RFP-25-051; Digital Accessibility Consulting Project.pdf

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 1 of 40

Release Date

May 5, 2025

Solicitation Number

RFP-25-051

Solicitation Title

Services to be performed for

EL PASO COUNTY DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY

CONSULTING PROJECT

El Paso County – Department of Communications

Responses will be received until 11:00 A.M., MDT, Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Electronically through the Rocky Mountain E- Purchasing System

For additional information please contact Jake Harper Associate Procurement Specialist Email: JakeHarper@elpasoco.com 719-520-6857

Documents included in this package Request for Proposal Cover Sheet Executive Summary Summary of Work / Specifications Special Terms and Conditions General Terms and Conditions Response Submittal Requirements Attachments

The undersigned hereby affirms that (1) he/she is a duly authorized agent of the Consultant, (2) he/she has read all terms and conditions and technical specifications which were made available in conjunction with this solicitation and fully understands and accepts them unless specific variations have been expressly listed in his/her offer, (3) that the offer is being submitted on behalf of the Consultant in accordance with any terms and conditions set forth in this document, and (4) that the Consultant will accept any awards made to it as a result of the offer submitted herein for a minimum of ninety calendar days following the date of submission. Offers must contain, in blue ink, a manual signature of an authorized agent of the Consultant or a verifiable electronic time and date stamped signature in the space provided on all appropriate signature lines in this solicitation. Typed names as signatures are not allowed.

PRINT OR TYPE YOUR INFORMATION

Company Name: _______________________________________ Fax: __________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________ City/State/Zip: __________________________________________

Contact Person: ________________________________________ Title: __________________________________________________

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Authorized Representative’s Signature: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Printed Name: _________________________________________ Title: _________________________________________________

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El Paso County Contracts and Procurement

15 East Vermijo Avenue Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL #RFP-25-051

COVER SHEET

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 2 of 40

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL # RFP 25-051

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OFFICIAL SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS: El Paso County officially distributes solicitation documents through the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System and the County’s website. Copies of solicitations obtained from any other source are not considered official copies. Only those Consultants who obtain solicitation documents from the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System or El Paso County website will be in receipt of officially posted and relevant information regarding solicitations issued by El Paso County. The County cannot be held responsible for incorrect information, nor can it attest to the accuracy of information found on websites other than the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System or the County’s website.

PURPOSE OF SOLICITATION: El Paso County is requesting proposals from qualified, experienced, professional Consultants to furnish all services, labor, materials, and equipment necessary for the El Paso County Digital Accessibility Consulting Project (“The Project”).

The services (“Work”) requested in this RFP generally includes project management, technical writing, creating standard operating procedures, risk analysis, recommendations for additional resources, and training support to meet the standards and requirements under the Colorado Anti-discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado HB21-1110 Accessibility Law. This solicitation is for professional consulting services to provide guidance in collaboration with the El Paso County (County) Department of Communications and the Digital, Strategy, & Technology Department (DST). The Consultant will support the development and implementation of processes to comply with these digital accessibility laws. The purpose of this project is to update the County’s digital assets to ensure all residents can access and benefit from the digital services provided. This initiative exhibits the County’s commitment to our strategic objectives of improving transparency, service quality, and continual efforts to transform our digital infrastructure.

TERM OF CONTRACT: The awarded contract shall commence on June 25, 2025, and shall remain in effect through December 31, 2025.

OPTION TO RENEW FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS (MAINTAINING SAME PRICES): The prices or discounts quoted in this Solicitation shall prevail for term of the contract, at which time the County shall have the option to renew the contract for four (4) additional one-year periods, provided, however, that the Consultant will maintain the same prices or discounts that were awarded during the initial contract. Continuation of the contract beyond the initial period is a County prerogative and not a right of the Consultant. This prerogative will be exercised only when such continuation is clearly in the best interest of the County.

The County may consider an adjustment to the pricing structure outside of the option period, if such adjustment would be detrimental to the Consultant. The Consultant shall submit an immediate request for such an adjustment in writing to the Contracts and Procurement Division and must include detailed justification for the requested adjustment outside of the option period. This consideration is a County prerogative and there is no guarantee that the request will be accepted outside of the option period. The County reserves the right to accept, reject or negotiate any price adjustments submitted by the Consultant and/or to terminate the contract with the Consultant based on such price adjustments.

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 3 of 40

NON-APPROPRIATION. Pursuant to C.R.S.§ 29-1-110, as amended, the financial obligations of the County as set forth herein after the current fiscal year are contingent upon funds for the purpose of being appropriated, budgeted and otherwise available. The awarded agreement will automatically terminate on January 1st of the first fiscal year for which funds are not appropriated. The County shall give the Consultant written notice of such non-appropriation.

