents filed with the state indicating such change, copy of the board of director’s resolution approving the action, or an executed merger or acquisition agreement. Failure to do so may adversely impact future invoice payments.