902744_Forensic_Toxicology-Coroners_Office_RFP.docx

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL No. 902744

For

FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY TESTING SERVICES – CORONERS OFFICE

For complete information regarding this project, see Request for Proposal (RFP) posted at County of Alameda Procurement Portal [https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/acgov] or contact the County Thank you for your interest!

Contact Person: K. Handy Phone Number: (510) 208-9644 Email Address: k.handy@acgov.org General Services Agency (GSA) – Procurement

RESPONSE DUE

by 2:00 p.m.

on August 11, 2026 through Alameda County, GSA-Procurement County of Alameda Procurement Portal https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/acgov

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

For Forensic Toxicology Testing Services for Coroner’s Office

GSA-Procurement

TO ATTEND ONLINE:

Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/27895367362193?p=HDb4dITQxhNTUKc34Z Meeting ID: 278 953 673 621 93 Passcode: PQ3qF9JK Need help? | System reference Dial in by phone +1 415-915-3950,,826806968# United States, San Francisco Find a local number Phone conference ID: 826 806 968#

Written Questions Due via the “Question & Answer” tab of this project in the County of Alameda Procurement Portal July 10, 2026, by 5:00 p.m.

Response Due and Submitted through County of Alameda Procurement Portal

August 11, 2026, by 2:00 p.m.

Followed immediately by online Public Bid Microsoft Teams meeting Join:

Opening which can be joined here:

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/266989792168185?p=oo2C6dFCMVpZBO8Xbj Meeting ID: 266 989 792 168 185 Passcode: 9y57sA7J Need help? | System reference Dial in by phone +1 415-915-3950,,269190290# United States, San Francisco Find a local number Phone conference ID: 269 190 290# Join on a video conferencing device Tenant key: alamedacountyca@m.webex.com Video ID: 118 205 864 6

NOTE: All dates are tentative and subject to change.

Alameda County Vendor Outreach Wednesday, July 8, 2026 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

TO ATTEND ONLINE:

Vendor Outreach Call-in: +1 415-915-3950 Conference ID: 504 517 635#

COME MEET ALAMEDA COUNTY’S

PROCUREMENT TEAM!

This public event is not specific to any RFP, where vendors can speak with GSA professionals, get to know them, and learn more about contracting opportunities with the County.

These are conducted on most Wednesdays. Dates and locations can be confirmed by checking at Upcoming Events [https://gsa.acgov.org/do-business-with-us/upcoming-contracting-events/]

SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS & CONDITIONS

for

FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY TESTING SERVICES FOR CORONER’S OFFICE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ATTACHMENTS

EXHIBIT A Bid Response Packet

STATEMENT OF WORK

INTENT

It is the intent of these specifications, terms, and conditions to provide forensic toxicology testing services to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau being requested by the County.

The County intends to award a three (3) year contract (with the option of renewing it for two (2) years to the Bidder selected as the most responsive and responsible Bidder whose response conforms to the RFP and meets the County’s requirements.

SCOPE/BACKGROUND

Toxicology testing services are performed to detect potential toxicants such as chemicals, drugs, and poisons in decedents through the testing and screening of appropriate bodily fluids (e.g., blood, urine, bile, vitreous, gastric contents) and tissues (e.g., liver, brain, spleen, and muscle) for the presence of illicit chemicals, drugs, or poisons.

BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

BIDDER Minimum Qualifications Bidder must be regularly and continuously engaged in the business of providing forensic toxicology testing services for at least five (5) years and is currently engaged in the business of providing forensic toxicology services, which must be clearly stated or demonstrated in the bid response. OR Bidder must be accredited by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), a state reference laboratory, or another major accreditation body acceptable to the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), which must be clearly demonstrated in the bid response packet, such as providing a copy of the certification.

Bidder must possess all permits, licenses, and professional credentials necessary to supply products and perform services specified under this RFP. Unless noted otherwise in the RFP, for example the item(s) stated above, including any Addendum, Bidder is not required to submit copies or verification of the permits, licenses and credentials; however, Bidder must provide such proof if requested by County.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

1. Contractor must perform all service requirements.

2. General Laboratory Requirements

a. Compliance & Quality Assurance

1) Contractor’s laboratory must be in compliance with the State of California’s regulations for blood and urine alcohol analysis or have the capacity to facilitate alcohol testing in a laboratory facility that meets the criteria set in Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.

2) Contractor’s laboratory must perform laboratory testing according to written standard operating procedures which include policies and procedures on validations and technical procedures.

3) Contractor’s laboratory must participate in an external proficiency testing program which includes, at a minimum, a proficiency testing program for alcohol in blood or serum, and for drugs in at least one type of specimen. Contractor’s laboratory shall take appropriate actions, which shall be documented when the results of the proficiency testing program are outside of compliance limits. The program must monitor and assess the laboratory’s quantitative analysis capability.