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES: The following activities and dates tentatively outline the process to be used to solicit Consultant responses and to review each Consultant Response.

May 5, 2025 Release Request for Proposal May 12, 2025 @ 10:00 a.m. Deadline for Submitting Questions May 28, 2025 @ 11:00 a.m. Response Submission Deadline June 2025 Issue Notice of Intent to Award

EXAMINATION OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS IS RECOMMENDED: Prior to the submission of its Response, the Consultant is advised to become familiar with the Project and all project documents. The Consultant is also advised to carefully examine the requirements outlined in the Specifications, as they may affect the requirements of the Consultant. It is not the intent of this RFP to cover each and every detail. Any problems that may arise must be promptly reported to the County and will be subject to the decision of the County. The Consultant is expected to carefully examine the size and scope of the proposed work prior to submitting its Response. The Consultant certifies that it has examined the location of the proposed Work and is familiar with the drawings and the specifications and all contract documents related thereto.

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS: Questions which arise during the Response preparation period regarding issues around this Solicitation, purchasing and/or award should be directed electronically, via the Rocky Mountain E- Purchasing system, to Jake Harper, Associate Procurement Specialist, Contracts and Procurement Division, El Paso County. The Consultant submitting the question(s) shall be responsible for ensuring that the question(s) is received by the date and time listed above in the Schedule of Activities for submitting the question(s).

Any official interpretation of this Solicitation must be made by an agent of the County’s Contracts and Procurement Division who is authorized to act on behalf of the County. The County shall not be responsible for interpretations offered by employees of the County who are not agents of the County’s Contracts and Procurement Division.

ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE: All non-confidential documents that may be subject to public requests under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Consultants must ensure that their software, products, services, and documents are accessible. Additionally, consultants should include any Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), or other Accessibility Statements relevant to their offerings.

Consultants have the option to provide a recording demonstrating conformance, test results, or an agreement to remediate their technology to meet accessibility standards.

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 4 of 40

El Paso County is soliciting responses from qualified, experienced, and professional Consultants to furnish all materials and labor as necessary for the El Paso County Digital Accessibility Consulting Project (“Project”).

The Project is being funded through El Paso County and there will be El Paso County oversight of the project.

It is expected that the business and its team members will have significant experience with this type of work. It is expected that the individuals overseeing and managing this project are qualified professionals. The successful Consultant shall be considered and shall remain an independent Consultant throughout the term of any contract awarded pursuant to this Solicitation.

The successful Consultant shall be solely responsible for scheduling and coordinating work of the subconsultants, suppliers, and other individuals or entities performing or furnishing any of the work under direct or indirect contract with the successful Consultant.

The successful Consultant shall provide and assume full responsibility for all services, materials, equipment, labor, transportation, and incidentals necessary for performance, start up, and completion of the services outlined in this Solicitation.

I. BACKGROUND / GENERAL INFORMATION

The adoption of Colorado HB21-1110 outlines significant changes regarding digital accessibility and will affect many services provided by El Paso County. The County must ensure its infrastructure complies with the established digital accessibility standards and requirements. The rules outlined in HB21-1110 stipulate that all Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in active use by a public entity either directly, through contracts, licensing, or other arrangements must be made accessible to accommodate individuals with a disability. ICT includes both public and internal digital content, self-contained closed systems, and hardware.

Accessible ICT includes the same standards and requirements as defined under C.R.S. § 24-85-102 (1.5), or as superseded by future statute, which is perceivable, operable, and understandable digital content that reasonably enables an individual with a disability to access the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services offered to other individuals, with the same privacy, independence, and ease of use as exists for individuals without a disability.

II. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Failure to provide required information may deem your submittal non-responsive. Submittals must contain, in blue ink, a manual signature of an authorized agent of the Consultant or a verifiable electronic time and date stamped signature in the space provided on all appropriate signature lines in this solicitation. Typed names as signatures are not allowed.

• Consultant Information Form

• Proprietary / Confidential Statement

• Exhibit 1 – Exception Form

• Exhibit 2 – Lobbying Certification

• Exhibit 3 – Non-Collusion Affidavit

SUMMARY OF WORK / SPECIFICATIONS

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 5 of 40

• Exhibit 4 – Minimum Insurance Requirements

III. SCOPE OF WORK

The Consultant will coordinate and work in collaboration with the Information Security and Compliance team and the County Attorney’s Office to determine the applicable digital accessibility laws and regulations for both the federal government and the State of Colorado.

