10-General Requirements for Proposals.pdf

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSALS

READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT CAREFULLY. FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS. YOU ARE

RESPONSIBLE FOR FULFILLING ALL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS. BE SURE YOU

UNDERSTAND THEM.

General Requirements apply to all advertised requests for proposals; however, these may be superseded, whole or in part, by OTHER DATA CONTAINED HEREIN.

ACCESS TO RECORDS

In special circumstances, vendor may be required to allow duly authorized representatives of Harris County, the Harris County Hospital District or the state and federal government access to contracts, books, documents, and records necessary to verify the nature and extent of the cost of services provided by vendor. Vendor must keep records within Harris County or note in proposal that records will be available within the boundaries of Harris County to those representatives within twenty-four (24) hours of request by the County.

ACH VENDOR PAYMENT (Automated Clearinghouse) Harris County offers ACH vendor payment services for all vendors providing products or services. Instructions and authorization agreement forms are provided at www.hctx.net/auditor/.

ADDENDA

When specifications are revised, the Harris County Purchasing Department will issue an addendum addressing the nature of the change. Offerors must sign and include it in the returned proposal package.

ASSIGNMENT

The successful offeror may not assign, sell or otherwise transfer this contract without written permission of Harris County Commissioners Court or other applicable governing body.

AWARD

Harris County reserves the right to award this contract on the basis of LOWEST AND BEST OFFER in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, to waive any formality or irregularity, to make awards to more than one offeror, to reject any or all proposals. Harris County may award by total, by group, by item or as best serves the county. In the event the lowest dollar offeror meeting specifications is not awarded a contract, the offeror may appear before the Commissioners Court, Hospital District Board of Trustees, the Juvenile Board or other applicable governing body and present evidence concerning his responsibility after officially notifying the Office of the Purchasing Agent of his intent to appear.

BONDS

If this RFP requires submission of proposal guarantee and performance and payment bonds, there will be a separate page explaining those requirements. Proposals submitted without the required proposal bond or cashier's checks are not acceptable.

CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PARTIES (FORM 1295)

Texas law requires all parties who enter into any contract with the County which must be approved by Commissioners Court to disclose all interested parties. Form 1295 must be completed in its entirety at the following website:

https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/filinginfo/1295/ prior to submitting your response. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of your response.

CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT, SUSPENSION INELIGIBILITY, AND VOLUNTARY

EXCLUSION

The Contractor certifies by execution of this Contract that it is not ineligible for participation in federal or state assistance programs under Executive Order 12549, "Debarment and Suspension." Additionally, contractor warrants and represents by execution of this Contract that it is not debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in any Federal programs, including but not limited to the following: Department of Health and Human Work (DHHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) - List of Excluded Individuals & Entities (LEIE); U.S. General Work Administration (GSA) – Excluded Parties List System (EPLS); All States (50) Health & Human Work Commission Medicaid OIG Sanction List; Government Terrorist Watch List (OFAC / Patriot Act); Department of http://www.hctx.net/auditor/ https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/whatsnew/elf_info_form1295.htm https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/filinginfo/1295/

Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Denied Persons List; and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Most Wanted. The Contractor further agrees to include this certification in all contracts between itself and any subcontractors in connection with the services performed under this Contract.

Contractor also certifies that contractor will notify Harris County in writing immediately if contractor is not in compliance with Executive Order 12549 during the term of this contract. Contractor agrees to refund Harris County for any payments made to the contractor while ineligible.

COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAWS

The vendor shall follow all federal, state, and local laws, rules, codes, ordinances, and regulations applicable to the vendor’s Services.

Pursuant to Chapter 2252, Texas Government Code, the vendor represents and certifies that, at the time of execution of this Contract/Agreement neither the vendor, nor any wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company or affiliate of the same (i) engages in business with Iran, Sudan, or any foreign terrorist organization as described in Chapter 2270 of the Texas Government Code, or Subchapter F of Chapter 2252 of the Texas Government Code, or (ii) is a company listed by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts under Sections 2270.0201 or 2252.153 of the Texas Government Code. The term "foreign terrorist organization" in this paragraph has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2252.151 of the Texas Government Code.

The vendor warrants and represents that it will pay all its workers all monies earned by its workers including but not limited to regular wages, any overtime compensation, or any additional payments pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 207 9a(1), as amended, the Texas Pay Day Act, the Equal Pay Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e, et al., as amended, or any provisions of the Texas Labor Code Ann., as amended.

