FinalRFP DBHIDS Intranet Modernization (SharePointM365) - IT Implementation Services_nb4_08172026-cd.docx

RFP Template – Implementation Project Health Intake#: 1444 Revised August 2026

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities Services (DBHIDS)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

FOR

DBHIDS Intranet Modernization (SharePoint/M365) September 11, 2026

Deadline for Receipt of Proposals: September 30, 2026, 5:00 PM (Local Philadelphia Time)

Pre-Proposal Meeting: A pre-proposal meeting will not be held for this opportunity.

Deadline for Questions: September 21, 2026, 5:00 PM (Local Philadelphia Time)

Cherelle L. Parker, Mayor Kehinde Solanke, DBHIDS Commissioner

City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disability Services

Request for Proposals for DBHIDS Intranet Modernization (SharePoint/M365) September 11, 2026

Table of Contents

2.11.7 Confidentiality, Public Disclosure and Ownership

City of Philadelphia Request for Proposals for DBHIDS Intranet Modernization (SharePoint/M365) Table of Contents – Page iii Rev 8.2026 General Information Background and General Scope of Work This project is to upgrade and modernize the current DBHIDS Intranet to improve internal communication, streamline access to resources, enable role-based content delivery, and establish governance aligned with OIT standards and HIPAA requirements. This is to be built on the City’s M365/SharePoint platform.

Modernize the current intranet into a centralized, user-friendly “front door” for staff communication, division content, and resources, built on the City’s M365/SharePoint platform.

No computer hardware or other equipment, and no network or computer installation services (such as cabling or physical installation of equipment) will be purchased under any contract resulting from this Request for Proposals. The City will purchase such equipment and services separately, through its normal procurement process.

General Statement of Proposal Requirements The selected Applicant shall provide end-to-end professional services to design, configure, implement, and support a modern DBHIDS intranet using the City’s existing Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online environment. The solution must:

· Establish a centralized homepage and division hubs with intuitive navigation, enterprise search, metadata, and role-based content delivery.

· Use native SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365 capabilities wherever practical.

· Include content inventory, cleanup, migration, validation, and governance.

· Provide publishing workflows, permissions, analytics, and Microsoft 365 integrations.

· Comply with City accessibility, security, privacy, HIPAA, and records-management requirements.

· Include a pilot, testing, training, documentation, deployment, stabilization, support, and knowledge transfer.

· Separately identify and price any optional custom development, third-party products, dashboards, or ongoing services.

Detailed requirements for the System and/or services sought by this RFP are provided in Appendix A, Detailed Project Requirements.

Proposal Submission Date; Anticipated Procurement Schedule The date for submitting Proposals pursuant to this RFP (the “Submission Date”) is as provided below. Proposals must be submitted as provided in Section 3.1.5, Proposal Submission Requirements, by the time on the Submission Date indicated below.

September 28, 2026

Response to Questions Posted

September 30, 2026, by 5:00 PM (Local Philadelphia Time)

Submit Proposals on eContract Philly

These dates are estimates only and the City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to alter this schedule as it deems necessary or appropriate. Notice of changes in the Pre-Proposal Meeting date/time or location, the due date/time for submission of Applicant questions, and the date/time for Proposal Submission will be posted on the City’s website at https://philawx.phila.gov/econtract/ (“eContract Philly”). The other dates/times listed may be changed without notice to prospective Applicants.

Applicants to this RFP (each an “Applicant” and collectively “Applicants”) must submit their responses and applications electronically on eContract Philly and in accordance with Section 3.1.5, Proposal Submission Requirements. Submissions will not be considered unless the Applicant has proceeded through the eContract Philly system. For more information, please consult the reference materials found on the website, e-mail econtractphilly@phila.gov or call 215-686-4914. Applicants who have failed to file complete applications to the correct opportunity number through the eContract Philly online application process prior to the closing date and time will not be considered for the contract. The City encourages Applicants to start and complete their online applications as early as possible.

City’s Primary Contact The name, address, and contact information for the City’s Primary Contact for this RFP are as follows:

Sekaiya Willis, Manager of Procurements & Grants Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services 1101 Market Street, 7th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 E-mail address: Sekaiya.Willis@phila.gov All questions, requests for clarification, and requests for additional information regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing by the deadline set forth in Section 1.3. No oral response by any employee or agent of the City shall be binding on the City or shall, in any way, constitute a commitment by the City. If an Applicant finds any inconsistency or ambiguity in the RFP, the Applicant is requested to notify the City by the questions due date set forth in Section 1.3.