4) Contractor’s laboratory must complete all the specified tests within their own laboratory with the understanding that some esoteric tests may need to be outsourced. Contractor must inform the Coroner’s Bureau of any work to be done external to the Contractor’s laboratory. All External laboratories utilized by the Contractor must adhere to the same requirements outlined by the County in this RFP.

5) Contractor’s laboratory must actively monitor its laboratory (and external laboratories as applicable) for quality assurance. The laboratory must take appropriate actions, which shall be documented when the results of the quality assurance program require corrective action to be taken. Contractor’s laboratory must provide access to ACSO and the County to all documents related to these corrective actions.

6) Contractor’s Quality Assurance department must monitor and administer all internal and external Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) protocols. A summary of Contractor’s process is as follows:

(a) Each routine analytical run contains a minimum of two different quality control samples containing known amounts of the analyte(s) of interest. Data resulting from analysis of controls in quantitative methods is plotted on control charts each time a routine method is performed. The control charts are drawn indicating the acceptance range of the mean plus and minus two standard deviation levels or +/- 20% about the mean. Control charts are reviewed monthly by Contractor’s departmental supervisor. This review is documented on each control chart by initial and date notation made in the appropriate review box. Any shifts or trends are noted in the comments section along with the proposed corrective action. Any remedial action taken is documented on each control chart.

(b) Contractor’s laboratory must participate in comprehensive external proficiency testing programs, which compare Contractor’s laboratory performance with other laboratories performing the same analysis. These programs are supplemented by a comprehensive internal blind proficiency program that challenges analyses that are not formally evaluated by the external program. All data generated by these programs are remediated, as necessary, and approved by various management levels of review.

(c) All Contractor’s department must be subject to live audits by the Quality Assurance department on a rotating basis to assess compliance with the Contractor’s quality assurance program. All audits must be documented in audit reports and reviewed and approved by various levels of Contractor’s management. A complete listing of Contractor’s proficiency programs must be available upon request by the County.

b. Testing

1) Contractor’s laboratory must have the ability to test chemical or biological agents.

2) Contractor’s laboratory must have the capability of developing methods for the testing of newly abused drugs such as synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic opioids, and opioid derivatives; and a commitment to research and develop testing and validation for newly emerging drug trends.

3) Contractor’s laboratory must provide for examination of samples on an urgent basis and provide live consultation or telephone conversation services at no cost to the Coroner’s Bureau.

4) The County has no specific “cut-off” requirements for limits of detection. However, any legal cut-off limits of detections determined by the Contractor’s validation must be adhered to at all times.

5) The Contractor’s laboratory results must be reported qualitatively as well as quantitatively, when indicated and the sensitivity of the test and related reporting limit shall be referenced in an Analysis Summary included with each report.

c. Caseload

1) Contractor’s laboratory must have the ability to handle a caseload of at least one hundred (100) cases monthly for the Coroner‘s Bureau.

2) Contractor’s laboratory must work to complete at a minimum of ninety percent (90%) of toxicology examinations within ninety (90) days of case submission.

3) Contractor must provide consistency with Contractor’s laboratory published turnaround times with an average of 30 days or less from the time of receipt as well as closely monitoring Contractor’s laboratory in-house statistics for turnaround time, corrective actions, and percentage of repeats with exception of esoteric analysis and special request testing that may exceed 10 business days.

4) Contractor must make every effort to handle every case received from the Coroner’s Bureau in an expeditious manner.

d. Employee Qualifications

1) Contractor’s laboratory must be under the direction of a person who is qualified by reason of appropriate education and experience to assume the required professional, organizational, education, managerial, and administrative responsibilities.

2) Contractor’s laboratory employees must meet the requirements of educational, training, and experience requirements as defined by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT).

e. Reports

1) Contractor’s laboratory must provide a report for each test conducted and must include:

(a) Subject name

(b) Agency

(c) Agency case number

(d) Specimen description

(e) Chain of custody information

(f) The request testing

(g) Requesting agency contact information

(h) Test results

(i) Certification of test results statement

(j) Analyst signature

(k) Date of test and/or date of report

2) Contractor’s reports must include all quantitative results, interpretive comments on toxic ranges of compounds, methods of testing, complete sample identification, name of board-certified Fellow-ABFT Laboratory Director in a results section, and a summary of all positively identified substances with quantitative results of parent drug compounds and related metabolites, and the analytical methodology, minimum reporting limit, specimen type used for analysis and general reference comments related to postmortem concentrations of positively identified substances in a lab report.