The Consultant will provide the following services:

1. Attend weekly meetings, either virtually or in-person, with County staff throughout the course of the project.

2. The Consultant will assess how the applicable laws apply to the El Paso County Government and identify all areas where the County may not be compliant.

3. Conduct a comprehensive review of the existing accessibility assessment of all internal and externally facing digital products used by the County and identify where further assessments may be required.

The review will include testing a subset of pages used for accessing essential information or services.

4. Assist with scanning, surveying, and organizing public-facing web assets used by the County for delivery of programs and services to residents. This process will include prioritizing County risk for each asset.

5. Perform testing and/or identify other cost-effective resources for testing of ICT that may be encountered by users with disabilities and develop audit reports.

6. Assist with PDF remediation, specifically in identifying the most cost-effective but accessible solutions.

7. Provide an evaluation of the time, cost, and resources needed to further assess the accessibility of the

County’s digital products. The Consultant will work closely with the Information Security and Compliance team and Procurement Division to effectively communicate the digital accessibility requirements with external vendors to have applicable services and/or products remediated. (Example:

requesting a letter from an external vendor that defines how the vendor meets compliance requirements).

8. Evaluate the time, cost, and resources needed to assess the County’s primary content management system (CMS) and web content as part of the development, mitigation strategy, and Digital Accessibility Roadmap. With resources permitting, perform the assessment, report on barriers, and work with the Information Security and Compliance team and County staff to have the CMS vendor remove these barriers.

9. Work in collaboration with the Information Security and Compliance team to develop and maintain the Digital Accessibility Roadmap to drive compliance with the State of Colorado’s Digital Accessibility laws and regulations. Maintaining the Digital Accessibility Roadmap to ensure that County staff have a unified vision of roles and responsibilities.

10. Refine existing training for HB21-1110 to ensure that County staff understand their roles and responsibilities. This can include training content creators on how to easily achieve accessibility within their content management systems and other third-party technologies.

11. Work in coordination with the Communications Department, Information Security and Compliance Team, and Title 1 ADA Coordinators, to develop a training and support plan. Training support will include procedures and guidelines for County employees to ensure they have the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain digital accessibility compliance.

12. Recommend tools, systems, and processes to guide ongoing compliance with accessibility regulations.

Include options for non-technical workarounds (e.g., telephone access), which will give the County the information it needs to create a digital transition plan for its existing technology while ensuring that residents have access to County programs and services.

13. Develop a review process to validate that newly created content is compliant with federal and state accessibility regulations.

14. Complete an assessment of existing procurement processes and documents utilized by the County to acquire third party software and digital services.

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 6 of 40

15. Assist in developing a Scope of Work for the remediation of existing digital content that reflects the plans and recommendations developed with the Digital Accessibility Roadmap.

Digital Accessibility Roadmap Deliverables

The Consultant will collaborate with the Information Security and Compliance team and the County Attorney’s Office to produce a detailed report on the applicability of Colorado’s HB21-1110 and federal laws and regulations regarding digital accessibility to the El Paso County Government as part of a Digital Accessibility Roadmap.

The Consultant will provide the following:

1. Provide a Digital Accessibility Roadmap report that includes a comprehensive analysis of the County’s current state of digital technology accessibility and recommend an approach for contacting each vendor that owns a digital technology identified for remediation. The responsibility for fixing nonconforming content will consist of:

a. the vendors who created the technology

b. small fixes by County staff to update existing pages

2. The Digital Accessibility Roadmap will include a comprehensive strategy and action plan for remediating existing digital content and driving conformity with applicable accessibility regulations. The plan should consider and weigh factors such as time, cost, risk/liability, level of service, and prioritization of content for remediation.

3. Develop a training program and support materials for County staff to ensure they have the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain digital accessibility consistent with legal requirements. The Consultant will develop a framework for an ongoing training program that will ensure the County staff and contractors have sufficient knowledge to maintain compliance with accessibility regulations.

4. Develop a Digital Accessibility Roadmap with recommendations and processes for determining the appropriate level of information and services provided digitally. These recommendations will be provided in consultation with the Information Security and Compliance Team, the County Attorney’s Office, and County leadership.

5. Provide a list of recommended tools and resources to assist in continuing compliance with accessibility regulations.

6. Provide a detailed recommendation for ensuring future digital content is compliant with accessibility standards, including, but not limited to, processes to validate that newly created content will comply with accessibility regulations and the implementation of an ongoing training program.

7. Provide recommendations for modifying existing County procurement processes and documents to ensure that new and renewing third party software and digital services comply with applicable accessibility regulations.

