[Adopted 7-10-2008 by Ord. No. 645]
A.
The Township of Upper Chichester 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.
To effectuate the purpose of selecting "responsible" contractors
for public contracts and to protect the Township's investments
in such contracts, prospective contractors and subcontractors should
be required to meet preestablished, clearly defined, minimum standards
relating to contractor responsibility. Such standards include requirements
and criteria concerning technical qualifications, competency, experience,
adequacy of resources, including equipment, finances and personnel,
and satisfactory records regarding past project performance, safety,
law compliance and business integrity.
C.
Further, due to the critical impact that skilled construction craft
labor has on public works projects, and due to the limited availability
of skilled construction craft labor and imminent craft labor skill
shortages, it is necessary to require contractors and subcontractors
to participate in established, bona fide apprenticeship training programs
for the purpose of both promoting successful project delivery and
ensuring future workforce development. The Township of Upper Chichester
also recognizes that it is beneficial to the local community to ensure
that firms receiving public contracts provide adequate wages and benefits
to their employees and utilize fair business, employment and training
practices that have a positive impact on local communities affected
by such contracts.
D.
Therefore, the Township of Upper Chichester shall require compliance
with the provisions of this article by business entities seeking to
provide services to the Township of Upper Chichester as specified
herein. The requirements of this article are intended to supplement,
not replace, existing contractor qualification and performance standards
or criteria currently required by law, public policy or contracting
documents. However, in the event that any of the provisions of this
article conflict with any law, public policy or contracting documents
of the Township of Upper Chichester, those laws, policies or contracting
documents shall prevail at the discretion of the Township.
A.
All contractors and subcontractors of any tier that perform work
valued at over $50,000 on any public facility or public works project,
including construction, alteration, renovation, repair, and maintenance
work, shall meet the requirements of this article.
B.
All firms engaged in contracts covered by this article shall be qualified,
responsible contractors or subcontractors 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. Qualified, responsible firms shall also have a satisfactory
past performance record and a satisfactory record of law compliance,
integrity and business ethics.
A.
As a condition of performing work on a public works contract subject
to this article, a general contractor, construction manager or other
lead or prime contractor seeking award of a contract shall submit
a contractor responsibility certification at the time it submits its
bid for a contract.
B.
The contractor responsibility certification shall be completed on
a form provided by the Township and shall reference the project for
which a bid is being submitted by name and contract or project number.
C.
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)
The firm has or will obtain all valid, effective licenses, registrations
or certificates required by federal, state, county, or local law,
including, but not limited to, licenses, registrations or certificates
required to:
(2)
The firm meets the bonding requirements for the contract, required
by applicable law or contract specifications and insurance requirements,
as required by applicable law or contract specifications, including
liability insurance, workers' compensation insurance and unemployment
insurance requirements.
(3)
The firm has not been debarred on any project by a federal, state
or local government agency or authority in the past three years.
(4)
The firm has not defaulted on any project in the past three years.
(5)
The firm has not had any type of business, contracting or trade license,
registration or other certification suspended or revoked in the past
three years.
(6)
The firm has not committed a willful violation of federal or state
safety laws as determined by a final decision of a court or government
agency in the past three years.
(7)
The firm and its owners have not been convicted of any crime relating
to the contracting business by a final decision of a court or government
agency for the past 10 years.
(8)
The firm has not within the past three years been found by a final
decision of a court or government agency in violation of any law applicable
to its contracting business, including, but not limited to, licensing
laws, tax laws, prompt payment laws, wage and hour laws, prevailing
wage laws, environmental laws or others, where the result of such
violation was the imposition of a fine, back pay damages or any other
type of penalty in the amount of $1,000 or more.
(9)
The firm will pay all craft employees that it employs on the project
the current wage rates and benefits as required under applicable state
or federal law for the duration of the referenced project.
(10)
The firm participates in a Class A Apprenticeship Program for
each separate trade or classification in which it employs craft employees
and shall continue to participate in such program or programs for
the duration of the project.
(a)
For purposes of this section, a "Class A Apprenticeship Program"
is an apprenticeship program that is currently registered with and
approved by the United States Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship
agency and has graduated apprentices to journey person status for
three of the past five years.
(b)
If a firm is identified as the lowest responsible bidder or
otherwise selected as the prospective awardee or as a subcontractor
of an awardee, it shall provide appropriate documentation, as determined
by the Township, to verify it meets the requirements of this section
for each trade or classification of craft works it will employ on
the project. This verification shall be provided prior to performance
of work by the firm.
(11)
The firm has all other technical qualifications and resources,
including equipment, personnel and financial resources, to perform
the referenced contract, or will obtain same through the use of qualified,
responsible subcontractors.
D.
Execution of the contractor responsibility certification required
by this article shall not establish a presumption of contractor responsibility
and the Township may require any other additional information it deems
necessary to evaluate a prospective contractor's technical qualifications,
financial capacity or other resources and performance capabilities.
The Township 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.
In the contractor responsibility certification, the submitting firm shall stipulate that if it receives a notice of intent to award contract, it will provide a subcontractor list and required subcontractor information as specified in § 244-24 of this article.