3) Contractor’s reports must be available via secured fax at Coroner’s Bureau location, electronically in a secure PDF format and posted on a secure Contractor’s Client Portal as soon as the final report is reviewed and completed. Multiple users from ACSO shall be notified via e-mail when laboratory reports are available and sign in with their own unique designated user ID/password to access laboratory reports. Reports shall be archived indefinitely on the Client Portal and can be sorted by patient name, case ID number, date of service, date of birth, sex or accession number for retrieval with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption activated when results are displayed. All Contractor’s laboratory reports received shall be encrypted and cannot be intercepted during transmission.

4) Contractor’s laboratory results and a signed PDF toxicology report shall be interfaced directly into the Web based CME (Coroners and Medical Examiners) software developed by VertiQ.

5) Contractor’s preliminary reporting for urgent cases and inquiries shall be available through direct contact of Contractor’s client support services department with a verbal discussion with a toxicologist reviewing the case, as necessary. Files concerning the results of specimen analysis shall be retained by the Contractor’s Laboratory for a minimum of seven (7) years from the date of issue.

f. Fees

1) Contractor’s laboratory must not charge the County, the ACSO, the Coroner’s Bureau for false positives. A false-positive shall be defined as when the Laboratory identifies a sample as containing a particular drug, reports this information to the Coroner’s Bureau, the ACSO, or the County; and the Laboratory determines that the information provided as positive was in fact, false.

2) Contractor’s laboratory must provide services on a retail level for families that may want to pay for tests of specimens of decedents that the Coroner’s Bureau determined were not necessary for its purposes. Such families are solely responsible for paying for such tests. For example, the Coroner’s Bureau will not normally conduct toxicology testing on an obvious gunshot suicide, but the family may want to pay for a drug screen for their own purposes. The County shall not be responsible for the payment of any such tests.

g. Protection of Data

(1) Contractor must utilize a computerized information management system, an appropriate security system must be used to prevent intrusion, unauthorized release of information, or unauthorized addition, deletion, or alteration of data.

(2) Contractor must have controlled access to the data center where the data is stored to prevent unauthorized access to our data.

(a) Contractor shall comply with all applicable laws that require the notification of individuals in the event of unauthorized release of personally identifiable information or other event requiring notification.

(b) Contractor must notify, in writing, the Coroner’s Bureau of any actual exposure or misappropriation of County Data (any "Leak") within twenty-four (24) hours of the discovery of such, whether required by law or not. The County will allow 72 hours (3 business days) for investigation and reporting. The following information shall be included in the notification:

I. The cause of the incident II. How Contractor became aware of the incident III. Steps taken to resolve the incident IV. Brief description of steps Contractor is taking to prevent a reoccurrence.

(c) Contractor must reasonably cooperate with County and with law enforcement authorities in investigating any such security breach at Contractor’s expense. Contractor will likewise reasonably cooperate with County and with law enforcement agencies in any effort to notify injured or potentially injured parties.

(d) Contractor must agree to store all data within the United States within a data center with high availability disaster recovery.

(e) Backup: Contractor must offer a minimum of thirty (30) days of backups that can be fully restored.

(f) All data must be at 256-bit encryption while in transit or when using share lines.

(3) Contractor must not distribute or use in any way the data derived from the Agreement resulting from this RFP without written consent by the County and all data from ACSO casework shall be archived per Contractor’s retention policies approved by Contractor’s accrediting bodies.

(a) Contractor’s laboratory must limit access to State data and Personal Identifiable Information (PII) by using an assigned and distinct barcode for casework at the time of log in. At that time, the analyst(s) assigned to the case shall track and report results through the case management system by the use of the barcode, relegating each sample to a nondescript number. At the time of final report review/signing, the case identifying information is automatically generated and added to the report header. All Contractor’s analysts shall receive training and annual updates to training with specific attention and purpose to confidentiality and PII.

(b) Contractor’s laboratory must have a dedicated IT staff that actively scans and protects all systems from malware and spam attacks and notify County when any data is compromised, hacked or otherwise.

(c) Contractors must notify the County within 72 hours (3 business days) of any unintended access or attack by providing written electronic correspondence.

(d) Contractor must not have an interface with the County, therefore insulating County’s systems any threat to Contractor’s systems as it pertains to sensitive data will be communicated within 72 hours (3 business days) upon discovery.

(e) Contractor must provide a report outlining nature, exactly what data, the individuals involved, and mitigation of the event and any corrective actions put in place to correct and prevent any future unauthorized use or disclosure events. Contractor must initially report the disclosure and/or unauthorized use within the two-day (2) timeframe with an estimated date for the report.

(f) Contractor must meet regulatory requirements of informing individuals in the event of unauthorized release of personal identifying information.

