4-05. CQ26-0159AN - Selection Process Document.pdf

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REQUEST FOR

QUALIFICATIONS

(RFQ)

SELECTION PROCESS

School District of Lee County, Florida

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 1

Lobbying __________________________________________________________________ 2

2. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) SELECTION PROCESS ______________________ 3

A. Overview ______________________________________________________________ 3

B. Selection Committee _____________________________________________________ 3

Orientation ____________________________________________________________ 3

C. Selection Criteria ________________________________________________________ 5

D. Advertising ____________________________________________________________ 5

E. Receipt and Opening of Responses __________________________________________ 5

F. Selection Process ________________________________________________________ 6

Step 1 – Review Responses and Develop Short List _____________________________ 6

Step 2 – Presentations, Interviews and Ranking ________________________________ 7

G. Award and Negotiation Process ____________________________________________ 8

H. Solicitation Process Close Out ______________________________________________ 8

I. Supplier Diverstiy _______________________________________________________ 9

INTRODUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION

The Mission of the Procurement Services Department of the School District of Lee County, Florida, is to purchase the highest quality goods and services at the best value while protecting the integrity of District funds and adhering to policies and procedures. We maintain fair and equitable relationships with all business partners, provide quality customer service, and contribute to the

District's mission: to ensure that each student achieves his/her highest personal potential.

The Procurement Services Department (Procurement) facilitates the solicitation and selection processes for all commodities and services, including construction and construction-related services required for District operations. Procurement also ensures that District procurement actions comply with School Board policies, and that all transactions are carried out in a fair, objective and unbiased manner under the highest ethical standards. The provisions of Florida Statutes, Chapter

112, Part III, Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, and the School Board’s policies apply to all District employees.

The purpose of this RFQ Selection Process document is to define District processes for selecting service providers for:

• Continuing Contracts awarded in alignment with the Consultants’ Competitive

Negotiation Act (CCNA) (section 287.055, Florida Statutes). The CCNA sets forth requirements for procuring and contracting for professional architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, surveying and mapping services.

• Providers of construction services in accordance with the purchasing model known as

Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). Construction Managers selected pursuant to the

District’s RFQ Selection Process shall be required to offer a guaranteed maximum price and guaranteed completion date, per RFQ requirements. Construction services include and are not limited to the process of building, altering, repairing, improving, or demolishing any structure or building, or other improvements including roadways, utilities, and facility site work.

• Providers of other construction related services including Architectural Services, Civil

Engineering and Building Officials.

District departments may require consulting and/or specialized services, which are not governed by CCNA. The Procurement Services Director, or the designee, may elect to use the same RFQ process as described herein to obtain such services. Each request shall be reviewed on a case-by-

INTRODUCTION

case basis and the Procurement Services Director, or designee, shall determine the appropriate procurement method.

LOBBYING

From the time that a formal solicitation is released until such time as an award is made by the

School Board, vendors, contractors, consultants or their representatives are prohibited from lobbying any Board Member or District Personnel regarding the formal solicitation. All inquiries must be written and directed to the Department of Procurement Services. Lobbying is defined as any action taken by an individual, firm, association, joint venture, partnership, syndicate, corporation, and all other groups who seek to influence the governmental decision of a Board

Member or District Personnel on the award of a contract. Lobbying by any respondent or any individual on behalf of a vendor will result in rejection/disqualification of said response. Violation of the provision regarding lobbying may also result in debarment of the vendor as provided in

School Board Policy 6.071.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) SELECTION PROCESS

2. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) SELECTION PROCESS

A. OVERVIEW

The following basic procedures will be followed to procure professional services in those situations to which the CCNA applies, and also for selecting Construction Managers for CMAR projects. This process shall be referred to as the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Selection Process. The term

“Consultant” shall mean an independent contractor who provides professional services that are subject to CCNA.

The Selection Committee shall review all responses received on time that satisfy the minimum RFQ requirements, and score the compliant responses using the selection criteria established for the specific project, creating a Short List of top ranked firms. The Selection Committee shall request oral presentations from the highest scoring, Short Listed firms. The Committee will score and rank

Short Listed firms in accordance with the scoring criteria defined in the specific RFQ. A recommendation to approve the rankings will be brought forth in compliance with School Board

Purchasing Policy 6.07.

B. SELECTION COMMITTEE

The goal of the Selection Committee is to evaluate the Respondents on an equitable basis.

ORIENTATION

When the new RFQ Selection Process is initiated, and as new members join a Selection Committee, the Procurement designee shall meet with Committee members to review the District Competitive

Solicitation Guidelines and the RFQ Selection Process document, including RFQ Selection Scoring

Criteria (Template). Training will be conducted to familiarize members with the provisions of the public records law, the Florida Government in the Sunshine Law, and the scoring instrument and its use, including:

• Common definitions of the qualification, selection, and presentation criteria; and

• Common definition and scoring of the categories: Doesn’t Meet Requirements, Partially

Meets Requirements, Meets Requirements, and Exceeds Requirements.