Harris County operates its business ethically and in compliance with the law. We ask that any contractor’s or vendor’s employee doing business with Harris County who believes he or she has witnessed any suspected ethical violation or fraud immediately report the allegations to:

Harris County Purchasing Agent, 1111 Fannin Street, 12th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002, 713-274-4400, Kimberly.Williams@pur.hctx.net

Harris County will conduct a prompt and thorough investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, Harris County will refer any suspected criminal activity to the District Attorney or an appropriate law enforcement agency. Contractors or vendors who report suspected ethical violations or fraud can do so without fear of retaliation. Retaliating against any contractor or vendor for reporting suspected ethical violations or fraud is strictly prohibited.

Contractor/Vendor warrants and represents, in accordance with Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 2270.002, that unless Contractor/Vendor meets an exemption under subsection (a), then, as required by subsection (b), Contractor’s/Vendor’s signature on the Contract/Agreement constitutes written verification that it does not boycott Israel and will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract.

CONTRACT OBLIGATION

Harris County Commissioners Court must award the contract and the County Judge or other person authorized by the Harris County Commissioners Court must sign the contract before it becomes binding on Harris County or the offerors.

Department heads are NOT authorized to sign agreements for Harris County. Binding agreements shall remain in effect until all products and/or services covered by this purchase have been satisfactorily delivered and accepted.

CONTRACT RENEWALS

Renewals may be made ONLY by written agreement between Harris County and the offeror. Any price escalations are limited to those stated by the offeror in the original proposal.

CONTRACT TRANSITION

In the event services end by either contract expiration or termination, it shall be required that the vendor continue services if requested by Harris County Purchasing, until new services can be completely operational. The vendor acknowledges its responsibility to cooperate fully with the replacement vendor and Harris County to ensure a smooth mailto:Kimberly.Williams@pur.hctx.net and timely transition to the replacement vendor. Such transitional period shall not extend more than ninety (90) days beyond the expiration/termination date of the contract, or any extension thereof. The vendor shall be reimbursed for services during the transitional period at the rate in effect when the transitional period clause is invoked by Harris County. During any transition period, all other terms and conditions of the contract shall remain in full force and effect as originally written and subsequently amended.

DIGITAL FORMAT

If, in its proposal response, offeror makes any changes whatsoever to the County's published proposal specifications, the County's proposal specifications as published shall control. Furthermore, if an alteration of any kind to the County's published proposal specifications is only discovered after the contract is executed and is or is not being performed, the contract is subject to immediate cancellation.

DISQUALIFICATION OF OFFEROR

Upon signing this bid document, an offeror offering to sell supplies, materials, services, or equipment to Harris County certifies that the offeror has not violated the antitrust laws of this state codified in Texas Business and Commerce Code §15.01, et seq., as amended, or the federal antitrust laws, and has not communicated directly or indirectly the bid made to any competitor or any other person engaged in such line of business. Any or all proposals may be rejected if the County believes that collusion exists among the offerors. Proposals in which the prices are obviously unbalanced may be rejected. If multiple proposals are submitted by an offeror and after the proposals are opened, one of the proposals is withdrawn, the result will be that all of the proposals submitted by that offeror will be withdrawn;

however, nothing herein prohibits a vendor from submitting multiple proposals - for different products or services.

E-MAIL ADDRESSES CONSENT

Vendor affirmatively consents to the disclosure of its e-mail addresses that are provided to Harris County, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris County Hospital District including its HMO, the Harris County Appraisal District, or any agency of Harris County. This consent is intended to comply with the requirements of the Texas Public Information Act, Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §552.137, as amended, and shall survive termination of this agreement.

This consent shall apply to e-mail addresses provided by Vendor, its employees, officers, and agents acting on Vendor’s behalf and shall apply to any e-mail address provided in any form for any reason whether related to this bid/proposal or otherwise.

EVALUATION

Evaluation shall be used as a determinant as to which proposed items or services are the most efficient and/or most economical for the County. It shall be based on all factors which have a bearing on price and performance of the items in the user environment. All proposals are subject to negotiations by the Harris County Purchasing Department with recommendation to the appropriate governing body. Compliance with all requirements, delivery and needs of the using department are considerations in evaluating proposals. Pricing is NOT the only criteria for making a recommendation. A preliminary evaluation by Harris County will be held and appropriate proposals will be subjected to the negotiating process and a request for a Best and Final Offer. Upon completion of the negotiations, Harris County will make an award. All proposals that have been submitted shall be available and open for public inspection after the contract is awarded except for trade secrets or confidential information contained in the proposals and identified as such.