3. Coroner’s Bureau’s Requirements:

a. Compliance & Quality Assurance

(1) Contractor must be in compliance with the guidelines of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) or accredited by ABFT or the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

(2) Contractor must participate in external drug proficiency testing for drugs of abuse. As indicated by non-compliance results, Contractor shall implement and document corrective actions.

b. Contractor’s laboratory must provide written reports in support of accreditation for the Coroner’s Bureau upon request.

c. Testing

(1) Contractor must provide for the routine testing of all ethanol and volatiles, major drugs of abuse, major acidic drugs, and all non-esoteric basic drugs, with the exception of carbon monoxide. Contractor’s laboratory shall make every effort to report carbon monoxide testing as soon as possible. Expected turnaround time is 5-10 business days.

(2) Contractor must have the capability to test various bodily fluids (e.g., blood, saliva, urine, bile, vitreous, gastric contents) and tissues (e.g., liver, brain, spleen, muscle, etc.) for the presence or absence of drugs.

(3) Contractor laboratory must provide forensic support specialists to handle forensic case inquiries such as result status, test ordering, expected turnaround time, adding additional testing to existing cases, appropriate sample requirements, handling and packaging during the following hours: Monday through Friday – 5:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Pacific Time) or via email checked every 30 minutes during support working hours and offer a timed documentable proof of communication.

(4) Contractor must provide additional toxicologist support to the Coroner’s Bureau through Contractor’s Toxicologist of Day program by phone Monday through Friday 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Pacific Time) and assigned toxicologist shall address inquiries.

(5) Contractor must provide Public Health Emergency Hotline 24/7 at intended for Public Health Emergencies where Toxicology testing and/or consultation may be required.

(6) Contractor must provide a basic drug panel of commonly abused drugs such as Amphetamines, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, Buprenorphine, Cannabinoids, Cocaine and Metabolites, Ethanol, Methadone, Methamphetamine/MDMA, Opiates/Opioids (including synthetic and semi-synthetic), and Phencyclidine.

(7) Contractor must provide additional testing options with broader scope of testing than a basic drug panel to test for additional medications, illicit substances, and novel psychoactive substances (NPS).

(8) Contractor must have a surveillance library of new and emerging compounds that is continuously and regularly updated as needed. Contractor should identify compounds detected within the contractor’s surveillance library and County shall be notified if pathologist would like to pursue further testing.

d. Employee Qualifications

(1) Contractors’ laboratories must be under the direction of a person who is qualified by reason of appropriate education and experience to assume the required professional, organizational, education, managerial, and administrative responsibilities. Education and experience must be comparable to those of people certified as Fellow or Diplomate by the ABFT.

(2) Contractor’s chief toxicologist must be assessable to present proof of formal training and experience in forensic toxicology upon request by County. Contractor’s chief toxicologist should hold a relevant doctoral degree from an accredited institution. The chief toxicologist shall be certified by ABFT or certified in toxicological chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry (ABCC) or the international equivalent.

e. Preservation & Chain of Custody

(1) Contractor must provide various containers, sealers, and additives/preservative ingredients required by the Coroner’s Bureau to preserve and identify samples submitted.

(2) Contractor must keep all samples refrigerated or frozen as directed by laboratory standards.

(3) Contractors must maintain a strict chain of custody which clearly documents the name, date, and time that laboratory personnel handled, inspected, analyzed, stored, or transported biological samples or evidence which are under Contractor’s control from the time biological samples are removed from the Coroner’s Bureau and until they are returned to the Coroner’s Bureau. All Contractor’s laboratory staff handling evidence is documented in Contractor’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). A summary of Contractor’s process is as follows:

(a) Specimen Receipt/Accessioning Project Management:

Contractor’s laboratory shall establish mutually agreeable communication channels with Coroner’s Bureau and assign staff members as designated responsible parties.

(b) Supplies and Shipping:

Provide Toxicology Analysis Requisition Forms with fields/areas to include incident case number, first and last name of subject, collection date of samples and the type of samples that are being submitted. The forms also have an area to capture chain of custody information. Sample collection kits can be provided which are specially designed for documentation, packaging, and shipment of legal samples for analysis. Contractor is also able to pick up existing chain of custodies that may already be in use. Contractor shall have a full internal chain of custody established for the parent samples and individual aliquots as they move through the laboratory process. Specimens are to be transported in a tamper proof collection kit (provided by Contractor’s laboratory) under full chain of custody by Federal Express (FedEx) standard overnight at no cost to the County. Shipments can be received via FedEx during the normal business week (Monday – Friday). Upon receipt during the log-in process, the FedEx airbill number associated with each case/sample shall be entered into Contractor’s laboratory information system and a copy of the airbill shall be scanned and stored electronically to verify the transfer and receipt of the specimens by Contractor’s laboratory.