Non-Discrimination; Fair Practices.

In performing the Contract, the Contractor must comply with the terms of the Charter and the Fair Practices Ordinance (Chapter 9-1100 of the Code) as they may be amended from time to time. In addition, to the extent those provisions do not explicitly prohibit or cover certain types of discriminatory conduct, in performing this Contract, Contractor has broader obligation under this Contract. In connection with providing any service or fulfilling any duty under this Contract, including selecting and engaging any Subcontractor, Contractor shall not discriminate or permit discrimination against any individual on the basis of actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information; domestic or sexual violence victim status; or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”) status. In the event of any breach of this Section, the City may, in addition to any other rights or remedies available under this Contract, at law or in equity, suspend or terminate this Contract forthwith.

Compliance with Chapter 17-1400 of The Philadelphia Code Under any contract resulting from this RFP, the successful Applicant shall be required to comply with the terms and conditions set forth in Appendix G, Provisions Required by Chapter 17-1400 of the Philadelphia Code, which shall be incorporated into the contract.

RFP Requirements and Conditions Fixed Price Proposal Required Cost proposals for the DBHIDS Intranet Modernization (SharePoint/M365) System must be “fixed price” proposals. The proposed price must include all costs that will be incurred for the purchase and implementation of the System, including, but not limited to, costs for the following: integration and project management; software development; software testing; installation and implementation of software; maintenance for software (including middleware, database, communication, operating system, and other software); maintenance for hardware if required under the RFP; software; training services if required under the RFP; and all other work proposed. If an Applicant offers options and/or alternates that are not included in the fixed price for the proposed System, the Applicant must provide for each such option/alternate the following information:

· A detailed description of the option/alternate (including, but not limited to, all features and functionality that will be unavailable in the base System if the option/alternate is not purchased);

· A full explanation of the rationale for not incorporating such functionality in the base System;

· Detailed cost information for each option/alternate, in accordance with the cost proposal requirements of the RFP.

The cost proposal must identify, by separate line item, the cost of each item of software, services, and other work to be furnished as part of the System. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject without evaluation any Proposal that does not identify each item of the work by line item, and any Proposal that does not provide a fixed price to perform the proposed work (including, but not limited to, proposals to perform the work on a “time and materials” or “cost-plus” basis).

Type of Solution Sought The City seeks professional services to modernize the DBHIDS intranet using the City’s existing Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online environment. The City is not seeking to purchase a new standalone intranet platform or to implement a separately vendor-hosted solution.

The selected Applicant shall provide requirements discovery, solution design, SharePoint configuration, information architecture, content migration, Microsoft 365 integration, workflow development, testing, training, documentation, deployment, and post-implementation support.

The solution shall primarily use native SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365 capabilities. Limited custom development or third-party products may be proposed only when necessary to satisfy an identified requirement that cannot reasonably be met through native capabilities. Any such component must be separately described and priced, include a business and technical justification, and receive prior written approval from DBHIDS and OIT. No third-party component or custom development may be implemented without completion of all required City security, privacy, accessibility, architecture, and procurement reviews.

RESERVED

Maintenance and Support; Warranty; Training; Source Code Maintenance and Support Services The Proposal must include a section describing the maintenance and support services to be provided under the contract resulting from the RFP. A minimum of one (1) year of maintenance/support services, commencing on final acceptance of the System and project by the City, must be included in the fixed price cost proposal, with the price identified in a separate line item. The City expects that maintenance and support will be furnished on a “turnkey” basis – i.e. the successful Applicant will itself be contractually responsible for all maintenance and support services for all elements of the System, including but not limited to all software and any data transport services that are required under the contract, and will be the single point of contact for service and support. Applicants are requested to price four additional years of maintenance and support, with the price for each of years two through five identified in a separate line item. The City expects that the successful Applicant will guarantee the availability of maintenance and support services for application software, on the foregoing “turnkey” basis, for a minimum of five (5) years from final acceptance of the System. Proposals must include a description of the proposed services, stating whether the Applicant will comply with the foregoing terms, and describing the Applicants problem resolution procedures – including problem severity classifications, response times and “fix” times for each level of severity, and the escalation procedures (including on-site service) that will apply where resolution is not immediately achieved.