FISCAL FUNDING

A multi-year lease or lease/purchase arrangement (if requested by the Special Requirements/Instructions), or any contract continuing as a result of an extension option, must include a fiscal funding out provision in the lease or contract. If, for any reason, funds are not appropriated by the applicable governing body to continue the lease or contract in their sole discretion, said lease or contract shall become null and void on the last day of the current appropriation of funds. After expiration of the lease, leased equipment shall be removed by the offeror from the using department without penalty of any kind or form to Harris County. All charges and physical activity related to delivery, installation, removal and redelivery shall be the responsibility of the offeror.

GOVERNING FORMS

In the event of any conflict between the terms and provisions of these requirements and the specifications, the specifications shall govern. In the event of any conflict of interpretation of any part of this overall document, Harris County's interpretation shall govern.

GOVERNING LAW

This request for proposal is governed by the competitive bidding requirements of the County Purchasing Act, Texas Local Government Code, §262.021 et seq., as amended. Offerors shall comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Offeror is further advised that these requirements shall be fully governed by the laws of the State of Texas and that Harris County may request and rely on advice, decisions and opinions of the Attorney General of Texas and the County Attorney concerning any portion of these requirements. Forum for contractual issues shall be in Texas and venue shall be exclusively in Houston, Harris County, Texas, in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction.

The County does not agree to binding arbitration and does not waive its right to a jury trial.

GRANT FUNDING

Any contract entered into by the County that is to be paid from grant funds shall be limited to payment from the grant funding and the vendor/provider understands that the County has not set aside any County funds for the payment of obligations under a grant contract. If grant funding should become unavailable at any time for the continuation of services paid for by the grant, and further funding cannot be obtained for the contract, then the sole recourse of the provider shall be to terminate any further services under the contract and the contract shall be null and void.

HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Offeror agrees to comply with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-191 (codified at 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164), as amended ("HIPAA"); privacy and security regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services ("DHHS"); Title XIII, Subtitle D of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-5, as amended ("HITECH Act");

provisions regarding Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records (codified at 42 C.F.R. Part 2), as amended; and TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. §§ 81.046, as amended, 181.001 et seq., as amended,

241.151 et seq., as amended, and 611.001 et seq., as amended collectively referred to as "HIPAA", to the extent that the Offeror uses, discloses or has access to protected health information as defined by HIPAA. Offeror may be required to enter a Business Associate Agreement pursuant to HIPAA.

HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT

Contractor, the successful offeror, shall indemnify, defend, and hold Harris County harmless from all claims for personal injury, death and/or property damage resulting directly or indirectly from contractor's performance.

Contractor shall procure and maintain, with respect to the subject matter of this proposal, appropriate insurance coverage including, as a minimum, public liability and property damage with adequate limits to cover contractor's liability as may arise directly or indirectly from work performed under terms of this proposal. Certification of such coverage must be provided to the County upon request.

INSPECTIONS & TESTING

Harris County reserves the right to inspect any item(s) or service location for compliance with specifications and requirements and needs of the using department. If an offeror cannot furnish a sample of a proposed item, where applicable, for review, or fails to satisfactorily show an ability to perform, the County can reject the proposal as inadequate.

INVOICES AND PAYMENTS

Offerors shall submit an original invoice on each purchase order or purchase release after each delivery, indicating the purchase order number. Invoices must be itemized. Any invoice, which cannot be verified by the contract price and/or is otherwise incorrect, will be returned to the offeror for correction. Under term contracts, when multiple deliveries and/or services are required, the offeror may invoice following each delivery and the County will pay on invoice. Contracts providing for a monthly charge will be billed and paid on a monthly basis only. Prior to any and all payments made for goods and/or services provided under this contract, the offeror should provide his Taxpayer Identification Number or social security number as applicable. This information must be on file with the Harris County Auditor’s office. Failure to provide this information may result in a delay in payment and/or back-up withholding as required by the Internal Revenue Service.

MAINTENANCE

Maintenance required for equipment proposed should be available in Harris County by a manufacturer-authorized maintenance facility. Costs for this service shall be shown on the Pricing/Delivery Information form. If Harris County opts to include maintenance, it shall be so stated in the purchase order and said cost will be included. Service will commence only upon expiration of applicable warranties and should be priced accordingly.

