11-Special Requirements.pdf

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS/INSTRUCTIONS

The following requirements and instructions supersede General Requirements where applicable.

VENDOR INSTRUCTIONS

Responses to this Request for Proposal (RFP) shall be formatted and organized in the following order for consistency and easy screening:

• Preferred submission is via Bonfire.

• Vendors may submit electronically through Bonfire or via hardcopy to 1111 Fannin, 12th Floor, Houston, TX 77002 no later than the due date and time as stated on the Bonfire Opportunity.

• All proposals must be typed and single spaced.

• Each section of the vendor’s response should start on a new page.

• Sections I-VII below must be uploaded under Bonfire’s Requested Information section.

Section I: Transmittal Letter - The transmittal letter should include:

• Company name and address; name, title, email, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted for clarifications or additional information regarding proposal;

• Name, title, email, and telephone number of person authorized to contractually obligate vendor’s company with proposal and any future negotiations; and

• A brief statement summarizing the vendor’s understanding of the project and relevant experience.

Section II: Scope of Services/Narrative of Proposed Services

• Describe proposed methodology and approach to the project, including a description of your understanding of the project.

• Provide the greatest amount of meaningful detail as possible to describe the proposed equipment and specific deliverables. Indicate if your firm can meet expectations described in specifications, or if specifications can only be met under certain conditions.

• Provide a timeline indicating deliverables, vendor responsibilities and resources needed from Harris County.

• Provide an emergency response plan for disaster or refrigeration failure.

• Provide documentation of overall process for death certificate, permitting, and remains tracking.

Mere reiterations of the specifications are strongly discouraged, as they do not provide insight into the vendor’s ability to meet the specifications.

Section III: Pricing Information

• BidTable(s) shall be uploaded to Bonfire in an Excel format under the Requested Information section of this solicitation.

Section IV: Organizational Information/Qualifications/Experience

• Vendor’s history, background, and principal officers

• Company organization chart

• Description of project team organization; names and resumes of team members and the role of each team member.

• Ensure to include the resumes of the proposed funeral directors.

• Please explain, describe, and provide examples of how the firm is qualified to provide the required services, with specific examples/references (excel questionnaire).

• Past experience on projects of similar size and scope.

• Staff qualifications and experience.

• Provide proof of licensure by the Texas Funeral Service Commission.

• Provide pictures of facilities and vehicle inventory list with transport capacity details.

Section V: Legal Documents – Include any standard agreement(s) and/or contracts(s) associated with vendor’s response.

Section VI: Miscellaneous – State exceptions to any of the requirements in this RFP, if any. Company brochures, marketing materials, or any other information vendor deems appropriate to the RFP response may be included in this section.

Harris County will not be liable for any costs incurred by the vendor in preparing a response to this RFP. Vendors submit proposals at their own risk and expense. Harris County makes no guarantee that any products or services will be purchased as a result of this RFP and reserves the right to reject any and all proposals. All proposals and accompanying documentation will become the property of Harris County. All proposals are open to negotiation.

The vendor is expected to examine all documents, forms, specifications, and all instructions. Failure to do so will be at vendor’s risk.

At and after opening, proposals will NOT be part of the public record and subject to disclosure, but will be kept confidential until time of award and execution of an agreement. When an award is made and an agreement is executed, proposals are subject to review under the “Public Information Act”. To the extent permitted by law, vendors may request in writing non-disclosure of confidential data. Such data shall accompany the proposal, be readily separable from the proposal, and shall be CLEARLY MARKED “CONFIDENTIAL”. For those portions identified as confidential by the vendor, Harris County must rely on advice, decisions and opinions of the Attorney General of the State of Texas relative to the disclosure of data or information.

EVALUATION PROCESS

All proposals will be examined by an evaluation committee consisting of various Harris County personnel and Harris County Purchasing. Proposals that do not conform to the instructions or which do not address all the services as specified may be eliminated from consideration. However, Harris County reserves the right to accept such a proposal if it is determined to be in the best interest of Harris County.

While Harris County appreciates a brief, straightforward, concise reply, the proposer must fully understand that the evaluation is based on the information provided. Accuracy and completeness are essential. Omissions, ambiguous and equivocal statements may be construed against the proposer. The proposal response may be incorporated into any contract which results from this RFP, and vendors are cautioned not to make claims or statements it is not prepared to commit to contractually. Failure of the vendor to meet such claims will result in a requirement that the vendor provide resources necessary to meet submitted claims.

Harris County Purchasing may initiate discussions with selected vendors; however, discussions may not be initiated by vendors.

Harris County Purchasing expects to conduct discussions with vendor’s representatives authorized to contractually obligate the vendor with an offer. Vendors shall not contact any Harris County personnel during the RFP process without the express permission from the Office of the Harris County Purchasing Agent. Harris County Purchasing may disqualify any vendor who has made site visits, contacted Harris County personnel or distributed any literature without authorization from Harris County Purchasing.

All correspondence relating to this RFP, from advertisement to award shall be sent to Harris County Purchasing. All presentations and/or meetings between Harris County and the vendor relating to this RFP shall be coordinated by Harris County Purchasing.