In addition, Applicants must propose an ongoing monthly maintenance fee for intranet content management services. These services shall include, as requested by DBHIDS, preparing, formatting, optimizing, and posting videos, content snippets, graphics, and other digital materials; refining content and messaging; and applying consistent templates, visual standards, branding, aesthetics, color schemes, accessibility practices, and other content-presentation standards across the intranet. The maintenance fee must be separately identified in the cost proposal and describe the included service levels, hours or volume assumptions, turnaround times, and rates for work beyond the included scope.

Warranty The City requires a warranty from the successful Applicant that covers the entire System, including all software, other deliverables, design, implementation/integration and other services required under the contract resulting from the RFP and ensures compliance with all specifications, including performance standards, in the contract. The warranty must be on a “turnkey” basis – i.e. the successful Applicant must itself be contractually responsible for all warranty obligations and must be the single point of contact for service under the warranty. The warranty period must be a minimum of one (1) year, commencing on final acceptance of the System and project by the City. The price of such a one-year warranty must be included in the fixed price cost proposal, with the price identified in a separate line item. The City strongly prefers a two year or greater warranty period and requests that Applicants price two additional warranty years, with the price for each additional warranty year identified in a separate line item of the cost proposal. Any premium charged for a warranty year – i.e. any charge in addition to the price for a concurrent year’s maintenance and support services – should be identified in the cost proposal. For additional terms and conditions regarding the warranty, Applicants are directed to review Article VII of the Provider Agreement for Implementation Services, included as Appendix L to this RFP.

2.4.3 Training

The City requires the user training and other training services described in Appendix E, Training Requirements, in accordance with the conditions provided. Proposals should describe, and in the Cost Proposal provide line-item costs for, the training that the Applicant is capable of providing, the training methodologies and materials to be used, and the Applicant’s experience in furnishing the kinds of training requested. Proposals should state clearly, in the Requirements Compliance Certification, whether each type of training requested will be offered in accordance with the requirements of Appendix E.

2.4.4 Software Source Code

The City expects delivery and ownership of the source code, including complete documentation and specifications, for custom software developed and furnished specifically for the System under any contract resulting from this RFP. For software that is proprietary to the successful Applicant or to third parties, the City expects that source code, including complete documentation and specifications, will be deposited in escrow, at no expense to the City and on terms satisfactory to the City, with regular updates of the deposited code and documentation to reflect enhancements, upgrades, updates, and corrections to the software. For additional terms and conditions regarding the software source code, Applicants are directed to review Article X of the Provider Agreement for Implementation Services, included as Appendix L. to this RFP.

Responsiveness Proposals must satisfy all requirements set forth in this RFP. Any Proposal that does not adhere strictly to RFP requirements may, in the sole discretion of the City, be rejected, as not responsive to the RFP, without further consideration. Proposals will be evaluated, in part, according to whether the Applicant meets the qualifications described in the RFP and submits a Proposal complying with all RFP requirements. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine whether any deviation(s) from or exception(s) to RFP requirements make the Proposal non-responsive or otherwise unacceptable such that the Proposal will be rejected without further consideration.

Disclaimer This RFP and the process it describes are proprietary to the City and are for the sole and exclusive benefit of the City. This RFP is not binding on the City. No other party, including any Applicant to this RFP or future Applicant to any RFP that may be issued by the City, is intended to be granted any rights hereunder. Proposals and other materials submitted in response to this RFP, whether written or verbal and including, without limitation, ideas of Proposers elicited in response to the RFP, shall become the sole and absolute property of the City upon submission or communication, and the City shall have title thereto and unrestricted use thereof. The City shall have the right to disclose the Proposals, materials and any ideas to any person or entity including, employees of the City, its consultants and contractors, and authorized agents, as required to carry out this RFP procurement. Any such Proposal, materials, and ideas may be publicly disclosed by the City or any authorized agent of the City, for any reason the City, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate, or pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right To Know Act or other applicable law. The Proposer acknowledges and agrees that the City and its authorized agents shall have the foregoing right of public disclosure notwithstanding any notice or statement by the Proposer (whether made in the Proposal or otherwise) asserting the confidential or proprietary nature of the Proposal or of any materials submitted or ideas elicited in response to the RFP.

Publicity All publicity (including, but not limited to, news releases, news conferences, and commercial advertising) relating to this RFP and/or the services or products sought by this RFP and/or any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP shall require the prior written approval of the Chief Information Officer, Moh Khaleel.

