[HISTORY: Adopted by the County Council of
the County of Delaware 9-11-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-5;
amended in its entirety 6-15-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-7. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.Â
Delaware County recognizes that there is a need to
ensure that all work on public construction and maintenance contracts
is performed by responsible, qualified firms that maintain the capacity,
expertise, personnel and other qualifications and resources necessary
to successfully perform such contracts in a timely, reliable and cost-effective
manner.
B.Â
To effectuate the purpose of selecting responsible
contractors for these public contracts and to protect Delaware County's
investments in such contracts, prospective contractors and subcontractors
should be required to meet pre-established, clearly defined, minimum
qualification standards regarding past project performance in terms
of competency, safety and law compliance, technical abilities, experience,
and adequacy of resources.
C.Â
Further, due to the critical impact that skilled craft
labor has on the execution of public works projects, and the increasingly
limited availability of such labor, it is necessary to require contractors
and subcontractors to participate in proven apprenticeship training
programs as a condition of bidding to promote successful project delivery
and help ensure future workforce development.
D.Â
Therefore, Delaware County shall require compliance
with the provisions of this chapter by business entities seeking to
provide services as specified herein. The requirements of this chapter
are intended to supplement, not replace, existing contractor qualification
standards or other criteria currently required by Delaware County.
However, in the event that this chapter conflicts with any law, public
policy or contracting documents of Delaware County, the requirements
of this chapter shall prevail.
A.Â
This chapter shall apply to contracts valued at $500,000
or more for public works projects undertaken by Delaware County for
construction, demolition, alteration, renovation, modernization, service
or maintenance of buildings, structures or facilities. All contractors
and subcontractors of any tier that perform work on such projects,
regardless of value of individual contract or subcontract packages,
shall meet the requirements of this chapter.
B.Â
All firms engaged in public works contracts subject
to this chapter, including general contractors, construction managers,
other lead or prime contractors, and subcontractors at any level,
shall be qualified, responsible contracting firms that have sufficient
capabilities in all respects to successfully perform contracts on
which they are engaged, including the necessary experience, equipment,
technical skills and qualifications and organizational, financial
and personnel resources. Firms bidding or otherwise participating
in public works contracts shall also be required to have a satisfactory
past performance record and a satisfactory record of law compliance,
integrity and business ethics.
C.Â
This chapter
does not apply to work incident to the installation of specialized
equipment pursuant to either warranty requirements or manufacturers'
requirements.
A.Â
As a condition of performing work on a public works
contract subject to this chapter, a general contractor, construction
manager or other lead or prime contractor seeking award of a contract
shall submit a contractor responsibility certification as specified
herein.
B.Â
The contractor responsibility certification shall
be completed on a form provided by Delaware County and reference the
project for which a bid is being submitted by name and contract or
project number.
C.Â
In the contractor responsibility certification, the
construction manager, general contractor or other lead or prime contractor
shall confirm the following facts regarding its past performance and
work history and its current qualifications and performance capabilities:
(1)Â
The firm and its employees have all licenses, registrations,
certificates or other credentials required by federal and state law
and the laws of Delaware County with respect to the contract work
it seeks to self-perform.
(2)Â
The firm meets the bonding requirements for the contract
required by law or contract specifications, as well as applicable
insurance requirements for the contract, including general liability,
workers' compensation and unemployment insurance.
(3)Â
The firm has not been debarred or suspended by any
federal, state or local government agency or authority in the past
three years.
(4)Â
The firm has not defaulted on any project in the past
three years.
(5)Â
The firm has not had any type of business, contracting
or trade license, registration or certification revoked or suspended
in the past three years.
(6)Â
The firm and its principals/owners have not been convicted
of any crime relating to its contracting business in the past 10 years.
(7)Â
Within the past three years, the firm has not been
found in violation of any law applicable to its contracting business,
including, but not limited to, licensing laws, tax laws, wage and
hour laws, prevailing wage laws, environmental laws or others, where
the result of such violation was the payment of a fine, back pay damages
or any other type of penalty in the amount of $5,000 or more.
(8)Â
The firm will employ a sufficient number of craft
labor personnel required to successfully perform any project work
it self-performs or shall use qualified subcontractors to meet this
requirement and shall assign workers to perform only work in their
respective craft or trade for which they have sufficient skills and
training or shall use qualified subcontractors to meet this requirement.