F.
If the submitting firm has ever operated under another name or controls
or is controlled by another company or business entity to 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 a separate statement 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.
Contractor responsibility certifications shall be executed by a person
who has 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.
H.
If a firm fails to provide a contractor responsibility certification
required by this section, it may, at the discretion of the Township,
be disqualified from bidding. No action of any nature shall lie against
the Township of Upper Chichester because of its refusal to accept
a bid for failing to provide information required by this section.
A.
After it has received bids for a project, the Township of Upper Chichester
shall issue a notice of intent to award contract to the firm offering
the lowest responsive bid.
B.
Such notice shall be issued immediately or as soon as practicable after bids are submitted and shall stipulate that the contract award will be conditioned on the issuance of a written contractor responsibility determination as required by § 244-25 of this article, and any other conditions determined appropriate by the Township of Upper Chichester.
A.
Within seven days from the date of notice of intent to award contract,
a prospective awardee shall submit to the Township a subcontractor
list containing the names of subcontractors that will be used for
the referenced project, their addresses and a description of the work
each listed subcontractor will perform on the project.
B.
At the time a prospective awardee submits the subcontractor list
it shall also submit subcontractor responsibility certifications for
all listed subcontractors to the Township. Subcontractor responsibility
certifications shall be executed by the respective subcontractors
and contain the same information and representations required in contractor
responsibility certifications.
C.
Subcontractor responsibility certifications shall be executed by
persons 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.
A.
After notice of intent to award contract has been issued, the Township
shall undertake a review process for a period of at least 30 days
to determine whether the prospective awardee is a qualified, responsible
contractor in accordance with the requirements of this article and
other applicable laws and regulations and has the resources and capabilities
to successfully perform the contract.
B.
As part of this review process, the Township shall ensure that the
contractor responsibility certification, the subcontractor list and
subcontractor responsibility certifications as required by this article,
have been submitted and properly executed.
C.
The Township may conduct any additional inquiries to verify 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, the Township may seek relevant information from the
firm, its prior clients or customers, its subcontractors or any other
relevant source.
D.
If at the conclusion of its internal review the Township determines
that all responsibility certifications have been properly completed
and executed and if it concludes that the qualifications, background
and responsibility of the prospective awardee and the firms on its
subcontractor list are satisfactory, it shall issue a written contractor
responsibility determination verifying that the prospective awardee
is a qualified, responsible contractor. In the event a firm is determined
to be nonresponsible, the Township shall advise the firm of such finding
in writing and proceed to conduct a responsibility review of the next
lowest, responsive bidder or, if necessary, rebid the project.
E.
The contractor responsibility determination shall be issued at least
30 days after the date of the notice of intent to award contract.
This responsibility determination may be revoked or revised in any
manner at any time in the event that the Township obtains relevant
information warranting such revocation or revisions.
A.
A construction manager, general contractor or other lead or prime contractor shall not be permitted to use a subcontractor on any work performed for the Township unless it has identified the subcontractor on its subcontractor list and provided a subcontractor responsibility certification in accordance with the requirements of § 244-24 of this article.
B.
A subcontractor listed on a firm's subcontractor list shall
not be substituted unless written authorization is obtained from the
Township and a subcontractor responsibility certification is provided
for the substitute contractor.
C.
In the event that the Township determines that a prospective subcontractor
listed by the apparent low bidder does not meet the responsibility
standards of this section, it may, at its discretion, after informing
the prospective awardee, exercise one of the following options:
(1)
Permit the awardee to substitute a qualified, responsible subcontractor
in accordance with the requirements of this section;
(2)
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)
Disqualify the prospective awardee.
D.
In the event that a subcontractor is disqualified under this article,
the general contractor, construction manager or other lead or prime
contractor shall not be permitted to make any type of contractual
claim against the Township on the basis of a subcontractor disqualification.
A.
The contractor responsibility certification for a firm identified
in a notice of intent to award contract, subcontractor lists and subcontractor
responsibility certifications shall be made immediately available
to the public for inspection through a publicly accessible website
or other comparable means.
B.
During the public review period, any person or organization may protest
a contractor or subcontractor for failing to meet applicable requirements
of this article or on any other relevant grounds by submitting a written
objection with supporting evidence to the Township.
C.
If the Township determines that the contractor or subcontractor responsibility
certification contains false or misleading material information that
was provided knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth or
omits material information that was omitted knowingly or with reckless
disregard of the truth, the firm for which the certification was submitted
may, at the discretion of the Township, be prohibited from performing
work for the Township for a period of up to three years. Such firms
may also be subject to any other penalties and sanctions, including
contract termination, available to the Township under law. A contract
terminated under these circumstances shall further entitle the Township
to withhold payment of any monies due to the firm as damages.
D.
A procurement contract subject to this article shall not be executed
until all requirements of this article have been fulfilled and until
contractor and subcontractor responsibility certifications and subcontractor
lists have been made available for public inspection for at least
21 days.
The requirements of this article shall not apply to contracts
executed prior to the effective date of this article, except that
the exercise of an option on a contract covered by this article shall
be deemed to create a new contract for purposes of this article.