Applicants Restricted No Proposal shall be accepted from, or contract awarded to, any City employee or official, or any firm in which a City employee or official has a direct or indirect financial interest. No Applicant may be the prime contractor or prime Applicant for more than one Proposal submitted pursuant to this RFP. Entities that are legally related to each other or to a common entity may not submit separate Proposals as prime contractors or prime Applicants. Any Proposal may be rejected that, in the City's sole judgment, does not comply with these conditions. Nothing contained in this RFP is intended to preclude a Proposal by a system integrator that proposes to perform the substantive work proposed through subcontractors.

Participation of Small and Local Business Enterprises Under the authority of Executive Order No. 06-25, the City has established a policy relating to the participation of small and local businesses in City contracts. Participation goals are based upon the availability of small and local businesses for the scope of work identified in this RFP, the total dollar value of this RFP, and an assessment of past performance of similar work.

The Small & Local Business Plan (“SLBP”), attached as Appendix F, outlines the City’s requirements for the participation of Small Business Enterprises (“SBE”) and/or Local Business Entities (“LBE”) on this RFP.

If attached to the SLBP, Appendix 1: Participation Range Memo outlines the participation ranges for each category of SBE, LBE or S/LBE.

Applicant must complete Appendix 2: Solicitation & Participation Form (“S&P Form”) to document all solicitations and commitments made by Applicant. A completed S&P Form must be included in Applicant’s Proposal to the RFP regardless of whether commitments resulted from the solicitations.

Demographic data is collected by the City in furtherance of the objectives of Executive Order No. 06-25 and to ensure that City funds are not used, directly or indirectly, to promote, reinforce or perpetuate prohibitive practices in the solicitation, negotiation, or execution of City contracts. The provision of demographic data pursuant to this subsection will not affect Applicant's current or future access to contract opportunities.

For further clarification of OEO’s Small Business Program or for assistance in completing forms, call (215) 683-2071 or email at oeophila@phila.gov.

Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of This RFP All Proposals submitted are subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP. The Applicant, by submitting its Proposal, expressly acknowledges and agrees to all terms, conditions and requirements contained in this RFP.

Proposal Submission, Evaluation and Selection General The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject all Proposals and reissue this RFP at any time prior to execution of a final contract; to require, in any RFP for similar products and/or services that may be issued subsequent to this RFP, terms and conditions that are substantially different from the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP; and/or to cancel this RFP with or without issuing another RFP.

Rights and Options Reserved The City reserves and in its sole discretion may, but shall not be required to, exercise the following rights and options with respect to the Proposal submission, evaluation and selection process under this RFP:

(a) To reject any Proposals if, in the City’s sole discretion, the Proposal is incomplete, the Proposal is not responsive to the requirements of this RFP (see “Detailed Project Requirements” in the RFP appendices), the Applicant does not meet the Qualifications set forth in the RFP, or it is otherwise in the City’s best interest to do so;

(b) To supplement, amend, substitute or otherwise modify this RFP at any time prior to selection of one or more Applicants for negotiation and to cancel this RFP with or without issuing another RFP;

(c) To accept or reject any or all of the items in any Proposal and award the contract(s) in whole or in part if it is deemed in the City’s best interest to do so;

(d) To reject the Proposal of any Applicant that, in the City’s sole judgment, has been delinquent or unfaithful in the performance of any contract with the City or with others, is financially or technically incapable or is otherwise not a responsible Applicant;

(e) To reject as informal, non-responsive, or otherwise non-compliant with the requirements of this RFP any Proposal which, in the City’s sole judgment, is incomplete, is not in conformity with applicable law, is conditioned in any way that is unacceptable to the City, deviates from this RFP and its requirements, contains erasures, ambiguities, or alterations, or proposes or requires items of work not called for by this RFP;

(f) To waive any informality, defect, non-responsiveness and/or deviation from this RFP and its requirements that is not, in the City’s sole judgment, material to the Proposal;

(g) To permit or reject at the City’s sole discretion, amendments (including information inadvertently omitted), modifications, alterations and/or corrections of Proposals by some or all of the Applicants following Proposal submission;

(h) To request that some or all of the Applicants modify Proposals based upon the City’s review and evaluation;

(i) To request additional or clarifying information or more detailed information from any Applicant at any time, before or after Proposal submission, including information inadvertently omitted by the Applicant;

(j) To inspect and otherwise investigate projects performed by the Applicant, whether or not referenced in the Proposal, with or without the consent of or notice to the Applicant;

(k) To conduct such investigations with respect to the financial, technical, and other qualifications of each Applicant as the City, in its sole discretion, deems necessary or appropriate; and

(l) To waive and/or amend any of the factors identified in the RFP as pertaining to the Applicant’s qualifications.