(9)Â
The firm will pay all craft employees on the project,
at a minimum, the applicable wage and fringe benefit rates, as established
for the classification in which the worker is employed, in accordance
with the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act (43 P.S. § 165-1
et seq.).
(10)Â
The firm will ensure that all craft labor it employs
on the project will have completed, prior to working on the project,
the OSHA ten-hour training course for safety established by the U.S.
Department of Labor. If the firm is a prime contractor, it shall also
ensure that at least one person on the project has completed the OSHA
thirty-hour construction training course established by the U.S. Department
of Labor.
(11)Â
The firm participates in a Class A apprenticeship
training program, as defined below, for each separate trade or classification
in which it employs craft employees.
(a)Â
For purposes of this section, a Class A apprenticeship
program is an apprenticeship program registered with and approved
by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency and
has graduated apprentices to journeyperson status for at least three
of the past five years. This may be an apprenticeship program subject
to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C.
§ 1001 et seq. ("ERISA"), or a non-ERISA program.
(b)Â
To demonstrate compliance with this section,
the firm shall provide, with this certification, a list of all trades
or classifications of craft employees it will employ on the project
and documentation verifying it participates in a Class A apprenticeship
program for each trade or classification listed.
(12)Â
The construction manager, general contractor or other lead or prime contractor responsible for the project shall ensure that at least 70% of the craft labor workers employed on the project shall be comprised of either journeyperson workers who have successfully completed a Class A apprenticeship program as defined in § 29-3C(11) or apprentices registered in such programs. The apprenticeship participation specified by this section must be in the same trade or craft for which the workers are employed on the project.
(13)Â
The
firm shall assign craft labor personnel work only in the craft or
trade in which they are employed.
(14)Â
The
firm has all other technical qualifications and resources, including
equipment, personnel and financial resources, to successfully perform
the referenced contract and shall maintain such capabilities throughout
the duration of the project or will obtain same through the use of
qualified, responsible subcontractors or vendors.
(15)Â
The
firm shall notify Delaware County within seven days of any material
changes in its operation that relate to any matter attested to in
this certification.
D.Â
Execution of the contractor responsibility certification
required by this chapter shall not establish a presumption of contractor
responsibility, and Delaware County may require any additional information
it deems necessary to evaluate a firm's status as a responsible contractor,
including information regarding the firm's technical qualifications,
financial capacity or other resources and performance capabilities.
Delaware County may require that such information be included in a
separate statement of qualifications and experience or as an attachment
to the contractor responsibility certification.
E.Â
The submitting firm shall stipulate in the contractor responsibility certification that, if it receives a notice of intent to award contract, it will provide a subcontractor list and required subcontractor information as specified in § 29-5.
F.Â
If the submitting firm has ever operated under another
name or is controlled by another company or business entity or in
the past five years controlled or was controlled by another company
or business entity, whether as a parent company, subsidiary or in
any other business relation, it shall attach an appendix to its contractor
responsibility certification that explains in detail the nature of
any such relationship. Additional information may be required from
such an entity if the relationship in question could potentially impact
contract performance.
G.Â
If a firm fails to provide a contractor responsibility
certification required by this section, it may be disqualified from
bidding. No action of any nature shall lie against Delaware County
because of its refusal to accept a bid for this reason.
A.Â
After it has received bids for a project, Delaware
County shall issue a notice of intent to award contract to the firm
that has submitted the lowest responsive bid.
B.Â
Such notice shall be issued immediately or as soon as practicable after bids are opened and shall stipulate that the contract award is conditioned on the issuance of a written contractor responsibility determination for the firm as required by § 29-6, compliance with subcontractor certifications required by § 29-5, and any other qualification standards required by Delaware County.
A.Â
Within 14 days of receiving a notice of intent to
award contract, the prospective awardee shall submit a subcontractor
list, which provides the name and address of the subcontractors it
will use on the project, the scope of work assigned to each subcontractor,
and subcontractor responsibility certifications as required by this
section. The Director of Public Works may extend such deadline for
submission upon good justification from a prospective awardee as to
the delayed response.
B.Â
The prospective awardee shall not be permitted to use a subcontractor on any work performed for Delaware County unless it has identified the subcontractor on its subcontractor list and provided a subcontractor responsibility certification in accordance with the requirements of § 29-5.
C.Â
At the time a prospective awardee submits the subcontractor
list, it shall also submit subcontractor responsibility certifications
and applicable supporting information for all listed subcontractors
to Delaware County.
