[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Jenkintown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 3-24-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-2]
A.
Jenkintown Borough (hereinafter "Jenkintown") 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 public contracts in a timely, reliable
and cost-effective manner.
B.
To effectuate the purpose of selecting responsible contractors for
public contracts and to protect Jenkintown's investments in such
contracts, prospective contractors and subcontractors, should be required
to meet preestablished, clearly defined, minimum standards relating
to contractor responsibility, including 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, formal apprenticeship training programs
as a condition of bidding, for the purpose of both promoting successful
project delivery and ensuring future workforce development. Jenkintown
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, Jenkintown shall require compliance with the provisions
of this article by business entities seeking to provide services to
Jenkintown 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 Jenkintown this act shall prevail.
A.
All contractors and subcontractors of any tier that perform work
valued at over $100,000 on any public facility or public works project,
including construction, alteration, renovation, repair, service or
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. Firms bidding on public contracts shall also be required
to 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 Jenkintown Public Works Department 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 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: a)
do business in the designated locale; and b) perform the contract
work it seeks to perform. These shall include, but are not limited
to, licenses, registrations or certificates for any type of trade
work or specialty work which the firm proposes to self-perform.
(2)
The firm meets the bonding requirements for the contract, as 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 by any 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 been cited for a willful violation of federal or
state safety laws 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 in the past 10 years.
(8)
The firm has not, within the past three years, been found 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 payment of a fine, back-pay
damages or any other type of penalty in the amount of $1,000 or more.
(9)
The firm provides binding, legally enforceable grievance-arbitration
procedures for all craft employees for potential disputes that could
undermine labor peace and stability or otherwise disrupt the performance
of the project work.
(10)
The firm will pay all craft employees that it employs on the project
the current wage rates and benefits as required under applicable federal,
state or local wage laws.
(11)
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 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.
(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 Jenkintown to verify 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.
(12)
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.
(13)
The firm will maintain all qualifications, resources and capabilities
referenced in this certification throughout the duration of the project.
(14)
The firm shall notify Jenkintown within seven days of any material
changes to all matters attested to in this certification.
(15)
The firm understands that the contractor responsibility certification
required by this section 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 the information
submitted is true, complete and accurate.
D.
Execution of the contractor responsibility certification required
by this article shall not establish a presumption of contractor responsibility,
and Jenkintown may require any additional information it deems necessary
to evaluate a firm's status as a responsible contractor, including
technical qualifications, financial capacity or other resources and
performance capabilities. Jenkintown 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.
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 § 80-5 of this article.
F.
If the submitting firm has ever operated under another name or controls/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 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.
If a firm fails to provide a contractor responsibility certification
required by this section, it shall be disqualified from bidding. No
action of any nature shall lie against Jenkintown 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, Jenkintown 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 § 80-6 of this article, and any other conditions determined appropriate by Jenkintown.
A.
Within seven days from the date of notice of intent to award contract,
a prospective awardee shall submit to the Jenkintown 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 Jenkintown. Subcontractor responsibility certifications shall be executed by the respective subcontractors on forms prepared by Jenkintown and shall contain the same information and representations required in contractor responsibility certifications, including verification of apprenticeship qualifications as required by § 80-3C(11), for each trade or classification of craft workers it will employ on the project.
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, Jenkintown
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, Jenkintown shall ensure that the
contractor responsibility certification, the subcontractor list and
the subcontractor responsibility certifications, as required by this
article, have been submitted and properly executed.
C.
Jenkintown 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, Jenkintown 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 Jenkintown 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, Jenkintown shall advise the firm of its 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 if Jenkintown obtains relevant information warranting
any such revocation or revision.
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 Jenkintown unless it has identified the subcontractor on its subcontractor list and provided a subcontractor responsibility certification in accordance with the requirements of § 80-5 of this article.
B.
A subcontractor listed on a firm's subcontractor list shall
not be substituted unless written authorization is obtained from Jenkintown
and a subcontractor responsibility certification is provided for the
substitute subcontractor.
C.
In the event that Jenkintown 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 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 Jenkintown on the basis of a subcontractor disqualification.
A.
The contractor responsibility certification for a firm identified
in a notice of intent to award contract, the 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 letter
with supporting evidence to Jenkintown.
C.
If Jenkintown determines that a 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 knowingly or with reckless disregard of
the truth, the firm for which the certification was submitted shall
be prohibited from performing work for Jenkintown for a period of
three years and shall be subject to any other penalties and sanctions,
including contract termination, available to Jenkintown under law.
A contract terminated under these circumstances shall further entitle
the Jenkintown 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.
A.
If any provision of this article shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable
by a court of competent jurisdiction, any such holding shall not invalidate
any other provisions of this article and all remaining provisions
shall remain in full force and effect.
B.
This article shall become effective in accordance with the Home Rule
Charter and the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
shall take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall
be necessary for the implementation of this article.
C.
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.