NAME BRANDS

Specifications may reference name brands and model numbers. It is not the intent of Harris County to restrict these bids in such cases, but to establish a desired quality level of merchandise or to meet a pre-established standard due to like existing items. Offerors may offer items of equal stature and the burden of proof of such stature rests with offerors.

Harris County shall act as sole judge in determining equality and acceptability of products offered.

NEW MILLENIUM COMPLIANCE

All products and/or services furnished as part of this contract must be compliant for the present year and forward.

This applies to all computers including hardware and software as well as all other commodities with date sensitive embedded chips.

POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

An outside consultant or contractor is prohibited from submitting a proposal for services on a Harris County project of which the consultant or contractor was a designer or other previous contributor, or was an affiliate, subsidiary, joint venturer or was in any other manner associated by ownership to any party that was a designer or other previous contributor. If such a consultant or contractor submits a prohibited proposal, that proposal shall be disqualified on the basis of conflict of interest, no matter when the conflict is discovered by Harris County. Potential bidders are advised that they may have disclosure requirements pursuant to Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 176. This law requires persons desiring to do business with the County to disclose any gifts valued in excess of $250 given to any County Official or the County Official’s family member, or employment of any County Official or the County Official’s family member during the preceding twelve (12) month period. The disclosure questionnaire must be filed with the Harris County Clerk. Refer to Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 176 for the details of this law.

Contractor shall not use funds to directly or indirectly pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence any public employee or official in connection with the awarding of any contract or the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment or modification of any contract.

Additionally, pursuant to 31 U.S.C.A. § 1352 (2003), if at any time during the contract term funding to contractor exceeds $100,000.00, contractor shall file with the County the Federal Standard Form LLL titled “Disclosure Form to Report Lobbying.”

PROPOSAL FORM COMPLETION

Fill out and return to the Harris County Purchasing Department ONE (1) complete proposal online through Bonfire.

If not submitting online then place the hard copy in an appropriately sized envelope or box, and the PACKAGE MUST SHOW THE JOB NUMBER, DESCRIPTION AND BE MARKED “SEALED PROPOSAL.” An authorized representative of the offeror should sign the Request for Proposal Acknowledgement Form. The contract will be binding only when signed by Harris County, funds are certified by the County Auditor and or the Hospital District, as applicable, and a Purchase Order issued.

PROPOSAL RETURNS

Offerors must submit a completed proposal online through Bonfire (preferred method) or as a hard copy before 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME IN HOUSTON, TEXAS on the date specified. Late bids will not be accepted for any reason.

PURCHASE ORDER AND DELIVERY

The successful offeror shall not deliver products or provide services without a Harris County Purchase Order, signed by an authorized agent of the Harris County Purchasing Department. The fastest, most reasonable delivery time shall be indicated by the offeror in the proper place on the Pricing/Delivery Information form. Any special information concerning delivery should also be included, on a separate sheet, if necessary. All items shall be shipped F.O.B.

INSIDE DELIVERY unless otherwise stated in the specifications. This shall be understood to include bringing merchandise to the appropriate room or place designated by the using department. Every tender or delivery of goods must fully comply with all provisions of these requirements and the specifications including time, delivery and quality.

Nonconformance shall constitute a breach which must be rectified prior to expiration of the time for performance.

Failure to rectify within the performance period will be considered cause to reject future deliveries and cancellation of the contract by Harris County without prejudice to other remedies provided by law. Where delivery times are critical, Harris County reserves the right to award accordingly.

RECYCLED MATERIALS

Harris County encourages the use of products made of recycled materials and shall give preference in purchasing to products made of recycled materials if the products meet applicable specifications as to quantity and quality. Harris County will be the sole judge in determining product preference application.

SAFETY DATA SHEETS

Under the "Hazardous Communication Act", commonly known as the "Texas Right To Know Act", an offeror must provide to the County with each delivery, safety data sheets which are applicable to hazardous substances defined in the Act. Failure of the offeror to furnish this documentation will be cause to reject any proposal applying thereto.

SCANNED OR RE-TYPED RESPONSE

If in its response, offeror either electronically scans, re-types, or in some way reproduces the County's published proposal package, then in the event of any conflict between the terms and provisions of the County's published proposal package, or any portion thereof, and the terms and provisions of the response made by offeror, the County's proposal package as published shall control. Furthermore, if an alteration of any kind to the County's published proposal package is only discovered after the contract is executed and is or is not being performed; the contract is subject to immediate cancellation.

SEVERABILITY

If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word of these requirements or the specifications shall be held invalid, such holding shall not affect the remaining portions of these requirements and the specifications and it is hereby declared that such remaining portions would have been included in these requirements and the specifications as though the invalid portion had been omitted.