Contract Negotiation and Award The City reserves and in its sole discretion may, but shall not be required to, exercise the following rights and options with respect to the contract negotiation and award process resulting from this RFP:

The City reserves the right to enter into post-submission negotiations and discussions with any one or more Applicants regarding price, scope of services, and/or any other term of their Proposals, and such other contractual terms as the City may require, at any time prior to execution of a final contract. The City may, at its sole election, enter into simultaneous, competitive negotiations with multiple Applicants or negotiate with individual Applicants seriatim. Negotiations with Applicants may result in the enlargement or reduction of the scope of services, or changes in other terms that are material to the RFP and the submitted Proposals. In such event, the City shall not be obligated to inform other Applicants of the changes, or to permit them to revise their Proposals in light thereof, unless the City, in its sole discretion, determines that doing so is in the City’s best interest.

In the event negotiations with any Applicant(s) are not satisfactory to the City, the City reserves the right to discontinue such negotiations at any time; to enter into or continue negotiations with other Applicants; to enter into negotiations with firms that did not respond to this RFP and/or to solicit new proposals from firms that did not respond to this RFP, including but not limited to negotiations or proposals for components of the System, if any, that are deleted by the City from the successful Proposal or the contract resulting from it. The City reserves the right not to enter into any contract with any Applicant, with or without re-issue of the RFP, if the City determines that such is in the City’s best interest.

Proposal Evaluation Proposals the City determines, in its sole discretion, are responsive to the RFP will be reviewed by a selection committee designated by the City. The City, in its sole discretion, may require any Applicant to make one or more presentations of its Proposal to the selection committee, in City offices, at no cost to the City, addressing its ability to satisfy the requirements of this RFP. The City shall not be required, however, to permit any Applicant to make such a demonstration.

Cost to the City is a material factor, but not the sole or necessarily the determining factor in Proposal evaluation. The City may, in its sole discretion, award a contract resulting from this RFP to a person or entity other than the responsible and qualified Applicant submitting the lowest price. The contract will be awarded to the Applicant whose Proposal the City determines, in its sole discretion, is the most advantageous to the City and in the City's best interest.

Proposal evaluation will include evaluation of the Applicant’s qualifications, based on Volume 1 of the Proposal and such other information and investigations as the City deems necessary and appropriate; and evaluation of the Applicant’s technical solutions and Cost Proposals as set forth in Volume 2 of the Proposal. The City, in its sole discretion, may, but shall not be required to, reject without further consideration the Proposal of any Applicant that has not demonstrated, in the City’s sole judgment, that it satisfies the qualifications criteria provided in the RFP. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without notice to Applicants, to modify this evaluation procedure as it may deem to be in the City’s interest.

Evaluation factors to be considered by the City include, but are not limited to, the following (no particular order of importance, weighting, or other priority is assigned to these factors or reflected by their order in the list):

1) Superior ability or capacity to meet particular requirements of contract and needs of City Department and those it serves -

a) Project understanding and soundness of proposed project methodology, including but not limited to the detail and accuracy of the proposed scope and statement of work and implementation plan;

2) Eligibility under Code provisions relating to campaign contributions;

3) Superior prior experience of Applicant and staff -

a) References provided by the Applicant, particularly from projects of similar complexity and scope;

b) Demonstrated ability to provide Services and Deliverables comparable to those requested in this RFP;

4) Superior quality, efficiency and fitness of proposed solution for City Department -

a) The impact of the proposed solution on the operations of the using department, and the demonstrated ability of the solution to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness;

5) Superior skill and reputation, including timeliness and demonstrable results -

a) The Applicant’s financial and technical qualifications to perform the work required by the RFP, as presented in its Proposal and determined by any other investigations conducted or information obtained by the City;

b) Commitment and ability to complete the project within the time frame specified in the Proposal;

6) Special benefit to continuing services of incumbent, such as operational difficulties with transition or needs of population being served;

7) Benefit of promoting long-term competitive development and allocation of experience to new or small businesses, including SBEs and LBEs;

8) Lower cost;

9) Administrative and operational efficiency, requiring less City oversight and administration;

10) Anticipated long-term cost effectiveness;

11) Meets prequalification requirements as set forth in this RFP; and,

12) Applicant’s Local Impact or LBE certification.