(c) Sample Log in:

Contractor’s laboratory staff must be trained in the appropriate handling of forensic evidence, and each specimen shall be uniquely identified and logged in to the Contractor’s Lab LIMS to ensure traceability. Chain of custody shall be maintained for all samples. Laboratory access shall be limited to authorized personnel, and all samples shall be logged in through Contractor’s laboratory forensic specimen processing area, secured and with limited staff access. Upon receipt in the Contractor’s laboratory, all paperwork shall be closely reviewed for accuracy and completeness, the integrity of the security seal shall be documented, and the internal chain of custody is initiated. Contractor’s laboratory internal chain of custody shall follow all samples and aliquots throughout the analysis procedures, storage and/or subsequent return to the client.

(4) Contractor’s laboratory Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must support all the activities in the chain-of-custody handling.

(5) Contractor must preserve all specimens tested for a minimum of one (1) year from test date. Samples shall be appropriately stored to ensure against loss, contamination, or deleterious change. Contractor shall ship requested samples back to ACSO at no additional charge. After the requisite retention period for a sample, the sample may be destroyed with the appropriate chain-of-custody documentation.

DELIVERABLES / REPORTS

Contractor must provide sampling media and collection devices, including but not limited to: glass sample jars, brass/stainless steel tubes and end caps, amber jars, summa canisters, critical flow orifices, tedlar bags, fibers, sorbent tubes, air sampling pumps, timing devices, impinge solutions, and impingers.

Sampling labels, sampling tags, chain-of-custody seals, chain-of-custody forms, and analytical result sheets shall also be provided at no charge to the County. There shall be no charge to the County for unused or defective equipment.

Contractor must provide pre-paid overnight FedEx pick-up label to County without additional charge. Contractor can pick up shipments from the County site.

Contractor’s laboratory report must include a case narrative in the beginning page to describe additional comments, additional instructions per County request, events outside of normal procedures, problems or abnormalities during the sample receiving, preparation, analysis and reporting stages. After the case narrative, a sample result summary section must be included that shows analyses that were detected per sample ID. If Contractor includes subcontractors for testing, those results must all be compiled into one standard format, i.e., the subcontractor’s report format cannot be in a separate format; it has to be all included in one comprehensive report with those subcontractor results summarized in the sample results section.

Contractor’s reports must be sent electronically or followed up with a hardcopy report by e-mail to ASCO within 10-14 calendar days.

In order to maintain transparency, Contractor invoices shall include line item detail as to the service provided, including but not limited to test type, description and price.

BIDDERS CONFERENCE(S)/VENDOR OUTREACH

The Bidders Conference(s) held on the date(s) specified in the Calendar of Events will have online conference capabilities for remote participation. Bidders can opt to participate via a computer with a stable internet connection (the recommended Bandwidth is 512Kbps) at:

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/27895367362193?p=HDb4dITQxhNTUKc34Z Meeting ID: 278 953 673 621 93 Passcode: PQ3qF9JK Need help? | System reference Dial in by phone +1 415-915-3950,,826806968# United States, San Francisco Find a local number Phone conference ID: 826 806 968#

1. Vendor Outreach is usually conducted on Wednesdays at Vendor Outreach Link (Call-in: +1 415-915-3950; Conference ID: 504 517 635#). Dates and locations can be confirmed by checking at: Upcoming Events [https://gsa.acgov.org/do-business-with-us/upcoming-contracting-events/].

Information regarding the RFP will be presented during the conference(s). To get the best experience, the County recommends that Bidders who participate remotely use equipment with audio output such as speakers, headsets, or a telephone.

2. Bidders Conference(s) will be held to:

Provide an opportunity for Small Local Emerging Businesses (SLEBs) and large firms to network and develop subcontracting relationships to participate in the contract(s) that may result from this RFP.

Provide an opportunity for Bidders to request clarification on this RFP and ask specific questions about the project, goods, and services.

Provide the County with an opportunity to receive feedback related to this RFP.

The Bidders Conference(s) Attendees List will be released in a separate document.

Written questions submitted by the stated deadline will be addressed in a posted RFP Questions and Answers (Q&A) following the Bidders Conference(s). Should there be a need to amend or revise the RFP, an Addendum will be issued. Any verbal statements, including at any Bidders Conference(s) are not binding. Only the written documents will be binding.

Questions regarding these specifications, terms, and conditions are to be submitted in writing through the “Question & Answer” tab of this project in the County of Alameda Procurement Portal by 5:00 p.m. on the date specified in the Calendar of Events.

Attendance at the Bidders Conference(s) and Vendor Outreach are highly recommended but are not mandatory. Vendors who attend the Bidders Conference(s) will be added to the Vendor Bid List.

COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS

EVALUATION CRITERIA / SELECTION COMMITTEE

1. Initial Evaluation (Completeness of Response and Debarment and Suspension). All proposals will first be reviewed to determine if they pass the initial Evaluation Criteria (Section A), which are determined on a pass/fail basis.

2. Evaluation by County Selection Committee. All proposals that have passed the initial Evaluation Criteria will be evaluated by a County Selection Committee (CSC). The CSC may be composed of County staff and other parties that may have expertise or experience related to the goods or services that are being procured. The CSC will score the proposals according to the Evaluation Criteria set forth in this RFP. Other than the initial pass/fail Evaluation Criteria, the evaluation of the proposals will be within the sole judgment and discretion of the CSC.

3. Unrealistic Bids. Bidders should bear in mind that any proposal that is unrealistic in terms of the technical or schedule commitments or unrealistically high or low in cost may be deemed reflective of an inherent lack of technical knowledge or indicative of a failure to comprehend the complexity and risk of the County’s requirements as set forth in this RFP.

4. Price Discrepancy. In the case of a discrepancy between the unit price and an extension, the unit price will be used for evaluation purposes.

5. Evaluation Criteria Descriptions. The items listed in the Evaluation Criteria should be considered as minimum requirements. All information contained in a proposal and presented in vendor interviews (if there are interviews) will be considered during the evaluation process and included in scoring within the appropriate Evaluation Criteria.

6. Evaluation Scores. Proposals will be evaluated and scored on the zero to five-point scale within each Evaluation Criteria below. Scores for all Evaluation Criteria (see the section below) will then be added, according to their assigned weight (below), to arrive at a weighted score for each proposal. A proposal with a higher-weighted total will be deemed of higher quality than a proposal with a lesser-weighted total.

7. Shortlist Process. The evaluation process may include a two-stage approach including a preliminary evaluation of the written proposal and preliminary scoring to develop a shortlist of Bidders that will continue to the final stage of optional vendor interview, site visit, and reference checks. The preliminary scoring will be based on the total points, excluding any points allocated to references, site visits, and optional vendor interview. The three (3) Bidders receiving the highest preliminary scores may advance to the next evaluation phase. All other Bidders will be deemed eliminated from the process. All Bidders will be notified of the shortlist participants; however, the preliminary scores at that time will not be communicated to Bidders.

8. Reference Checks. The County reserves the right to conduct reference check(s) on all Bidders who submitted a bid proposal. The CSC will then score the reference check(s), as identified in the Evaluation Criteria below, which will then be included in the final score.

9. Optional Vendor Interviews. The County may in its sole discretion, conduct vendor interviews. Should the County opt to conduct a vendor interview, the interview may include responding to standard and specific questions from the CSC regarding the Bidders’ proposal. Whether or not a shortlist process is used, the score of any evaluation criterion below may be revised or informed based on the vendor interview.

10. Final Score. The final maximum score for any procurement is 550 points, including the possible 50 points for local and small, local and emerging, or local preference points (maximum 10% of the final score; derived from 5% for local preference and 5% for either Small and Local or Emerging and Local preference). Proposals will be ranked by their final scores.

a. Without Vendor Interview. In procurements where there are no vendor interviews, the score received by the evaluation of the written proposal with the references score added will be the final score.

b. With Vendor Interview. In procurements where there are vendor interviews, the CSC will consider the interview and may adjust the scores received by the evaluation of the written proposal which, with the reference scores added, will be the final score.

11. Contact During Evaluation Process. All contact during the evaluation phase must be through the GSA-Procurement department only. Bidders must neither contact nor lobby CSC during the evaluation process. Attempts by Bidders to contact and/or influence members of the CSC may result in disqualification of Bidders.

12. Determining Award. As a result of this RFP, the County intends to award a contract to the highest-ranked responsible Bidder(s), as determined by the combined weight of the Evaluation Criteria, whose response conforms to the RFP and whose bid presents the greatest value to the County considering all Evaluation Criteria. The combined weight of the Evaluation Criteria is greater in importance than the cost in determining the best value to the County. The County may award a contract of higher qualitative competence over the lowest priced response.

13. The zero to five-point scale range is defined as follows:

14. The Evaluation Criteria and their respective weights are as follows:

Responses to this RFP must be complete. Responses must address all the requirements identified within this RFP and all related documents, including any Addenda. Failure to meet the Bidder Minimum Qualifications may also be considered an incomplete response and may result in the disqualification of the Bidder.

Pass/Fail

Bidders, its principal, and named subcontractors are not identified on the list of Federally debarred, suspended, or other excluded parties located at www.sam.gov/SAM.

