6-1. Instruction to Vendors.pdf

CITY OF ARLINGTON OFFICE OF

PROCUREMENT

INSTRUCTION TO VENDORS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

1.0 BROWSERS

2.0 SUPPORT

3.0 QUESTIONS

4.0 CLARIFICATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF ADDENDA

5.0 PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE

6.0 CLOSE DATE AND TIME

7.0 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (PUBLIC FILES)

8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

9.0 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

10.0 BID

11.0 BIDDER

12.0 UNAUTHORIZED COMMUNICATIONS

13.0 PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING

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 Proprietary Information:

14.7 Compliance with Laws:

16.0 INVOICE AND PAYMENTS

16.1 Registration:

16.2 Invoice

17.0 MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

17.1 Modification of Bids:

17.2 Withdrawal of Bids:

18.0 OPENING OF BIDS

19.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND AWARD

19.1 Evaluation:

19.2 Award:

19.3 Acceptance of Bid:

19.4 Reservations:

20.0 POST-BID DOCUMENTS FROM RECOMMENDED BIDDER

20.1 Certificates of Insurance:

20.2 Certificate of Interested Parties Form 1295:

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21.0 PROTEST PROCEDURE

22.0 CHANGE IN COMPANY NAME OR OWNERSHIP

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1.0 BROWSERS

The City of Arlington’s online procurement portal (Bonfire Portal) can be accessed using Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome.

2.0 SUPPORT

For technical questions about the Bonfire Portal, visit Bonfire’s help forum at https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/knowledge-base/bonfire-hub or contact the Bonfire support team at Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com

To get started with Bonfire, https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/article/vendor-registration.

3.0 QUESTIONS

All questions, explanations, clarifications, or interpretations desired by vendors regarding any part of the solicitation must be electronically submitted to the City of Arlington’s Bonfire Portal through the “Vendor Discussion” section under the respective Project before the Questions Due Date and time specified in the Bonfire Portal.

4.0 CLARIFICATIONS AND ISSUANCE OF ADDENDA

The Office of Procurement of the City of Arlington will post an Addendum on the Bonfire Portal with answers to all questions received before the question deadline.

Interpretations, corrections, or changes to the solicitation made in any other manner are not binding upon the City, and vendors 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 Division. Proposers are advised to check the

Bonfire Portal frequently for any Addendum issued.

5.0 PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE

https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/knowledge-base/bonfire-hub mailto:Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/article/vendor-registration

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

6.0 CLOSE DATE AND TIME

The deadline date and time for submission(s)/responses against a

Project/Solicitation shall be specified in the Bonfire Portal.

Your submission(s) 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 or proposers assume the risk of late transmission/submission. The City shall not be held liable if an interested bidder or proposer 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.

The City is not responsible for any solicitations advertised by subscriptions, publications; websites (other than the City’s) or other sources not connected with the City and the Vendor should not rely on such sources for information regarding any solicitation made by the City of Arlington.

In the event this solicitation is obtained through any means other than City’s

Bonfire Procurement Portal, the City will not be responsible for the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the final solicitation documents received from those other sources. Solicitation documents obtained from any other source may be incomplete and Vendors risk not receiving necessary addenda, or other required documents causing their response to be considered non-responsive and eliminating the response from award

7.0 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (PUBLIC FILES)

Supporting Documentation (Public Files) attached to the Bonfire Portal are integral part of the Project. Vendors should download and review all those documents. Vendors should complete required documents and upload those to “Required Information” section of the Project in the Bonfire Portal.

8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

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

https://arlingtontx.bonfirehub.com/projects

The City encourages all responses to be submitted electronically through the

City’s Bonfire Procurement Portal. If submitting a paper response, it must be submitted in a sealed envelope or package and labeled with the company name, solicitation number and title.

In either case, submissions must be received prior to the due date and time. It is the sole responsibility of the Vendor to ensure timely delivery of the

Response by means chosen by Vendor. Late submissions will not be accepted.

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 Submission was caused solely by error or malfunction of the

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

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is the publication of the City’s intent to award an agreement based on a submitted proposal that presented the best value to the

City based on the evaluation criteria listed in the solicitation. It may also be referred to as a Project or Solicitation.