Site Inspections The City may, at its sole option, inspect the Applicant’s work at one or more sites where the Applicant’s or a proposed subcontractor’s products are installed, or services have been provided. If a list of such sites is not required elsewhere in this RFP or included in its Proposal, the Applicant will promptly provide such a list upon written request by the City.

Prime Contractor Responsibility All subcontractors will be subject to approval by the City. Prior to contract execution, the successful Applicant will be required to furnish the corporate or company name and the names of the officers and principals of all subcontractors. Notwithstanding any such approval by the City, the successful Applicant shall itself be solely responsible for the performance of all work set forth in any contract resulting from the RFP, and for compliance with the price and other terms provided in the contract. The successful Applicant shall cause the appropriate provisions of its Proposal and the contract to be inserted in all subcontracts.

The City’s consent to or approval of any subcontract or subcontractor Proposed by an Applicant shall not create or purport to create any obligation of the City to any such subcontractor, or any form of contractual relationship or relationship of privity between the City and the subcontractor. Any Applicant who obtains such approval or consent of the City shall be required to insert a clause so providing in all subcontracts.

2.11.7 Confidentiality, Public Disclosure and Ownership

Each Applicant shall treat all information obtained from the City as a result of this opportunity or any resultant contract, which information is not generally available to the public, as confidential and/or proprietary to the City in accordance with the terms of any resultant contract. The Applicant shall exercise all reasonable precautions to prevent any information derived from such sources from being disclosed to any other person. Applicant shall not use such information in connection with or as a prompt for AI unless adequate security protections are in place governing the Applicant’s use of the AI, such protections to include, at a minimum, an enterprise license agreement for the AI that ensures data confidentiality. The Applicant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City, its officials and employees, from and against all liability, demands, claims, suits, losses, damages, causes of action, fines and judgments (including attorney's fees) resulting from any use or disclosure of such confidential and/or proprietary information by the successful Applicant or any person acquiring such information, directly or indirectly, from the successful Applicant.

By submission of a proposal, Applicants acknowledge and agree that the City, as a municipal corporation, is subject to state and local public disclosure laws and, as such, is legally obligated to disclose to the public documents, including proposals, to the extent required thereunder. Without limiting the foregoing sentence, the City's legal obligations shall not be limited or expanded in any way by an Applicant's assertion of confidentiality and/or proprietary data.

By submission of a proposal, each Applicant certifies that all materials in its proposal are owned or licensed to be used by, or otherwise lawfully used by, the Applicant, including any materials generated by AI.

Responsibility for Proposal Costs The Applicant shall be solely and fully responsible for all costs associated with the development, preparation, transmittal, and submission of any Proposal or material submitted in response to this RFP. The City may, in its sole discretion, ask selected Applicants to present their Proposal in person to the City’s representatives at the City’s offices, and the costs of such presentations, as well as the costs of any pilot implementation required by the City under Section 2.3, shall be solely the responsibility of the Applicant. The City assumes no contractual or other obligations as a result of the issuance of this RFP, the preparation or submission of a Proposal by an Applicant, the evaluation of Proposals, the Applicant’s conduct of presentations or pilot implementations, or the selection of any Applicant for further negotiations. There may be no claims whatsoever for reimbursement from the City or any of its consultants for such costs. All costs incurred by the Applicant during the selection process and during negotiations will be solely the responsibility of the Applicant.

RESERVED

Withdrawal or Modification of Proposals Applicants may withdraw or modify their Proposals at any time prior to the Proposal Submission Date provided in Section 1.3, Proposal Submission Date; Anticipated Procurement Schedule, by written notice of withdrawal or written submission of the modification, signed in the same manner and by the same persons who signed the Proposal. Such written notice must be addressed to the City Primary Contact as specified in Section 1.4.

Contract Terms and Requirements The terms and conditions that have been adopted by the City for the project(s) described in this RFP may be found in the Provider Agreement for Implementation Services, included as Appendix L. to this RFP and the General Provisions for Computer and Information Services, available on eContract Philly (collectively, the Contract). Applicants are responsible to review all specifications, requirements, terms and conditions, insurance requirements, and other requirements therein.