Selected vendors may be expected to make a presentation/product demonstration to an evaluation committee. Proposals, vendor presentations and product/service evaluations may develop into negotiating sessions with the vendor(s) as selected by the Evaluation Committee. Harris County expects to conduct negotiations with vendor’s representatives authorized to contractually obligate the vendor with an offer. If vendor is unable to agree to contract terms and conditions, Harris County reserves the right to terminate contract negotiations with that vendor and initiate negotiations with another vendor. In addition to a presentation, visits by the Evaluation Committee to representative vendor client sites may be conducted where the proposed solution can be demonstrated in a production environment.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Award shall be made to the responsible vendor whose proposal is determined to be the best evaluated offer resulting from negotiations and taking into consideration all aspects of proposal impact items and the following in order of relative importance:

Qualifications & Experience………………………………………………………………………………………………25% Vendor provides qualifications and experience of staff to be assigned to contract and demonstrates ability to meet the qualifications and compliance requirements listed herein.

Vendor demonstrates specialized experience or technical expertise in connection with the scope of services to be provided and complexity of the project, which includes a thorough description of other successful projects, that demonstrate the firm's ability to carry out the scope of work similar to the one described in this RFP.

Capacity and Resources…………………………………………………………………………………………………...25% Vendor demonstrates staffing size and capacity of the organization to perform the work within time limitations, taking into consideration the current and projected workload of the vendor.

Vendor demonstrates understanding of scope of the contract. Vendor demonstrates ability to perform requested services for similar projects of scope and scale by providing two (2) recent examples of contracts completed on budget and on time. Vendor demonstrates sufficient financial capacity and acceptable business practices.

Organization and Project Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………..20% Vendor describes how the services will be provided and how they will be supported.

Vendor describes the approach that the vendor will take to complete the required services, scheduling, reporting, and coordination required for this contract. Examples of vendor's forms, tracking and record keeping methods may be presented.

Pricing……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...15%

After completion of the initial evaluation, only vendors whose submissions are determined to be within the competitive range will be invited to participate in the next phase of the RFP process, which includes site visits, presentations, interviews, negotiations and/or a request for Best and Final Offers

(BAFO).

Presentation/Interview and Facility Site Visit……………………………………………………………………………15% Vendors will deliver a presentation outlining their proposed mortuary service solution, including processes for handling remains, compliance with the Texas Funeral Service Commission, health and safety regulations, and service quality standards. This will be followed by an interview session to address questions and clarify details. After the interview, vendors must provide access to their mortuary facilities for an on-site review. The evaluation committee will assess operational capabilities, equipment, staffing capacity, and ethical standards.

Submission of a proposal implies the vendor's acceptance of the evaluation criteria and vendor’s recognition that subjective judgments must be made by the Evaluation Committee

AWARD

No award can be made until approved by Harris County Commissioners Court. This RFP does not obligate Harris County to the eventual purchase of any product/service described, implied or which may be proposed. Progress toward this end is solely at the discretion of Harris County and may be terminated at any time prior to execution of an agreement.

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.

https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/filinginfo/1295/

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Vendor should submit any agreement for products/services which may be required by the vendor’s organization to enter into a contract with Harris County. The awarded vendor will be required to execute an agreement with Harris County which finalizes the terms and conditions set forth in vendor’s proposal, best and final offer, and any negotiations between vendor and Harris County. The agreement is subject to review and amendment by the Harris County Attorney’s Office.

COMPLIANCE AND STANDARDS

County and its designee shall have the right to conduct examinations, studies and audits of the services , payments, and efficiencies provided under these specifications and County may make such examinations, studies, and audits at any time whether before or after payment. Vendor shall cooperate with such examinations, studies, and audits and provide County with such records, data, documents, including all of Vendor’s backup and support data for billings, and Vendor shall provide access to such records, data, documents and personnel as are requested by County or the County Auditor. All payments made by County are subject to re-evaluation and refund or withholding of future payments conditioned on the results of the audit. This section shall survive termination of this Agreement.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA) COMPLIANCE

Vendor agrees that vendor is solely responsible for compliance by employees, or individuals performing services on its behalf under this contract with the final regulations issued by the OSHA governing employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens in the workplace under Section VI(b) of the OSHA Act of 1970, as amended, and regulations effective March 6, 1992, and as may be amended or superseded from time to time (the “Regulations”), including but not limited to responsibility as “the employer” to provide all employees with: (1) information and training about the hazards associated with blood and other potentially infectious materials; (2) information and training about the protective measures to be taken to minimize the risk of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens; (3) training in the appropriate action to take in an emergency involving exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials; and (4) information as to the reasons the employee should participate in hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up. Vendor’s responsibility with respect to the Regulations also shall include the provision of the hepatitis B vaccination in accordance with the Regulations.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

The parties agree that they will not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, creed, sex, age, veteran status, or handicap in either the selection of employees for provision of services under this contract, or as to any aspect of services provided pursuant to this contract; provided, however, that with respect to handicap, the handicap must be such as would, even with reasonable accommodation, in and of itself preclude the individual’s effective delivery of services under this contract.