8. Provide a Scope of Work for the remediation of existing digital content that reflects the Digital Accessibility Roadmap in conjunction with the Information Security and Compliance Team.

Procedural and Policy Requirements

1. Create communications plans to support the launch of training and the delegation of employee roles and responsibilities.

2. Create a messaging strategy for achieving buy-in from County leadership (including the IT Department, Legal, and Procurement) to create a virtual team to coordinate HB21-1110 collaboration.

3. Develop a risk-based IT deployment and procurement process to ensure that procurements meet business needs while also achieving compliance with the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) Accessibility Rule.

4. Create an escalation plan for alerting leadership of critical issues or requesting input on decisions.

5. Create a framework for how and when to reach out to vendors to request remediation of accessibility issues in existing ICT.

6. Develop a simplified document accessibility process so County staff can easily ensure that:

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 7 of 40

a. new public-facing documents are made accessible before being sent or posted

b. existing public documents are made accessible when requested

7. Work with County Attorney to minimize overall legal risk to the County.

8. The County will not commit to the use of any specific or proprietary systems or software.

IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation committee will score Responses based on the following criteria listed in order of importance:

Key Personnel – 40%

• Summarize and list all applicable qualifications, licenses, training and/or certifications of Key Personnel.

• Describe the Key Personnel’s revenant experience with projects of a similar nature and complexity.

• Resumes for Key Personnel may be included if additional information is necessary.

Firm Qualifications and Experience – 30%

• Demonstrated understanding and ability to provide services outlined in this solicitation.

• Describe your firm’s relevant experience working on similar projects.

Price – 15%

• Provide cost proposal as outlined on page 9 of solicitation.

References – 15%

• Provide a minimum of three (3) government references for previous projects of a similar size and scope to El Paso County.

V. RESPONSE FORMAT

Failure to provide the required information may deem your submittal non-responsive. All responses to this proposal must follow the structure given below:

1. Executive Summary

2. Required Documentation

a. Consultant information Form

b. Proprietary/Confidential Statement

c. Exhibit 1 Exception Form

d. Exhibit 2 Lobbying Certificate

e. Exhibit 3 Non-Collusion Affidavit

f. Exhibit 4 Minimum Insurance Requirements

3. Company Profile (Describe your organization’s core business, products, services, etc.)

4. Similar Experience & Customer References

5. Requirements Understanding /Scope of Work

(Please illustrate that you have understood our requirements)

6. Vendor Eligibility Criteria

(Provide any licenses, certificates, etc. as outlined in the RFP)

7. Implementation Approach/Deliverables

8. Project Plan

9. Timelines

10. Fee Proposal/Pricing Form

11. W-9

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To facilitate an effective evaluation process, responses must be submitted on 8.5” x 11” inch paper with a minimum font of 10, and all pages should be numbered in the following manner: page __ of __ pages with a maximum of fifty (50) pages. All acronyms in the response must be defined.

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF OFFERS: El Paso County will only accept electronic Responses submitted through the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing system. A Submittal Log will be posted after the County has had an opportunity to review and verify the submittals offered to the County.

The original Offer must be received before the due date and time through an electronic package transmitted through the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing system. The Consultant is responsible for ensuring its Response is posted by the due date and time outlined in the solicitation document. No allowances will be provided to those Consultants whose submittal is not uploaded prior to the due date and time outlined in the solicitation.

If the submittal arrives late and/or is not uploaded in its entirety, it will not be included in the electronic lockbox.

The Solicitation Opening for RFP-25-051 will take place VIA TELECONFERENCE utilizing the call-in information below:

Participant-guest login:

1. Dial access number: 1-719-520-7660

2. Enter the participant-guest pass code: 51488#

3. Attendee Access Code: 1234#

The names of those who submitted a Response are released and review of required documentation is conducted. Proposers are NOT required to participate. No in-person entry to our building will be permitted.

ALL signatures on required documents must be in blue ink or a verifiable electronic time and date stamped signature in ONE PDF document.

REMAINDER OF PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK

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1. Provide a fixed cost proposal for the services outlined in the solicitation.

o Pricing will include a breakdown of all costs associated with the tasks listed under the Scope of Work. Prices will be considered all-inclusive, including but not limited to, all labor, materials, equipment, travel, and other incidentals costs required for the successful performance of services.