Pass/Fail

The points for Cost will be computed by dividing the amount of the lowest responsive and responsible bid received by each Bidder’s total proposed cost.

Cost evaluation points may be adjusted by considering:

1. Reasonableness (i.e., how well does the proposed pricing accurately reflect the Bidder’s effort to meet requirements and objectives?).

2. Realism (i.e., is the proposed cost appropriate to the nature of the products and/or services to be provided? Is the price affordable to the County, including if costs exceed any budget contained in the RFP? ).

20 Points

Proposals will be evaluated against the RFP specifications and the questions below:

1. Do the individuals assigned to the project have experience on similar projects?

2. How extensive is the applicable education and experience of the personnel designated to work on the project?

20 Points

Proposals will be evaluated considering the RFP specifications and the questions below:

1. How well has Bidder demonstrated a thorough understanding of the purpose and scope of the project?

2. How well does the description of proposed services depict a logical approach to fulfilling the requirements of the RFP?

3. How well does the description of proposed services achieve all the requirements in the RFP, including the deliverables and reports the County expects it to provide?

4. How thorough, thoughtful, and relevant is Bidder’s plan to collect data to monitor the progress of the proposed services?

5. How well has Bidder identified pertinent issues and potential problems related to the project?

30 Points

Proposals will be evaluated against the RFP specifications and the questions below:

1. How well does the chain of custody for the toxicology services meet the County’s requirements?

1. How well does the Bidder’s protection of data meet the County’s requirements?

1. How well has the Bidder identified pertinent issues and potential problems related to the project?

15 Points

Should the County opt to conduct a vendor interview, the interview may include responding to standard and specific questions from the CSC regarding the Bidder’s proposal. Whether or not a shortlist process is used, the scores of any evaluation criterion above may be revised or informed based on the vendor interview.

Vendor Interview may be used to revise / inform scores of criteria above

SMALL LOCAL EMERGING BUSINESS PREFERENCE

1. CONTRACT EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

During the initial 120-day period of any contract awarded, the County may review the proposal, the contract, any goods or services provided, and/or meet with the Contractor to identify any issues or potential problems.

The County reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, whether:

The Contractor has complied with all terms of this RFP and the contract; and Any problems or potential problems with the proposed goods and/or services were evidenced, which makes it unlikely (even with possible modifications) that such goods and/or services have met or will meet the County requirements.

If, as a result of such determination, the County concludes that it is not satisfied with the Contractor’s performance under any awarded contract and/or Contractor’s goods and services as contracted for therein, the Contractor may be notified that the contract is being terminated. The Contractor must be responsible for returning County facilities to their original state at no charge to the County. The County will have the right to invite the next qualified Bidder(s) to enter into a contract. The County also reserves the right to re-bid this project if it is determined to be in its best interest to do so. The County’s right to go to the next qualified Bidder(s) and/or rebid is not limited by the award of a contract or the 120-day period.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

At the conclusion of the RFP response evaluation period, all Bidders will be notified in writing by email or US Postal Service mail of the contract award recommendation, if any, by GSA-Procurement. The document providing this notification is the Notice of Intent to Award/Non-Award.

The Notice of Intent to Award/Non-Award will provide the following information:

The name(s) of the Bidder(s) being recommended for contract award; and The names of all other parties that submitted proposals.

The submitted proposals will be made available upon request no later than five calendar days before approval of the award and contract is scheduled to be considered by the Board of Supervisors.

BID PROTEST / APPEALS PROCESS

The County of Alameda prides itself on the establishment of fair and competitive contracting procedures and the commitment made to follow those procedures. The following is provided in the event that Bidders wish to protest the bid process or appeal the recommendation to award a contract once the Notices of Intent to Award/Non-Award have been issued. Bid protests submitted prior to issuance of the Notices of Intent to Award/Non-Award will not be accepted by the County.

Any bid protest must be submitted in writing by 5:00 p.m. on the SEVENTH (7th) calendar day following the date of issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award/ Non-Award, not the date received by the Bidder. The bid protest must be submitted to the office that has been designated for review of protests for this procurement (the Protest Evaluator). For this procurement, the Protest Evaluator is:

GSA–Office of Acquisition Policy ATTN: Contract Compliance Officer 1401 Lakeside Drive, 10th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 Email: GSA-BidProtests@acgov.org

A bid protest received after 5:00 p.m. is considered received as of the next calendar day. A protest received after 5:00 p.m. on the SEVENTH (7th) calendar day following the date of issuance of the Notice of Intent to Award/Non-Award will not be considered under any circumstances by the Protest Evaluator or their designee.

Generally, the County will promptly send an email acknowledging receipt of the protest; it is the responsibility of the protestor to confirm that the protest was timely received.