The purpose of the RFP is to describe the goods and/or services to be procured.

Bidders are expected to examine all documents that make up the RFP. 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 RFP.

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

12.0 UNAUTHORIZED COMMUNICATIONS

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-PROPOSAL MEETING

If a pre-proposal meeting is held, the time, place, and nature of the meeting will be specified on the Bonfire Portal section under the respective Project.

Attendance at pre-proposal meeting 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 rejection of the Bid.

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Bidders are expected to carefully examine all documents that make up this bid, including all addenda, attachments, and exhibits to thoroughly familiarize themselves with all requirements prior to submitting a bid. Upon examination of the solicitation and discovery of any discrepancies, inconsistencies, errors, or ambiguities in, or omissions from the solicitation documents, or should the bidder be in doubt of any meanings, the bidder shall promptly notify the

Purchasing Agent of Record.

All costs associated with the preparation of response for this bid or any other

City solicitation shall be borne by the bidder, and not the City

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:

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

• In the event of a discrepancy between unit price and extended price, the

8 | P a g e unit price shall govern; however, Proposer 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 the event that use the unit prices would increase the overall cost to the City for the items and quantities included in the Bid.

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

• 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.

• 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, but it is understood that the City may purchase more or less of any item included in the Solicitation.

• 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.

• Any goods and/or services that have been omitted from this

Solicitation that are clearly necessary or in conformance shall be considered a requirement although not directly specified or called for in the Solicitation.

14.6 Proprietary Information:

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

Information, documentation, and other material in connection with this solicitation or any resulting contract may be subject to public disclosure pursuant to Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code

(The "Public Information Act").

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• 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 publicly available in the form of a bid tab following evaluation of all Bids. By submitting a response, Bidders agree that pricing is not proprietary and may be released.

Pages with information believed to be Proprietary

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

• 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.

14.7 Compliance with Laws:

• The Bidder shall give all notices and comply with all federal, state and local laws, statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations, and lawful orders and decrees of any court, administrative bodies, tribunals, or any public authority in any matter bearing on the performances of the services specified herein. This agreement and the rights and obligations of the parties hereto shall be interpreted, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of

Texas. The Bidder warrants and covenants to the City that all services will be performed in compliance with all applicable federal, state, county, and city health and safety codes, rules and ordinances including, but not limited to, workers’ compensation laws, minimum and maximum salary and wage statutes and regulations, prompt payment, and licensing laws and regulations, the Texas

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Industrial Safety and Health Act, and the Workers Right to Know

Law.

• The Bidder shall maintain all required licenses, certifications, etc.

throughout the term of the contract. Upon request, the Bidder must furnish the City with satisfactory proof of its compliance.

15.0 UNAUTHORIZED WORKERS:

The City will not intentionally award publicly-funded contracts to any Bidder who knowingly employs unauthorized alien workers, constituting a violation of the employment provisions contained in 8 U.S.C. Section 1324a(e) [Section

274A(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA")], and as amended.

The City shall consider the employment by any Bidder of unauthorized aliens a violation of Section 274A (e) of the INA. Such violation by the Recipient of the employment provisions contained in Section 274A(e) of the INA shall be grounds for unilateral cancellation of this Agreement by the City.

16.0 INVOICE AND PAYMENTS

16.1 Registration:

Successful bidders are required to register for direct deposit payments prior to providing goods and/or services using the forms provided by the City of Arlington and submitted to the Arlington Finance

Department.

16.2 Invoice

All payment terms shall be “Net 30 Days” unless specified in the bid and shall be made on approved invoices in accordance with the Texas

Prompt Payment Act.

17.0 MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS

17.1 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.

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No additional or modified Terms and Conditions included with the bid response shall be evaluated or considered. If submitted, it is understood and agreed that the general Terms and Conditions, Special Provisions, and all other supporting documents issues within this solicitation are the only applicable terms and conditions, and the bidder’s authorized signature, affied to the bid, attest to this.

17.2 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.