To be responsive, Applicants must be prepared to enter into a contract with terms substantially similar to those in the Contract. An Applicant’s failure to execute a contract substantially the same as the Contract may result in disqualification for future solicitations for this same or similar products/services. The City reserves the right, however, to require or negotiate different and/or additional terms and conditions in any final contract resulting from this RFP if, in the sole judgment of the City, it is in the best interest of the City to do so, without notice to other Applicants and without affording other Applicants any opportunity to revise their proposals based on such different or additional terms.

Submittal of a proposal is agreement to this condition. Applicants are to price and submit proposals to reflect all the specifications and requirements in this RFP and terms and conditions substantially the same as those included in this RFP. Applicants may state for the City’s consideration any objections to terms in the Contract in a separate section of the Proposal. Any such objection must identify the specific section(s) objected to, state the reason(s) for the objection, and propose alternative language or terms. Terms to which no objection is asserted will be presumed acceptable to the Applicant. The City may, in its sole discretion, evaluate proposals in part according to whether the Applicant so objects, and the number and type of objections asserted.

Document Preparation Fee Pursuant to Chapter 17-700 of The Philadelphia Code, the successful Applicant must generally pay a contract preparation fee. Regulations promulgated by the City Solicitor currently establish the following schedule of fees for preparation of the initial contract and subsequent amendments, based upon the amounts involved and whether the successful Applicant is a for-profit or nonprofit entity:

In its discretion, the Law Department may grant a full or partial waiver of any of the above fees in exceptional cases for good cause shown, such as violation of a grant covenant. Governmental entities are exempt from the fees. The Law Department reserves the right to collect up to twice the stated fee if extensive negotiation is required to reach a final contract with the successful Applicant.

Proposal Requirements Administrative Requirements Applicants are expected to comply with all administrative requirements provided in this Section 3.1.

Mandatory Online Registration and Filing Requirements You must apply online in order to be eligible for award of the non-competitively bid contract opportunity described in this RFP; proposals and any other related documents prepared in response to this RFP will not be considered unless they are filed to the correct contract opportunity established for this RFP (identified by opportunity number), within the prescribed time period, through eContract Philly, which can be accessed on the City’s website at Thttps://philawx.phila.gov/econtract/ by clicking on eContract Philly.[footnoteRef:1] The posting of this RFP on eContract Philly is also referred to as a Notice of Contracting Opportunity. [1: The eContract Philly website is compatible with Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple Safari; but the site is not presently compatible with Mozilla Firefox.]

The City requires that any Applicant who establishes an account on eContract Philly and utilizes that account for the purpose of responding to a particular contract opportunity is the same individual or business entity that, if awarded the contract, will enter into and perform the resulting contract with the City. Applicants MUST ensure that the company name and Tax Identification Number (TIN) with which they are registered on eContract Philly is the identical name and TIN under which they are submitting their application. Any deviation from this may result in the disqualification of the Applicant at the sole discretion of the City. If the Applicant wishes to apply for an opportunity using a name or TIN which is different from the registration account, the Applicant must register the new name and TIN with eContract Philly before submitting its application for the opportunity. Except in the case of joint ventures, applications posted on eContract Philly from Applicants that purport to be filing an application on behalf of another individual or business entity will not be considered, even if the other business entity is an affiliate of the Applicant.

In the case of multiple business entities that if awarded a contract have formed, or intend to form a joint venture to perform the contract, a single business entity may file an application on behalf of all such business entities so long as (i) the filing business entity is or will be a member of the joint venture, (ii) the application is made in the name of the existing or proposed joint venture, (iii) documentation is submitted with the application identifying all business entities that comprise, or will comprise, the joint venture, and demonstrating a binding agreement among those business entities to perform the contract as the joint venture identified in the application (for a joint venture that has not yet been formed, documentation signed by each identified business entity evidencing a commitment to form the joint venture if awarded the contract is sufficient), and (iv) the non-filing business entities are eligible for award of a City contract and make the disclosures required by Chapter 17-1400 of the Philadelphia Code (described in greater detail below) within fourteen (14) days after the joint venture receives notice that it has been awarded the contract.