The bid protest must contain a complete statement of the reasons and facts for the protest.

The protest must refer to the specific portions of all documents that form the basis for the protest.

The protest must include the name, address, email address, and telephone number of the person submitting the protest on behalf of the protesting party.

The Contract Specialist will send a notification to Bidders if a protest is received.

The Protest Evaluator, or their designee, will review and evaluate the protest and issue a written decision. The Protest Evaluator may, at its discretion, do any of the following: investigate the protest, obtain additional information, provide an opportunity to settle the protest by mutual agreement, and/or schedule a meeting(s) with the protesting Bidder and others (as appropriate) to discuss the protest. The decision on the bid protest must be final prior to the Board hearing.

A notification of the decision will be communicated by email and/or US Postal Service mail to the protestor. Notification will be provided to Bidders when a decision has been made on the protest and whether or not the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors in the Notice of Intent to Award/ Non-Award will stand.

The decision on the bid protest by the Protest Evaluator may be appealed to the Auditor-Controller's Office of Contract Compliance & Reporting (OCCR) located at 1221 Oak St., Room 249, Oakland, CA 94612, Email: OCCR@acgov.org, unless the OCCR determines that it has a conflict of interest in which case an alternate will be identified to hear the appeal and all steps to be taken by OCCR will be performed by the alternate. The Bidder whose bid is the subject of the protest, all Bidders affected by the Protest Evaluator's decision on the protest, and the protestor have the right to appeal if they feel the Protest Evaluator's decision is incorrect. All appeals to the Auditor-Controller's OCCR must be in writing and submitted within SEVEN (7) calendar days following the issuance of the decision, not the date the decision is received by the Bidder. An appeal received after 5:00 p.m. is considered received as of the next calendar day. An appeal received after 5:00 p.m. on the SEVENTH (7th) calendar day following the date of issuance of the decision by the Protest Evaluator will not be considered under any circumstances by the Auditor-Controller OCCR or their designee.

The appeal must specify the decision being appealed and all the facts and circumstances relied upon in support of the appeal.

In reviewing protest appeals, the OCCR will not re-judge the proposal(s). The appeal to the OCCR must be limited to a review of the procurement process to determine if the contracting department materially erred in following the bid or, if applicable, County contracting policies or other laws and regulations.

The appeal to the OCCR must be limited to the grounds raised in the original protest and the written decision by the Protest Evaluator. As such, a Bidder is prohibited from stating new grounds for a Bid protest in its appeal.

The Auditor’s Office may overturn the results of a bid process for ethical violations by Procurement staff, County Selection Committee members, subject matter experts, or any other County staff managing or participating in the competitive bid process, regardless of timing or the contents of a bid protest.

The finding of the Auditor-Controller’s OCCR is the final step of the appeal process. A copy of the finding of the Auditor-Controller’s OCCR will be furnished to the protestor.

The finding on the appeal must be issued before a recommendation to award the contract is considered and contract awarded by the Board of Supervisors.

The procedures and time limits set forth in this section are mandatory and are each Bidder's sole and exclusive remedy in the event of a bid protest. A Bidder’s failure to timely complete both the bid protest and appeal procedures will be deemed a failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Failure to exhaust administrative remedies, or failure to comply otherwise with these procedures, will constitute a waiver of any right to further pursue the bid protest, including filing a Government Code Claim or legal proceedings.

TERM / TERMINATION / RENEWAL

The contract term, which may be awarded pursuant to this RFP, will be three years.

By mutual agreement, any contract, which may be awarded pursuant to this RFP, may be extended for an additional two-year.

The County has and reserves the right to suspend, terminate or abandon the execution of any work, services and/or providing of goods by the Contractor without cause at any time upon giving the Contractor prior written notice. In the event that the County should abandon, terminate or suspend the Contractor’s work, services and/or providing of goods, the Contractor will be entitled to payment for services provided hereunder prior to the effective date of said suspension, termination, or abandonment. The County may terminate the contract at any time for cause without written notice upon a material breach of contract or substandard or unsatisfactory performance by the Contractor. In the event of termination with cause, the County reserves the right to seek any and all damages from the Contractor. In the event of such termination, with or without cause, the County reserves the right to invite the next highest-ranked Bidder to enter into a contract or rebid the project if it is determined to be in its best interest to do so.

QUANTITIES

Quantities listed herein are annual estimates based on past usage, etc. and are not to be construed as a commitment. No minimum or maximum is guaranteed or implied.

PRICING

All pricing as quoted will not increase, but except as noted below, remain fixed and firm for the term of any contract that may be awarded as a result of this RFP.

Unless otherwise stated, Bidder agrees that, in the event of a price decline, the benefit of such a lower price will be extended to the…