2. Submit a comprehensive Consultant on-call rate sheet detailing the hourly rates for each position.

PRICING FORM

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 10 of 40

1. METHOD OF AWARD - BEST EVALUATIVE SCORE BASED ON WRITTEN RESPONSE: It is the intent of the County to award this Solicitation to the Consultant who receives the highest score when the Responses submitted by interested Consultants are reviewed by the County's Response Evaluation Committee. For this Solicitation, the Evaluation Committee may score Responses in two phases. In the first phase, the Committee will score written Responses by reviewing documentation submitted by the Consultants. Evaluation will be based on the following criteria listed in order of importance:

1. Key Personnel – 40%

2. Firm Qualifications and Experience – 30%

3. Price – 15%

4. References – 15%

A more detailed description of these criteria can be found on Page 7 of this document.

Evaluation criteria, other than costs, are evaluated first. After rating the technical Responses, costs are then considered against trade-offs such as satisfaction of requirements in the Solicitation, qualifications and financial condition of the Consultant, risk and incentives.

The County reserves the right to conduct negotiations with Consultants and to accept revisions of Responses.

During this negotiation period, the County will not disclose any information derived from Responses submitted, or from discussions with other Consultants. Once an award is made, the Solicitation file and the Responses contained therein are in the public record.

2. SAMPLES OF SERVICE MAY BE REQUIRED DURING EVALUATION: After the Responses are opened by the County, the Consultants may be required to demonstrate their competency and ability to provide the quality of service that will be required by the County during the contract period. Such demonstrations will be provided to the County for evaluation by, and at no cost to, the County. If a demonstration of competency is required, the County will notify the Consultant of such and will specify the deadline for providing the demonstration. The County reserves the right to establish its own procedures for evaluating the Consultants' competencies and abilities. On the basis of this evaluation criteria, the County shall be the sole judge of the abilities of each Consultant in conformance with standards established in the Specifications and its decision shall be final.

3. BUDGET: The anticipated budget for this project is between $90,000 - $120,000. It shall be understood and agreed that this estimate is provided in this Solicitation for the Firm's guidance only. No guarantee is expressed or implied as to the dollars that will be used during the contract period. The County is not obligated to request additional services subsequent to the award of this Solicitation.

4. RATES DEFINED: The rates quoted by the Consultant shall include full compensation for labor, equipment uses, travel time, and any other costs incurred by the Consultant. Hourly rates shall be straight-time for all labor.

Overtime is not allowed under this Solicitation. Mileage rates shall be consistent with the current Federal rate at all times.

5. PRICES SHALL BE FIXED AND FIRM FOR THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT: If the Consultant is awarded a contract under this Solicitation, the prices proposed by the Consultant shall remain fixed and firm during the term of the contract, provided, however, that the Consultant may offer incentive discounts from this fixed price to the County at any time during the contractual term.

SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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6. METHOD OF PAYMENT: The successful Consultants shall submit monthly invoices. These invoices shall be submitted to the County's Project Manager. The invoice shall reflect the appropriate Purchase Order number, the service location(s) and the type of service provided to the County in the prior month.

7. METHOD OF PAYMENT - PROCUREMENT CARDS: PAYMENT CONDITIONS: Awarded Consultants are asked to have the capability of accepting the County’s authorized Procurement Card as a method of payment. No price changes or additional fee(s) may be assessed when accepting the Procurement Card as a form of payment. Consultants unable to comply with this requirement are asked to indicate such exception on the consultant information form.

8. SALES TAX: The County is exempt from paying State or Local Sales Taxes. Consultants should be aware of CONTRACTOR APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE Pursuant to Statute Section 39- 26.708(1)(a)(XIX) sales tax exemption for construction and building materials. State tax I.D. # 09-803308-0000, Federal tax I.D. # 84-6000764.

9. POST INTENT TO AWARD MEETING: The Consultant may be required to attend a post intent to award meeting with the County to discuss the terms and conditions of the contract. This meeting will be coordinated by the Contracts and Procurement Division once a Notice of Intent to Award has been issued.

10. DEBRIEFING: Offeror(s) not selected for award may request a debriefing on the selection process as well as discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of their firm’s proposal upon the Final Notice of Award being posted on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing website.

A debriefing may be scheduled by contacting the Procurement Specialist listed on the Cover Sheet of this Solicitation once the Final Notice of Award has been posted.

11. PROOF OF REGISTRATION WITH THE COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: Successful Consultants that are corporations or limited liability companies may be required to furnish a Certificate of Good Standing from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, as proof that they are properly registered to do business in the State of Colorado, prior to finalization of award.

12. LOBBYING PROHIBITED: Consultants are prohibited from directly or indirectly communicating with members of the Board of County Commissioners regarding their qualifications or any other matter related to the eventual award of a contract for the goods and/or services requested in this Solicitation. Consultants are prohibited from contacting County employees or evaluation committee members regarding their qualifications or the award of a contract unless in response to an inquiry from an employee or committee member as part of the formal evaluation process outlined in the Solicitation. Any violation of these provisions will result in the Consultant’s immediate disqualification from the selection process.