18.0 OPENING OF BIDS

For Projects/Solicitations that require a public bid opening as per state law, the Office of Procurement representative responsible for opening Bids will publicly open and read each Bid aloud in City Office Tower, 101 S. Mesquite

St. Arlington, Texas 76010, at approximately 2:00 P.M. CST after Close Date and Time, unless otherwise noted in the Solicitation.

The Office of Procurement representative responsible for opening bids shall confirm the time and announce the bid opening. The representative shall then personally and publicly open and read aloud all bidders names. Since there are evaluations for a Request for Proposals, proposals and submitted prices are kept confidential until the award is publicly available,

19.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND AWARD

19.1 Evaluation:

The City reserves the right to accept or reject, in part or in whole, any bid submitted, and to waive any technicalities in the best interest of the City. The

City reserves the right to award in whole to a sole Bidders, split the award between multiple Bidders, or may choose not to award some or all items, depending on the best interest of the City.

The Bidder may furnish pricing for all or a portion of the bid, unless otherwise specified herein. Bids that specify an “all or none” award may be considered if a single award is advantageous.

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The City will evaluate the proposals based on the stated evaluation criteria in the solicitation.

19.2 Award:

The City will award the contract to the highest ranked vendor or vendors (whichever is in the best interest of the City).

19.3 Acceptance of Bid:

Acceptance of a Bid will be in the form of a Purchase Order, Separate

Contract, or Award Letter. 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, either through purchase order or contract.

19.4 Reservations:

The City expressly reserves the right to:

• Specify approximate quantities in the Solicitation;

• Extend the Solicitation opening date and time;

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

• Waive as an informality, minor deviations from specifications provided they do not affect competition or result in functionally unacceptable goods or services; Add additional terms or modify existing terms in the Solicitation;

• Reject a Bid because of unbalanced unit prices bid;

• Reject or cancel any or all Bids for any reason;

• Reissue a Solicitation;

• Procure any item by other means;

• Cancel the solicitation prior to the Close Date and time; and/or

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

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20.0 POST-BID DOCUMENTS FROM RECOMMENDED BIDDER

20.1 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.

20.2 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

21.0 PROTEST PROCEDURE

i. Any actual bidder or proposer who believes they are aggrieved as a result of a bid or proposal from the City of Arlington may file a grievance. Only written grievances may be considered. The grievance may not be in regard to specific evaluation criteria or weights.

ii. The protest must be in writing and delivered to the Procurement

Manager of the City of Arlington. The protest may be delivered in person to the department offices located at 101 S. Mesquite Street, Finance Department 8th Floor, Arlington, Texas, 76010.

iii. The Office of Procurement must receive the written protest within five

(5) business days after posting the City staff’s award recommendation appearing on the Agenda.

iv. The written protest must include the following information before it may be considered by the city:

• Name, mailing address, and business phone number of the aggrieved party;

• The bid or proposal to be reviewed;

• Citation detailing the exact law that is believed to be violated;

• A precise and short statement of the reason(s) for the protest which should provide enough factual information to enable the https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/whatsnew/elf_info_form1295.htm

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v. All applicable documentation and other information applying to the grievance must be submitted to the Procurement Manager at the time of protest.

vi. The Office of Procurement, in conjunction with the department responsible for the bid or proposal solicitation, will attempt to resolve the grievance, including, at the Purchasing Manager’s option, meeting with the aggrieved party. If the grievance is successfully resolved by mutual agreement, the Purchasing manager shall submit a copy/verification of the resolution to the City Manager or designee

vii. If the Office of Procurement is unable to resolve the grievance, the aggrieved party may request the grievance be reviewed and resolved by the City Manager or designee.

viii. A request for the City Manager’s review must be in writing and received by the Office of Procurement within three (3) business days from the date the Purchasing Division notifies the aggrieved party that the issue(s) cannot be resolved. The request for City Manager review must be delivered in person to the Office of Procurement at the address stated above or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the mailing address stated above.

ix. If the aggrieved party fails or refuses to request a review by the City

Manager within the three (3) days, the grievance is deemed finalized and no further review by the city is required.

22.0 CHANGE IN COMPANY NAME OR OWNERSHIP

The successful Vendor 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.

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Vendor Name: ________________________________________

Vendor has read and agrees to this Instruction to Vendors form in its entirety.

Vendor Signature Date