Committee meetings shall be facilitated by the Procurement designee. All vendor contact and/or communication regarding an RFQ or the RFQ selection process shall be made in writing with the

Procurement designee.

Each RFQ Selection Committee shall be comprised of 5 to 12 members. Procurement and Facilities

Development and Programming will decide in advance of releasing each RFQ the number and composition of committee members, based on the scope of work. For example, the Chief

Technology Officer may be requested to participate on a Committee for a new school, and may not be selected to participate on a Committee for a roofing project. An attempt to have 50% participation from the Operation Division for the selection committee.

Representatives from the following areas may participate on the committee:

1. Facility Development and Programming Services – e.g. Administrator

2. Facility Development and Programming Services – e.g. Project Manager

3. Maintenance Services – e.g. Administrator

4. Maintenance Services – e.g. Zone Manager

5. Business Services Division – e.g. Administrator

6. Optional: School Development – e.g. Administrator

7. Optional: Current or former Board Advisory Committee member or community representative with no conflict of interest with respect to the specific RFQ, as determined by Procurement and Facility Development and Programming.

i. An Alternate for this committee member may also be selected to take part in the process in the event the primary member is unable to attend a meeting. If selected, the Alternate shall participate in Orientation and project meetings.

ii. A “conflict of interest” is defined as existing when the action of the committee may result in a special private financial gain to the member or a relative of the member;

or to the employer or business associate of the member or relative; or to an entity with which the member or relative is doing business. “Relative” is defined as father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law.

iii. Lobbying restrictions that apply to District staff shall also apply to the community representative.

8. Optional: Planning, Growth and School Capacity – e.g. Administrator

9. Optional: Administrator or Principal who has experience with school renovations or construction

10. Optional: Chief Technology Officer or Information Technology Support Administrator

11. Optional: Chief Academic Officer or Designee

12. Optional: Additional District Staff member(s) with knowledge and vested interest in the selection outcome (e.g. Director, Career and Adult Education; Maintenance Services Trade Supervisor).

Committee meetings shall be open to the public and comply with the Florida Government in the

Sunshine Law. Notice of public Committee meetings shall be posted on the Procurement Services

Department web pages that originate at: http://www.leeschools.net/procurement

C. SELECTION CRITERIA

Standard selection criteria are defined in RFQ Selection Scoring Criteria (Template). The template defines the framework for RFQ Qualification and Selection Criteria. Each RFQ may have unique requirements that result in customizing the RFQ criteria, points, and/or weighting, in advance of publishing the RFQ.

RFQ Selection Criteria shall be established in advance of publishing the RFQ, and shall be included in the solicitation. For each RFQ, the assigned Selection Committee members may contribute to the RFQ specific selection criteria and weights to be used; and shall score and vote as described herein, using the published selection criteria. The Committee shall score in full point increments only.

D. ADVERTISING

Prior to advertising, Procurement will develop a vendor list inclusive of firms registered with the

School District and others identified through research who may be interested in responding to the specific RFQ. The District will attempt to contact all vendors who have expressed an interest in submitting a response to RFQs.

Procurement will prepare a legal notice and submit it to the Director of Facility Development and

Programming for review. Upon approval, the information will be submitted to the Fort Myers

News-Press for advertising in accordance with Florida Statute. In addition, the RFQ will be publicly posted on the Procurement website. All publications will specify the date, time and location of the mandatory pre-submission meeting, if one is requested by the District, and when responses are due.

E. RECEIPT AND OPENING OF RESPONSES

Responses to the RFQ will be publicly opened at the date and time specified in the RFQ or any addenda.

http://www.leeschools.net/procurement

F. SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process includes the following steps:

STEP GOAL DESCRIPTION

STEP 1A Verify Minimum Qualifications

Review written Responses for compliance with minimum RFQ requirements.

STEP 1B Score and Rank Written Responses

Review and score written Responses and develop a Short List of top ranked Respondents.

STEP 2 Score and Rank Presentations

Presentations, Interviews and Ranking - Respondents on the Short List and their project team deliver presentations that demonstrate their capabilities and proposed approach to the specific project.

Presentations are scored and ranked.

RFQ Selection Scoring Criteria (Template), describes the District’s standard selection criteria, points that may be earned per category, and weight assigned to each selection category. If a project has unique requirements that require adjustments to the standard selection and scoring criteria, including categories, points allocated per category, or weight per category, modifications may be made during the planning phase in advance of the release of the RFQ.

Such modifications shall be vetted by the Procurement Department and the Selection

Committee, with justification for the modifications documented in the contract file, in advance of the RFQ release. All RFQ documents shall consistently reflect the change(s).