13. CONSIGNMENT OF CONTRACT NOT ALLOWED: Responses will only be considered from firms which are directly engaged in the business of performing the services described in this Solicitation. Accordingly, no part of this contract can be consigned to another Consultant.

14. CONFLICTS WITHIN THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS: In the event that conflicts exist within the Contract Documents, addenda shall supersede all other Contract Documents to the extent specified. Subsequent addenda shall supersede prior addenda only to the extent specified.

15. ELIGIBILITY OF CONSULTANTS: Solicitations will only be considered from firms which are engaged in the business of performing services as described in this Solicitation. The Consultants must be able to produce evidence that they have an established satisfactory record of performance for a reasonable period of time and have sufficient financial support, equipment, and organization to ensure that they can satisfactorily execute the services if awarded a contract. The term equipment and organization as used herein shall be construed to mean a fully equipped and well-established company in line with the best business practices in the industry and as determined by the proper authorities of the County. The County reserves the right, before awarding the contract, Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 12 of 40 to require a Consultant to submit such evidence of its qualifications as it may deem necessary and may consider any evidence available to it (including, but not limited to, the financial, technical, and other qualifications and abilities of the Consultant, including past performance and experience with the County) in making the award in the best interest of the County.

16. QUALIFICATIONS OF CONSULTANT: The County may make such investigations as deemed necessary to determine the ability of the Consultant to perform work, and the Consultant shall furnish all information and data for this purpose as the County requests. Such information includes but is not limited to: Current licensing information, audited financial statements, contracts cancelled prior to completion and/or lawsuits and/or pending lawsuits against the firm and/or its principals. The County reserves the right to reject any Response if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such Consultant fails to satisfy the County that such Consultant is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the Solicitation and to complete the work contemplated therein.

Conditional Responses will not be accepted.

17. PAST PERFORMANCE: The County may evaluate Past Performance with El Paso County or another entity and/or make such investigations as deemed necessary to determine the ability of the Consultant to perform work outlined in this solicitation. If the County has terminated a contract with the Consultant within the past three (3) years, the Consultant may be asked to furnish information for this investigation as the County requests.

Such information includes but is not limited to: current/past company references, current licensing information, contracts cancelled prior to completion and/or lawsuits and/or pending lawsuits against the firm and/or its principals. The County reserves the right to consider exemplary and/or poor evaluations from past County Projects. The County reserves the right to reject any Response if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such Consultant fails to satisfy the County that such Consultant is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the Solicitation and to complete the work contemplated herein.

18. SUBCONSULTANTS OF WORK SHALL BE IDENTIFIED: As part of its Response, the Consultant shall be required to identify any and all subconsultants that will be used in the performance of the contract resulting from this Solicitation. The Consultant shall also identify the capabilities, experience, and portion of the work to be performed by the subconsultant(s). The competency of the subconsultant(s) with respect to skill, responsibility and business standing shall be considered by the County when making the award in the best interest of the County.

19. CURRENT LICENSES REQUIRED: Consultant must obtain and pay for all required licenses, fees, certifications, etc., and will comply with all laws, ordinances, and regulations. Damages, penalties and/or fines imposed by the County on the Consultant for failure to obtain required licenses, certifications or fees shall be borne by the Consultant. The County may request the Consultant to provide a current copy of their licenses and certificates prior to award.

20. LABOR, MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT TO BE SUPPLIED BY THE CONSULTANT: Unless otherwise provided in this Solicitation, the Consultant shall furnish all labor, materials, and equipment necessary for satisfactory contract performance. When not specifically identified in this Solicitation, such materials and equipment shall be of a suitable type and grade for the intended purpose.

21. ACCIDENT PREVENTION: The Consultant shall be required to take safety precautions in an effort to protect persons and property. All Consultants, Consultants and sub-Consultants shall conform to all OSHA, State and County regulations while performing under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Any fines levied by the above-mentioned authorities because of inadequate compliance with these requirements shall be borne solely by the Consultant which is responsible for same.