AUDIT RIGHTS

Audit Rights - The Vendor shall cooperate to the fullest extent with any and all federal, state, local, or County audits to this Agreement. The Vendor’s cooperation shall include, but not be limited to access to all books, records, contracts, spreadsheets, correspondence, and documents, in whatever form, that are applicable to this Agreement and requested by any federal, state, local, or County entity that has rights or jurisdiction over any part of this Agreement or the funds applicable to this Agreement.

Record Retention - The Vendor agrees to retain within the boundaries of Harris County, for six (6) years after the expiration of this Agreement, all books, records, contracts, spreadsheets, correspondence, and documents applicable to this Agreement. The Vendor will retain and make available, and insert the requisite clause in each applicable subcontract requiring its subcontractors to retain and make available, the books, records, contracts, spreadsheets, correspondence, and documents applicable to this Agreement.

OPTIONAL/VALUE-ADDED SERVICES

Vendor may propose optional/value-added services. Vendor must identify the use, functionality and purpose of the optional/value-added item(s), and how Harris County would benefit from electing to procure those item(s). Pricing for proposed item(s) shall be clearly labeled as optional/value-added. Optional/Value-Added Fee Schedule shall be uploaded to Bonfire in an Excel format under the Requested Information section of this solicitation.

PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST

Vendors interested in obtaining information on current or previous contracts related to this RFP may visit https://harriscountytxpurch.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(mswc5tkwfztdc4qj5lpymnfw))/supporthome.aspx to submit a Public Information Request.

TOLL/PARKING FEES

Any and all toll/parking FEES incurred by the vendor during the term of this contract will be the responsibility of the vendor.

INVOICES

Vendor shall submit an invoice upon completion of each deliverable. Deliverables will be considered complete only upon written acceptance by Harris County. Each invoice shall include deliverable(s) completed and the price for each. Each invoice shall include deliverable(s) completed and the price for each. Invoice shall be submitted on a monthly basis for work performed during the previous month. All payment requests will be accompanied by applicable: weekly/monthly reports, backup tabulations, and copies of employee time sheets for hourly T&M (Time and Material) tasks. No charges may be billed to Harris County unless such costs are explicitly included in the agreement.

Invoices will be sent to the requesting department and Accounts Payable:

If emailed: VENDORINVOICES@HCTX.NET

If mailed: Harris County Auditor’s Office c/o Accounts Payable

1001 Preston, Suite 800 Houston, Texas 77002

The exact format for monthly invoices and other attachments will be agreed upon between the vendor and Harris County during contract negotiations.

PURCHASE ORDER

Services and/or products must not be provided, and invoices will not be paid without a purchase order, signed by the Harris County Purchasing Agent. Purchase orders will be written in annual increments when applicable. Once a purchase order is issued, the using department will contact the vendor directly to place service orders.

PAYMENTS

Vendor shall be compensated monthly based on a milestone or progress-payment basis. Payments will be provided for monthly progress based on completion of accepted milestones. Invoices shall contain a written report of the project progress and the progressed project schedule showing the completion percentages for each task and milestone.

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Notwithstanding any other requirements contained in the General Requirements section, the Potential Conflicts of Interest section specifically disqualifies any consultant, contractor and or any other entity who may have been a contributor to the creation of this RFP from proposing on this RFP and shall constitute a “prohibited proposal”.

REFERENCES

Vendor must provide a minimum of six (6) references or letters of reference from companies for whom vendor has provided similar services in the past ten (10) years as demonstration of vendor’s prior experience. Letters must include the following information:

• Organization/client name/address

• Name of contact person

• Telephone number for contact

• Vendor services provided to this client

• Professional relationship with the organization/client

• Description of vendor’s ability to fill recruitment requests

• Description of quality of personnel provided by vendor https://harriscountytxpurch.govqa.us/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(mswc5tkwfztdc4qj5lpymnfw))/supporthome.aspx mailto:VENDORINVOICES@HCTX.NET

• Whether the organization/client would recommend vendor

References provided must be current and verifiable. Harris County will conduct reference checks to verify and validate vendor’s past performance. Reference checks indicating poor or failed performance by vendor will be cause for rejection of the response submitted. In addition, failure to provide verifiable letters of reference or References, will be cause for rejection of the response submitted. References from large government entities are preferred.

DATA BREACH OR SUSPECTED BREACH

Vendor shall have policies and procedures in place for the effective management of information security. In the event that vendor discovers a “security incident,” the vendor agrees to notify the County as soon as possible, but in no event shall notification occur later than 24 hours after discovery. “Security incident” is defined by Sec. 2054.603 of the Texas Government Code to include (i) a breach or suspected breach of system security (as defined by Sec. 521.053, Texas Business and Commerce Code), and (ii) the introduction of ransomware (as defined by Sec. 33.023, Texas Penal Code) into a computer, computer network, or computer system. Vendor shall provide notifications required by this clause to the County’s Chief Information Officer at 713-274-4444 or svcitchd@hctx.net.

mailto:svcitchd@hctx.net