Pursuant to Chapter 17-1400 of the Philadelphia Code, Applicants and contractors are required to disclose their direct and indirect campaign contributions to political candidates and incumbents who are nominated, running for, or currently serving in, a local Philadelphia elected office and to political committees/parties that are operating in Philadelphia (state and federal campaign contributions are not included unless the subject of the campaign is also running for, or currently serving in a local Philadelphia elected office); any consultants used in responding to the RFP and contributions those Pursuant to Chapter 17-1400 of the Philadelphia Code, Applicants are required to disclose their direct and indirect campaign contributions to political candidates and incumbents who are nominated, running for, or currently serving in, a local Philadelphia elected office and to political committees/parties that are operating in Philadelphia (state and federal campaign contributions are not included unless the subject of the campaign is also running for, or currently serving in a local Philadelphia elected office); any consultants used in responding to the RFP and contributions those consultants have made; and prospective subcontractors. This information, as well as a proposal or any other response document required, is part of the online application. For more information, please consult the text of Chapter 17-1400, consult the reference materials found on the website, e-mail econtractphilly@phila.gov, or call 215-686-4914.

Applicants are advised that under Chapter 17-1400 individuals and businesses that make campaign contributions in excess of the amounts set forth in Section 17-1404(1), as periodically adjusted, are ineligible to enter into a City contract or subcontract at any tier. Applicants should take this into consideration in electing to apply for this opportunity or in selecting subcontractors if awarded a contract to perform the work sought by this RFP.

At their option, Applicants may require that their subcontractors disclose to the Applicants, the subcontractors’ direct and indirect campaign contributions to candidates who are running for, and/or incumbents who are currently serving in local Philadelphia elected office and to political committees/parties that are operating in Philadelphia (federal campaign contributions are not included unless the subject of the campaign is also running for, or currently serving in a local Philadelphia elected office). Disclosure forms may be found on the Disclosure/Eligibility – Subcontractor Disclosure tab on eContract Philly. Applicants are not required to submit these forms to the City.

Applicants who have failed to file complete applications to the correct opportunity – including the online disclosure forms – through the eContract Philly online application process prior to the closing date and time will not be considered for the contract.

You are encouraged to start and complete your online application on eContract Philly as early as possible. Please be aware that internet connection speed depends on a variety of factors including: configuration of your computer, configuration of your business or home network, the condition of the wiring at your location, network or internet congestion (available bandwidth). Please prepare and plan accordingly to ensure a timely submission. Your proposal and other application documents will not be considered submitted until you sign the application and click on the “submit” button at the conclusion of the eContract Philly process. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have signed and submitted your complete application to the correct contract opportunity established for this RFP.

You can begin uploading (or attaching) your proposal and other application materials at any time. It is especially prudent for you to start uploading your attachments earlier if you have a large number of attachments (e.g. over five documents) or larger-sized attachments (e.g. above 5 MB). Please be advised that the eContract Philly website will not accept documents larger than 8 MB. If you have documents larger than 8 MB, you must separate them into smaller documents in order to successfully upload them to the system. Until you sign and submit your application, your materials are not accessible to any staff with the City of Philadelphia. Once you have signed and submitted your application, your application is accessible only to appropriate contract staff within the City of Philadelphia.

You are advised that any individual who signs and submits an application on eContract Philly must be an authorized signatory of the Applicant, authorized to both bind the Applicant to its proposal and to make the disclosures required to complete the eContract Philly process. Therefore, in conjunction with their electronic signatures provided at the conclusion of the submission of their applications online, signatories will be required to certify that they are the Applicant or are employees or officers of the Applicant duly authorized to execute the application and make disclosures on the Applicant’s behalf; and they represent and covenant that, to the best of their knowledge after appropriate inquiry, all of the information and disclosures provided are true and contain no material misstatement or omissions.

Except as expressly provided otherwise on eContract Philly, Applicants that obtain the RFP via eContract Philly shall be bound by all instructions, disclaimers, terms and conditions for viewing, downloading and/or printing the RFP that are posted on the “Terms of Use” page of the site (accessed by clicking https://www.phila.gov/terms-of-use/. These Terms of Use are incorporated in and made a part of this RFP by reference.

Transparency in Business Demographic Data Disclosures In accordance with Philadelphia Code Section 17-1402(1)(b)(.4), if the resulting contract is valued at or over $99,000, the Applicant, if awarded, agrees to provide the following information before conformance of the contract:

(a) Applicant’s prior years of experience performing on City contracts in any capacity during the five calendar years…