22. COMPLETION OF WORK: The Consultant shall adhere to the timeline and milestones provided in its Response in which it will commit to perform the work and/or service. All work shall be performed in accordance with good commercial practice and the timeline and milestones shall be adhered to by the successful Consultant, except in such cases where the timeline will be delayed due to acts of God, strikes, or other causes beyond the control of the Consultant. In these cases, the Consultant shall notify the County of the delays in

Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 13 of 40 advance of the original timeline so that a revised timeline can be negotiated. Should the Consultant to whom the contract is awarded fail to complete the work within the timeline as stated in its Response or as subsequently approved, it is hereby agreed and understood that the County reserves the right to cancel the contract with the Consultant and to secure the services of another Consultant to complete the work. If the County exercises this right, the County shall be responsible for reimbursing the Consultant for work which was completed and found acceptable to the County in accordance with the Specifications. In addition, the County may, at its sole discretion, request payment from the Consultant, through an invoice or credit memo, for any additional costs over and beyond the original price which were incurred by the County as a result of having to secure the services of another Consultant.

23. DEFICIENCIES IN WORK TO BE CORRECTED BY CONSULTANT: The successful Consultant shall promptly correct all deficiencies in service and/or any service that fails to conform to the Contract Documents.

All corrections shall be made immediately after such deficiencies and/or non-conformances are verbally reported to the Consultant by the County's Project Manager. The Consultant shall bear all costs of correcting such rejected services. If the Consultant fails to correct the service within the period specified in this Solicitation, the County reserves the right to place the Consultant in default of its contractual obligations, obtain the services of another Consultant and charge the Consultant for these costs, either through a deduction from the final payment over to the Consultant or through invoicing.

24. INDEMNIFICATION: Indemnification – General. The Consultant shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, defend, indemnify and hold harmless the County, Board of County Commissioners, officials, officers, directors, and employees, from and against all liability, claims, demands, suits, actions or proceedings of any kind that are not the result of or directly related to the performance of professional services, including, without limitation, claims arising from bodily injury, personal injury, sickness, disease, death, property loss or damage, which arise out of or are in any manner connected with this Agreement, including workers' compensation claims, in any way resulting from or arising from the services rendered by the Consultant, its employees, agents or subconsultants, or others for whom the Consultant is legally liable, under this Agreement; provided, however, that the Consultant need not indemnify or save harmless the County Board of County Commissioners, its officers, agents and employees, from damages resulting from the negligence of the County's Board of County Commissioners, officials, officers, directors, agents, and their insurers, and employees. The County cannot and by this Agreement does not agree to indemnify, hold harmless, exonerate, or assume the defense of the Consultant or any other person or entity whatsoever, for any purpose whatsoever.

Indemnification for Professional Services. The Consultant shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, indemnify and hold harmless the County, Board of County Commissioners and any of its officials, officers, directors, agents, and their insurers, and employees, from and against damages, liability, losses, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, but only to the extent caused by or arising out of the negligent acts, errors or omissions of the Consultant, its employees, agents or subconsultants, or others for whom the Consultant is legally liable, in the performance of professional services under this Agreement. The Consultant is not obligated to indemnify or hold harmless the County for the negligent acts of the County, Board of County Commissioners, or any of its officials, officers, directors, agents, and employees.

Indemnification – Costs. The Consultant shall, to the extent provided by law, investigate, handle, respond to, and provide defense for and defend against, any such liability, claims or demands at the sole expense of the Consultant or, at the option of the County, agrees to pay the County or reimburse the County for the defense costs incurred by the County in connection with any such liability, claims or demands. The Consultant shall, to the extent provided by law, bear all other costs and expenses related thereto, including court costs and attorney fees, whether or not any such liability, claims or demands alleged are groundless, false or fraudulent. If it is determined by the final judgment of a court of any competent jurisdiction that such injury, loss or damage was caused in whole or in part by the act, omission or other fault of the County, Board of County Commissioners, officials, officers, directors, agents and employees, the County shall reimburse the Consultant for the portion of the judgment attributable to such act, omission or other fault of the County, Board of County Commissioners, officials, officers, directors, agents and employees.

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25. FEDERAL STANDARDS COMPLIANCE: All services to be purchased in conjunction with this Solicitation shall be in accordance with all governmental standards to include, but not be limited to, those issued by the Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute of Occupational Safety Hazards (NIOSH), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

26. VARIATIONS ALLOWED IF INDICATED: For purposes of Response evaluation, Consultants must indicate any variances to the Specifications, terms, and conditions, and attached Sample Agreement no matter how slight. If variations are not stated in the Consultant's Response, it shall be construed that the Response fully complies with the Specifications, terms, and conditions, and attached Sample Professional Services Agreement. Notwithstanding the above, it is hereby agreed and understood that the County reserves the right to reject these variations if they individually, or as a whole, do not meet the standards established in the Specifications.

27. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: El Paso County intends and expects that the contracting processes of the County and its Consultants provide equal opportunity without regard to gender, race, creed, ethnicity, religion, age, sex, national origin, or disability and that its Consultants make available equal opportunities to the extent third parties are engaged to provide goods and services to the County as subcontractors, Consultants, or otherwise.

Accordingly, the Consultant shall not discriminate on any of the foregoing grounds in the performance of the contract and shall make available equal opportunities to the extent third parties are engaged to provide goods and services in connection with performance of the contract (joint ventures are encouraged). The Consultant shall disseminate information regarding all subcontracting opportunities under this contract in a manner reasonably calculated to reach all qualified potential subcontractors who may be interested. The Consultant shall maintain records demonstrating its compliance with this article and shall make such records available to the County upon the County’s request.

28. PURCHASE BY OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES: Each governmental unit which avails itself of this Solicitation will establish its own contract, place its own orders, issue its own purchase orders, be invoiced there from, make its own payments, and issue its own exemption certifications as required by the Consultant. It is understood and agreed that El Paso County is not a legally binding party to any contractual agreement made between any other governmental unit and the Consultant as a result of this Solicitation.

29. CONFIDENTIALITY: Responses to this Solicitation are considered to be working documents while they are under consideration and, as such, are not subject to official bid openings. The only information released at the receipt of Responses to this Solicitation will be the names of the respondents. Only after staff makes an official recommendation of award and a contract is fully executed will Responses to this Solicitation be available as public record.

Responses submitted to the County for consideration shall be subject to the Colorado Open Records Law, Section 24-72-201, et seq., C.R.S., after the award is made. Any confidential information in the Consultant’s Response shall be identified as such. Should the County receive a request for the release of any information in the Consultant’s Response identified as confidential in accordance with the open records law, the County will notify the Consultant of the request and will exercise best efforts in assisting the Consultant in taking all legally available steps to resist or narrow such request. If, in the opinion of County’s legal counsel, the County is nonetheless compelled to disclose any portion of such information to anyone or else stand liable for contempt or suffer censure or penalty, the County may disclose such information without liability.

30. GRATUITIES AND KICKBACKS: It shall be a breach of ethical standards for any person to offer, give, or agree to give any employee or former employee (within six months of termination from County employment), or for any employee or former employee (within six months of termination from County employment) to solicit, demand, accept, or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a program requirement or a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding of application, request for ruling, Request for Proposal #RFP-25-051 Page 15 of 40 determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter, pertaining to any program requirement or a contract or subcontract, or to any solicitation or proposal therefore.

It shall be a breach of ethical standards for any payment, gratuity, or offer of employment to be made by or on behalf of a subconsultant under a contract to the prime Consultant or higher tier subconsultant or any person associated therewith, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order. In the event that any gratuities or kickbacks are offered or tendered to any El Paso County employee, the proposal shall be disqualified and shall not be reinstated.

31. DEBARMENT: By submitting this bid/proposal, the bidder/proposer warrants and certifies that he/she is eligible to submit a bid/proposal because he/she is not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in a transaction by any Federal, State, or local department or agency.

32. LOGOS: The County logo is trademarked and property solely of El Paso County. Consultants do not have permission to use our logo on any documentation or presentation materials and to do so would be a violation of our trademark.

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1. APPLICABILITY. These General Terms and Conditions apply, but are not limited, to all bids, proposals, qualifications and quotations (hereinafter referred to as “Offers” and/or “Responses”) made to El Paso County (hereinafter referred to as "County") by all prospective suppliers (herein after referred to as "Consultants") in response, but not limited to, Invitations to Bid, Invitations for Bids, Requests for Proposals, Requests for Qualifications, and Requests for Quotations (hereinafter referred to as “Solicitations”).

2. CONTENTS OF OFFER

2.1 General Conditions. Consultants are required to submit their Offers in accordance with the following expressed conditions:

2.1.1 Consultants shall make all investigations necessary to thoroughly inform themselves regarding the plant and facilities affected by the delivery of materials required by the conditions of the Solicitation. No plea of ignorance by the Consultant of conditions that exist or that may hereafter exist as a result of failure to fulfill the requirements of the contract documents will be accepted as the basis for varying the requirements or the compensation to the Consultant.

2.1.2 Consultants are advised that all County contracts are subject to all legal requirements contained in County ordinances, the Contracts and Procurement policies and state and federal statutes. When conflicts between the Solicitation and these legal documents occur, the highest authority will prevail.

2.1.3 Consultants are required to state exactly what they intend to furnish to the County via this

Solicitation and must indicate any variances to the terms, conditions, and specifications of this Solicitation no…