STEP 1 – REVIEW RESPONSES AND DEVELOP SHORT LIST

The purpose of Step 1 of the selection process is to review the responses to the RFQ for compliance with the requirements, conduct an objective evaluation of all compliant responses, and develop a Short List of the most qualified Respondents.

In advance of the Selection Committee meeting, the Procurement designee with assistance from at least one Selection Committee member will review all responses for compliance with the RFQ minimum requirements, and tabulate or otherwise document the compliance findings. This is completed during Step 1A.

Prior to the public Selection Committee meeting, a review of the financial information received will be reviewed by two District staff from the Internal Audit Department and/or the Financial Services

Department. At the District’s discretion, for projects valued over $10M, an independent Consultant may perform this task for the District. The responses will be scored and presented to the Selection

Committee for tabulation with the total scores.

Next, during the public Selection Committee meeting, the Committee members will review the compliance findings to determine which responses are deemed compliant, and proceed to evaluate responses that are deemed partially or fully compliant, based on the best interest of the

District. Committee members will review each such response and proceed with scoring. Committee members may discuss their score sheets and decision rationale. Procurement staff may facilitate discussion and advise on compliance matters. Selection Committee members shall be allowed to change their score sheets after the Selection Committee discusses the Responses, if necessary. They shall then submit their final score sheets to the Procurement designee, who shall tabulate them and prepare the summary score for the Selection Committee.

If a District employee, on the Selection Committee, is unable to attend the scheduled Selection

Committee meeting, that member can designate a representative (not currently assigned to the

Selection Committee) to attend the meeting to discuss the score sheets on the absent member’s behalf. The representative shall be from the same District Division and/or have similar knowledge of the subject area. Proxy votes shall not be allowed.

The Procurement designee will send formal notification letters to all respondents regarding the

Selection Committee’s decision of the Short List of firms. The Procurement Services Department will coordinate with the Respondent(s) to schedule a time for them to review the responses in compliance with public records law. The Procurement Services Department shall maintain all records throughout the selection process in a manner that assures a valid audit trail. Any inquiries or protests shall be directed to the Procurement designee and shall be resolved in accordance with

School Board Policies, with assistance as necessary from the School Board Attorney and other departments.

STEP 2 – PRESENTATIONS, INTERVIEWS AND RANKING

After Respondents have been evaluated based on their written responses, it is recommended that a minimum of three firms with the highest scores be Short Listed and evaluated through oral presentations and interviews. The Procurement designee will notify Short Listed Firms in writing of a request to present their capabilities. The written notice will indicate the date, time, location and schedule for the presentations, and advise of specific topics or questions to be addressed during the interview, including presentation scoring criteria specified in the RFQ. Time will be allowed for questions and answers after each presentation/interview.

G. AWARD AND NEGOTIATION PROCESS

After the School Board has adopted the final rankings, an Administrator representing the User

Department shall take a lead role in the negotiation process with the highest ranked firm for the purpose of executing a contract. To ensure compliance with School Board Policies, Procurement

Procedures, and standard contract terms and conditions, the Procurement Services Director or designee shall attend strategic negotiation meetings, to include but not be limited to the contract negotiation meetings with District staff and a top-ranked firm. The Procurement Services Director or designee, and the School Board Attorney, shall also review the final contract and all exhibits for compliance.

The negotiation team shall negotiate a fair, competitive, and reasonable contract. Any changes to the standard contract language shall be submitted to the School Board Attorney, who will ensure that the changes are in compliance with applicable law before the final contract is presented to the School Board for approval. The quality control and verification of all applicable exhibits, financial and insurance requirements shall be the responsibility of the Procurement Services designee.

Should the negotiation team be unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the highest ranked firm(s), the negotiation team shall formally terminate negotiations and undertake negotiations with the next highest ranked firm(s). Should the negotiation team be unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the next most qualified firm(s), the negotiations shall terminate.

H. SOLICITATION PROCESS CLOSE OUT

After the final negotiation process occurs, analysis of the selection process may be conducted.

Procurement may request feedback from Selection Committee members, from the firms participating in the selection process, and if desired, from the industry, regarding suggested changes to the selection process and opportunities for improvement. Recommendations will be reviewed and if aligned with industry best practices and in the best interest of the District, changes to the selection processes may be implemented.

I. SUPPLIER DIVERSTIY

A Supplier Diversity Program is being considered by the District. To assist in the analysis of whether there is a statistically significant disparity between the percentage of available, qualified contractors which are minority owned and the percentage of awards the District makes to such minority contractors, data on supplier diversity may be collected as part of the RFQ process.

Respondents may be requested, on a voluntary basis, to submit information that describes their status as a minority or woman owned business enterprise, or describes their approach to utilizing minority and woman owned business enterprises. At this time supplier diversity will not affect the selection process.