SILENCE OF SPECIFICATIONS

The apparent silence of specifications as to any detail, or the apparent omission from it of a detailed description concerning any point, shall be regarded as meaning that only the best commercial practice is to prevail and that only material and workmanship of the finest quality are to be used. All interpretations of specifications shall be made on the basis of this statement. The items furnished under this contract shall be new, unused of the latest product in production to commercial trade and shall be of the highest quality as to materials used and workmanship.

Manufacturer furnishing these items shall be experienced in design and construction of such items and shall be an established supplier of the item proposed.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Offerors are responsible for including all pertinent product data in the returned proposal package. Literature, brochures, data sheets, specification information, completed forms requested as part of the proposal package and any other facts which may affect the evaluation and subsequent contract award should be included. Materials such as legal documents and contractual agreements, which the offeror wishes to include as a condition of the proposal, must also be in the returned proposal package. Failure to include all necessary and proper supplemental materials may be cause to reject the entire proposal.

TAXES

Harris County is exempt from all federal excise, state and local taxes unless otherwise stated in this document. Harris County claims exemption from all sales and/or use taxes under Texas Tax Code §151.309, as amended. Texas Limited Sales Tax Exemption Certificates will be furnished upon written request to the Harris County Purchasing Agent.

TERM CONTRACTS

If the contract is intended to cover a specific time period, the term will be given in the specifications under SCOPE.

TERMINATION

Harris County reserves the right to terminate the contract for default if offeror breaches any of the terms therein, including warranties of offeror or if the offeror becomes insolvent or commits acts of bankruptcy. Such right of termination is in addition to and not in lieu of any other remedies which Harris County may have in law or equity.

Default may be construed as, but not limited to, failure to deliver the proper goods and/or services within the proper

VENDORS OWING TAXES OR OTHER DEBTS

Pursuant to TX Local Government Code 262.0276, Harris County Commissioners Court has adopted a policy which requires that vendors’ taxes and other Harris County debts be current as of the date bids/proposals are due. Bidders with delinquent county taxes or other county debts on the due date will not be eligible for award. Whether or not a vendor’s taxes are delinquent will be determined by an independent review of the Tax Office records. Prior to submitting an offer, vendors are encouraged to visit the Tax Office website at www.hctax.net, set up a portfolio of their accounts and make their own initial determination of the status of their tax accounts. Vendors who believe a delinquency is reflected in error must contact the Tax Office to correct any errors or discrepancies prior to submitting their offer in order to ensure that their offer will be considered. Furthermore, if, during the performance of this contract, a vendor’s taxes become delinquent or a vendor becomes otherwise indebted to Harris County, Harris County reserves the right to provide notice to the Auditor or Treasurer pursuant to Texas Local Government Code §154.045.

This policy is effective for all bids/proposals due on or after November 1, 2009.

amount of time, and/or to properly perform any and all services required to Harris County's satisfaction and/or to meet all other obligations and requirements. Harris County may terminate the contract without cause upon thirty (30) days written notice.

TERMINATION FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS

Harris County has the option to terminate this contract immediately without prior notice if offeror fails to perform any of its obligations in this contract if the failure (a) created a potential threat to health or safety or (b) violated a law, ordinance, or regulation designed to protect health or safety.

TITLE TRANSFER

Title and Risk of Loss of goods shall not pass to Harris County until Harris County actually receives and takes possession of the goods at the point or points of delivery. Receiving times may vary with the using department.

Generally, deliveries may be made between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Offerors are advised to consult the using department for instructions. The place of delivery shall be shown under the "Special Requirements/Instructions" section of this proposal package and/or on the Purchase Order as a "Deliver To:" address.

WAIVER OF SUBROGATION

Offeror and offeror's insurance carrier waive any and all rights whatsoever with regard to subrogation against Harris County as an indirect party to any suit arising out of personal or property damages resulting from offeror's performance under this agreement.

WARRANTIES

Offerors shall furnish all data pertinent to warranties or guarantees which may apply to items in the proposal. Offerors may not limit or exclude any implied warranties. Offeror warrants that product sold to the County shall conform to the standards established by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. In the event product does not conform to OSHA Standards, where applicable, Harris County may return the product for correction or replacement at the offeror's expense. If offeror fails to make the appropriate correction within a reasonable time, Harris County may correct at the offeror's expense.

Revised 02/26 http://www.hctax.net/