[HISTORY:[1] Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Springfield 9-13-2016 by Ord.
No. 1572. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Township of Springfield 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 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, financial 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. Springfield Township 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 Springfield shall require compliance with
the provisions of this chapter by business entities seeking to provide
services to Springfield Township as specified herein. The requirements
of this chapter 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 chapter conflict with
any law, public policy or contracting documents, of Springfield Township,
this act shall prevail.
A.
All contractors and subcontractors of any tier that perform work
valued at over $100,000, subject to annual adjustment based on the
Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia Region for the twelve-month
period ending September 30, 2016, and for each successive twelve-month
period thereafter, on any public facility or public works project,
including construction, alteration, renovation, repair, and maintenance
work, shall meet the requirements of this chapter.
B.
All firms engaged in contracts covered by this chapter 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 chapter, 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 Department of Public Works 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 any insurance requirements,
as required by applicable law or contract specifications, including
general 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/or 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 journeyperson status for three
of the past five years. To permit development of recently registered
programs, the graduation requirement of this provision shall not apply
to an apprenticeship program registered within the past 10 years if
the program provides apprenticeship training for a craft or trade
that was not recognized as an apprenticeship craft or trade by the
United States Department of Labor or State Apprenticeship Council
at the time the program was registered. Any program not required to
meet the graduation requirements of this section may, in addition
to providing proof that it is currently registered with federal or
state government, be required to provide evidence that the program
is actively engaged in bona fide apprenticeship training activity.
(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 Department of Public Works, to verify that it meets the requirements
of this section for each trade or classification of craft workers
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 chapter shall not establish a presumption of contractor responsibility
and the Department of Public Works 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 Department of Public Works 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 § 76-5A of this chapter.
F.
If the submitting firm has ever operated under another name or controls
or is 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 be disqualified from bidding. No
action of any nature shall lie against Springfield Township because
of its refusal to accept a bid for failing to provide information
required by this section.
I.
The firm will reimburse Springfield Township for all administrative
costs incurred by the township in carrying out the terms of this chapter.
A.
After it has received bids for a project, Springfield Township 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 § 76-6 of this chapter and any other conditions determined appropriate by Springfield Township.
A.
Within seven days from the date of notice of intent to award contract, a prospective awardee shall submit to the Department of Public Works a subcontractor list containing the names of subcontractors that will be used for the referenced project and that will provide work valued at $100,000 or higher in accordance with § 76-2A above, their addresses and a description of the work each listed subcontractor will perform on the project.
B.
At the time that a prospective awardee submits the subcontractor list, it shall also submit subcontractor responsibility certifications for all listed subcontractors that will provide work valued at $100,000 or higher in accordance with § 76-2A above to the Department of Public Works. 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 a notice of intent to award contract has been issued, the Department
of Public Works 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
chapter 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 Department of Public Works shall
ensure that the contractor responsibility certification, the subcontractor
list and subcontractor responsibility certifications, as required
by this chapter, have been submitted and property executed.
C.
The Department of Public Works 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, the Department
of Public Works 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 Department of Public
Works 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 that
a firm is determined to be nonresponsible, the Department of Public
Works 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 Department of Public Works
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 Springfield Township unless it has identified the subcontractor on its subcontractor list and provided a subcontractor responsibility certification in accordance with the requirements of §§ 76-2 and 76-5 of this chapter.
B.
A subcontractor listed on a firm's subcontractor list shall
not be substituted unless written authorization is obtained from the
Department of Public Works and a subcontractor responsibility certification
is provided for the substitute subcontractor.
C.
In the event that the Department of the Public Works determines that
a prospective subcontractor listed by the apparent low bidder does
not meet the responsibility standards of this section, it may, 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 chapter,
the general contractor, construction manager or other lead or prime
contractor shall not be permitted to make any type of contractual
claim against the Department of Public Works and/or Springfield 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 chapter or any other relevant grounds by submitting a written
objection with supporting evidence to the Public Works Department.
C.
If the Department of Public Works 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 be prohibited from performing
work for Springfield 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 Springfield Township under law.
A contract terminated under these circumstances shall further entitle
Springfield Township to withhold payment of any monies due to the
firm as damages.
D.
A procurement contract subject to this chapter shall not be executed
until all requirements of this chapter 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.
E.
The applicability of this chapter to any contract shall be determined
by the Director of the Public Works Department and such applicability
may be waived in the event of emergency or in such other event when,
in the opinion of the Township Manager, it is determined that such
action would be in the best interest of Springfield Township.
A.
If any provision of this chapter shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable
by the court of competent jurisdiction, any such holding shall not
invalidate any other provisions of this chapter and all remaining
provisions shall remain in full force an affect.
B.
This chapter shall become effective September 13, 2016, but the Public
Works Department shall take such anticipatory administrative action
in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this chapter.
C.
The requirements of this chapter shall not apply to contracts executed
prior to the effective date of this chapter, except that the exercise
of an option on a contract covered by this chapter shall be deemed
to create a new contract for purposes of this chapter.
All ordinances and parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
are hereby repealed.
