12-Special Requirements.pdf

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS/INSTRUCTIONS

All references to Harris County also include the Harris County Juvenile Board and the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department where indicated.

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:

All proposals must be typed, single spaced, and printed single-sided on 8 ½” by 11” paper.

Each section of the vendor’s response should start on a new page. A tabbed divider page marked with the section number should separate each section.

Sections I-VI 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, telephone, and fax number of person(s) to be contacted for clarifications or additional information regarding proposal.

Name, title, email, telephone, and fax number of the 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 Service/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 products/ services and specific deliverables. Indicate if consultant can meet expectations and scope of services described in specifications, or if specifications can only be met under certain conditions.

or circumstances. Include the description of optional value-added services and unique features of the proposal that would provide greater benefit to the Department.

Describe approach in performing the full range of services related to the design, implementation, maintenance, communication, and improvement of the Department’s need of drug testing kits, supplies, and processing efforts including methodology, how work plan aligns with requirements with sample Deliverable(s).

Optional/value added services and pricing (if applicable).

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 Vendor’s history, background, and principal officers Company organization chart Description of project team organization; names and resumes of team members Capacity to serve the Department Licenses/accreditations

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

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS/INSTRUCTIONS (CONTINUED

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:

Description of supplies and services (including types and variety of supplies; collection methods, confirmation methods, reliability, scheduling, office hours, if applicable, etc.) ……...……..…….. 25% (As detailed under “General requirements” and “Vendor Responsibilities,” and in Section II under Special Requirements.)

Professional qualifications and experience of vendor and its staff with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience and demonstrated success in providing the services requested in this RFP ... 23% (As described under “General Requirements” listed in “Vendor Qualifications” and “Vendor Responsibilities,” and in Section IV under Special Requirements.)

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

(As detailed in vendor’s budget detail and best and final offer and in Section III under Special Requirements.)

Turnaround time for services requested ……………………………………………………………… 10% (As described under “Vendor Responsibilities” and Performance Measures,” and in Section II under Special

Experience with other clients of similar size to Harris County and government entities ……….….. 10% (As described in “Vendor Qualifications” under “General Requirements,” and Section IV under Special

Vendor’s professional reputation for integrity and compliance with state and federal law, including having the appropriate license to do business in Texas …………………………………………….. 10% (As described under “Vendor’s Qualifications” on pages 2, 3,and 4 as well as completion of Child Support Affidavit, Debarment and Suspension Certification form, and Conflict of Interest Certification form; Criminal History Checks; and, Training. This is also described in IV under Special Requirements.)

Experience based on references submitted with the vendor’s proposal …………………………….. 5% (As detailed in vendors references and confirmed via reference check); and, .

Overall quality of vendor’s proposal ………………………………………………………….………. 2% (As detailed in General and Special Requirements, Child Support Affidavit, Debarment and Suspension Certification form, and a Conflict of Interest Certification.)

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

Harris County anticipates awarding to a single vendor. However, Harris County reserves the right to award to more than one (1) vendor if in the best interest of Harris County. Harris County reserves the right to review vendor facilities and/or mobile units for compliance prior to 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/whatsnew/elf_info_form1295.htm prior to submitting your response. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of your response.

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.

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:

Harris County Auditor’s Office c/o Accounts Payable 1001 Preston, Suite 800 Houston, Texas 77002

Or emailed to: VENDORINVOICES@HCTX.NET

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”.

SUBCONTRACTOR

Should the awarded vendor use any subcontractor(s) to perform the physical services required under this contract and the total contract amount proposed exceeds $25,000, the vendor shall be required to obtain a payment bond for the total amount of the vendor’s proposal. The payment bond shall remain in effect for the entire initial term of the contract. For the purposes of this RFP, a subcontractor shall include anyone performing any Work or Services under the resulting contract not directly employed by vendor. Subcontractor includes but is not limited to, personnel provided by staffing agencies or other means, personnel in direct contractual relationship with vendor, or those being paid as 1099 personnel. Where appropriate, it shall also mean trade vendors.

By law, any subcontractor used on any Harris County contract/job must be paid by the awarded vendor. Any cost associated with the payment bond must be included in the costs associated with this contract. A new payment bond will be required each year the contract is renewed. Harris County will provide the appropriate bond documents to the awarded vendor to complete and submit prior to commencing any work.

BOND

If successful vendor utilizes a subcontractor, successful vendor is required to furnish a payment bond in the amount of 100% of proposal within ten (10) days of the award. The payment bond must remain in effect for the duration of the contract including renewals. Upon award, Harris County Purchasing will send awarded vendor a payment bond application.

TOLL/PARKING FEES

Any and all tolls and parking fees incurred by the vendor during the term of this contract will be the responsibility of the vendor.

PUBLIC INFORMATION CONSENT

The parties expressly acknowledge that each party is subject to the Texas Public Information Act, Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §§

552.001 et seq., as amended, and notwithstanding any provision in this contract to the contrary, each party will make any information related to this contract, or otherwise, available to third parties in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act.

COUNTY NOT OBLIGATED TO THIRD PARTIES

Neither the County nor related agencies are obligated or liable under this contract to any party other than vendor. Nothing in this contract is intended to, or shall be deemed or construed to, create or enhance any remedies in any independent rights of any third party, including any subcontractors.

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.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR

The parties hereby acknowledge that they are independent contractors, and neither the vendor nor any of its agents, representatives, personnel, staff, or employees shall be considered agents, representatives, or employees of Harris County. In no event shall this contract be construed as establishing a partnership or joint venture or similar relationship between the parties hereto. Vendor agrees that it is and shall be liable for its own debts, obligations, acts and omissions, including the payment of all required withholding, social security, and other taxes or benefits including worker’s compensation insurance.

Vendor agrees to assure that no employee or any other individual who performs services on behalf of vendor pursuant to this contract shall look to Harris County for any salaries, insurance, or other benefits whatsoever. The provisions of the paragraph shall survive expiration or termination of this contract regardless of the cause of such termination.