[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:
(a) 
Do business in the designated locale; and
(b) 
Perform the contract work it seeks to perform, including, but 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, 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.