D.Â
A prospective
awardee shall determine whether any firm on its subcontractor list
is organized as a sole proprietorship owned and operated by a single
person. This shall apply to subcontractors at any tier. For any such
entity, the prospective awardee shall ensure that the sole proprietorship
subcontractor is a legitimate business entity and not a misclassified
employee by requiring the subcontractor to supplement its subcontractor
certification with its employer identification number and copies of
any license, certificate or registration it is required to maintain
in to do business in the state in which it is located.
E.Â
Subcontractor responsibility certifications shall be executed by the respective subcontractors on forms prepared by Delaware County and contain the same information, representations and supporting information required in contractor responsibility certifications, including verification of apprenticeship qualifications required by § 29-3C(11) for each trade or classification of craft workers it will employ on the project.
F.Â
Subcontractor
responsibility certifications shall be executed by a person having
sufficient knowledge to address all matters in the certification and
shall include an attestation stating, under the penalty of perjury,
that all information submitted is true, complete and accurate.
G.Â
A subcontractor
listed on a firm's subcontractor list shall not be substituted unless
written authorization is obtained from Delaware County and a subcontractor
responsibility certification is provided for the substitute subcontractor.
H.Â
In the event
that Delaware County determines that a subcontractor fails to meet
the requirements of this chapter or is otherwise determined to be
nonresponsible, it may, after informing the prospective awardee, exercise
one of the following options:
(1)Â
Permit
the awardee to substitute a qualified, responsible subcontractor in
accordance with the requirements of this section, upon submission
of a completed subcontractor certification for the substitute and
approval of the substitute by Delaware County;
(2)Â
Require
the awardee to self-perform the work in question if the firm has the
required experience, licenses and other qualifications to perform
the work in question; or
(3)Â
Disqualify
the prospective awardee.
I.Â
In the event
a subcontractor is disqualified under this chapter, the general contractor,
construction manager or other lead or prime contractor shall not be
permitted to make any type of claim against Delaware County on the
basis of a subcontractor disqualification.
A.Â
After Delaware County has issued a notice of intent
to award contract to the lowest responsive bidder, it shall undertake
a contractor responsibility review process to determine whether the
firm is a qualified, responsible firm in accordance with the requirements
of this chapter and other applicable laws and regulations. The time
frame for conducting this review process shall be as determined by
Delaware County.
B.Â
As part of the review process, Delaware County shall
ensure that the contractor responsibility certification and subcontractor
responsibility certifications and applicable supporting information
comply with the requirements of this chapter.
C.Â
Delaware County may conduct any additional inquiries
to verify that the prospective awardee and its subcontractors have
the technical qualifications and performance capabilities necessary
to successfully perform the contract and that the firms have a sufficient
record of law compliance and business integrity to justify the award
of a public contract. In conducting such inquiries, Delaware County
may seek relevant information from the firm, its prior clients or
customers, its subcontractors or any other relevant source.
D.Â
After Delaware County determines that all responsibility
certifications have been properly executed and has verified that all
other relevant information requested for reviews indicates that the
prospective awardee and its subcontractors are qualified, responsible
firms, it shall issue a written contractor responsibility determination
for the prospective awardee.
E.Â
In the event a firm is determined to be nonresponsible,
Delaware County shall notify the firm and proceed to conduct a responsibility
review of the next lowest, responsive bidder or, if necessary, rebid
the project. A responsibility determination may be revoked at any
time if Delaware County obtains relevant information warranting any
such revocations.
A.Â
A contract subject to this chapter shall not be executed until all requirements of this chapter have been fulfilled and until a contractor responsibility determination has been issued by Delaware County pursuant to § 29-6.
B.Â
Prior to the execution of a final contract under this
section, Delaware County shall publicly post the notice of intent
to award, contractor and subcontractor responsibility certifications,
subcontractor lists, related supporting documentation and the contractor
responsibility determination on a publicly available website for public
inspection for a period of 10 calendar days after the issuance of
the contractor responsibility determination.
If Delaware County determines that a contractor certification,
subcontractor list or subcontractor responsibility certification contains
false or misleading information that was provided knowingly or with
reckless disregard for the truth or omits material information knowingly
or with reckless disregard of the truth, the firm for which the certification
was submitted shall be disqualified from the project and shall be
prohibited from performing work for Delaware County for a period of
three years. Delaware County may withhold payment of any monies due
to the firm as damages and impose other applicable penalties and sanctions,
including contract termination, as permitted by law or contract.