[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Folcroft 2-1-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-01. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A training system or program, registered with federal and/or
state government agencies, that produces highly skilled workers in
a variety of fields by ensuring quality training with on-the-job training
and practical instruction for industry.
An agreement, whether oral or written, and whether contained
in one or more documents, between a contractor and Folcroft Borough
for the performance of work, including all labor, services and materials
to be furnished and performed thereunder.
Any individual or person who undertakes or offers to perform
construction, demolition, remodeling, rehabilitation, paving and any
other improvement of construction or demolition work in and for Folcroft
Borough, whether as a general contractor, subcontractor, specialty
contractor or otherwise.
Any general contractor, prime or other lead contractor applying
for public works contracts.
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association,
corporation, trust or any other legally recognizable entity.
Any individual or person who undertakes a specific part of
the work to be performed by the principal contractor or subcontract
for the construction, demolition, remodeling, rehabilitation, paving
and any other improvement of construction or demolition work in and
for Folcroft Borough.
A.
The Borough of Folcroft 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 Folcroft Borough investments in such
contracts, prospective contractors and subcontractors should be required
to meet pre-established, clearly defined, minimum standards relating
to contractor responsibility, including requirements and criteria
concerning: technical qualifications; competency; expertise; 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. Folcroft
Borough 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, Folcroft Borough shall require compliance with the provisions
of this chapter by business entities seeking to provide services to
Folcroft Borough as specified herein. The requirements of this section
are intended to supplement, not replace, existing contractor qualifications
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 section conflict with any law, public policy
or contracting documents of Folcroft Borough this section 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 (excluding
trash hauling) or maintenance work, shall meet the requirements of
this section.
B.
All firms engaged in contracts covered by this section 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.
C.
If, after three attempts by the Borough to award a contract to a
responsible bidder, as defined in this chapter, no bidder is determined
to meet the requirements of this chapter, this chapter shall not apply
to subsequent attempts to bid the project.
A.
As a condition of performing work on a public work's contract
subject to this section, 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 Folcroft Borough and shall be in the form as attached to this chapter.
C.
In the contractor responsibility certification, the construction
manager, general contractor, or other lead or prime contractor (hereinafter
the "firm") 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 by not
limited to, licenses, registrations or certificates required to: (a)
do business in the designated local; 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 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.
(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 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; and
(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 Folcroft Borough, to verify it meets the requirements of this section
for each trade or classification of craft workers it will employee
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.
(12)
The firm will maintain all qualifications, resources and capabilities
referenced in this certification throughout the duration of the project.
(13)
The firm shall notify Folcroft Borough within seven days of
any material changes to all matters attested to in this certification.
(14)
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 section shall not establish a presumption of contractor responsibility
and Folcroft Borough 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. Folcroft Borough 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 form 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 § 259-7.
F.
If the submitting firm has ever operated under another name, or controls
or is controlled by another company or business entity, or if in the
past five years the submitting firm controlled or was controlled by
another company or business entity, whether as a party 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 the other 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 Folcroft Borough because of
its refusal to accept a bid for failing to provide information required
by this section.
H.
Folcroft Borough may require that contractor responsibility certifications
and other information required by this act be submitted electronically.
I.
Folcroft Borough may charge firms who submit bids or proposals a
reasonable fee to defray costs of processing and evaluating contractor
responsibility certifications and related information and documents.
The amount may be determined and changed via resolution by Council.
A.
After it has received bids for a project, Folcroft Borough 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 § 259-7 of this section and any other conditions determined appropriate by Folcroft Borough.
A.
Within seven days of receiving a notice of intent to award contract,
a prospective awardee shall submit to Folcroft Borough a subcontractor
list containing the names of all subcontractors it will use for the
refenced project, their addressed and a description of the work to
be performed by each subcontractor on the project. The prospective
awardee shall also submit contractor responsibility certifications
and certifications of Class A apprenticeship programs for each proposed
subcontractor, as required by this chapter, all of which shall be
signed by the proposed subcontractor and shall contain the same information
and representations set forth in the contractor responsibility certifications.
B.
A firm shall not be permitted to use any subcontractor unless the
subcontractor meets the requirements of this chapter as determined
by Folcroft Borough.
C.
A firm shall not be permitted to use any subcontractor on procurement
contracts subject to this section, which is not on the subcontractor
list, unless it obtains prior written approval from Folcroft Borough.
D.
All certifications and other information for each subcontractor shall
be made available to the public as specified in this chapter.
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 Folcroft Borough unless it has identified the subcontractor on its subcontractor list and provided a subcontractor responsibility certification in accordance with the requirements of § 259-6.
B.
A subcontractor listed on a firm's subcontractor list shall
not be substituted unless written authorization is obtained from Folcroft
Borough and a subcontractor responsibility certification is provided
for the substitute subcontractor.
C.
In the event that Folcroft Borough 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 requirement 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 section,
the general contractor, construction manager or other lead or prime
contractor shall not be permitted to make any type of contractual
claim against Folcroft Borough on the basis of a subcontractor disqualification.
A.
After a notice of intent to award contract has been issued, Folcroft
Borough shall undertake a review process for a period of at least
20 days to determine whether the prospective awardee is a qualified,
responsible contractor in accordance with the requirements of this
section and other applicable laws and regulations and has the resources
and capabilities to successfully perform the contract.
B.
As part of this review process, Folcroft Borough shall ensure that
the contractor responsibility certification, the subcontractor list
and the subcontractor responsibility certification(s) as required
by this section, have been submitted, properly executed and made available
to the public.
C.
Folcroft Borough 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 firm(s) have a sufficient record
of law compliance and business integrity to justify the award of a
public contract. In conducting such inquiries, Folcroft Borough may
seek relevant information from the firm, its prior clients or customers,
its subcontractors or any other relevant source.
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 section or any other relevant grounds by submitting letter
with supporting evidence to Folcroft Borough.
C.
If Folcroft Borough 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 Folcroft Borough for
a period of three years and shall be subject to any other penalties
and sanctions, including contract termination, available to Folcroft
Borough under law. A contract terminated under these circumstances
shall further entitle Folcroft Borough to withhold payment of any
monies due to the firm as damages.
D.
A procurement contract subject to this section shall not be executed
until all requirements of this section have been fulfilled and until
contractor and subcontractor responsibility certifications and subcontractor
lists have been made available for public inspection for at least
10 days following submission of such information.
A.
If, at the conclusion of its internal review, Folcroft Borough 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
and subcontractors are qualified, responsible contractors. In the
event a firm is determined to be nonresponsible, Folcroft Borough
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. Prior to the awarding of a contract
the Borough must follow the procedures as set by §§ 1401
and 1402 of the Borough Code.
B.
The contractor responsibility determination shall be issued no later
than 30 days from the date the notice of intent to award contract
is issued, unless extended in writing by the Council. The contractor
responsibility determination may be revoked or revised in the event
the Folcroft Borough obtains relevant information warranting any such
revocation or revision.
Should Council determine, in accordance with the provisions of § 259-4, that emergency circumstances exist that render the requirements and procedures set forth in this section unduly burdensome, then in that event the Borough may award a procurement contract without application of the terms of this section.
