[Adopted 11-8-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-10; amended in its entirety 11-28-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-07]
This article shall be known as and may be cited as the "Responsible Contractor Ordinance."
The City of Royal Oak 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.
A. To effectuate the purpose of selecting responsible contractors for public contracts and to protect the City of Royal Oak'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.
B. 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 encourage contractors and subcontractors to participate in established, formal apprenticeship training programs, for the purpose of both promoting successful project delivery and ensuring future workforce development. The City of Royal Oak 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.
C. Therefore, the City of Royal Oak shall require compliance with the provisions of this article by business entities seeking to provide services to the City of Royal Oak 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 City of Royal Oak, this article shall prevail.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BEST VALUE A request for proposal procurement method that emphasizes both value and price. "Best value" is a method that is utilized in the evaluation process of the proposals received and reviewed. Best value for construction will be determined based on a 100% distribution looking at construction that includes, but is not limited to, the following: quality of workmanship, quality of materials, references, experience (including experience on past City or public works projects), proposed schedule, safety, time, and cost.
BID Any application submitted by a bidder in response to an invitation for bid, request for proposal or request for qualifications, or other procurement process.
BIDDER Any person or entity that applies for any contract, whether or not the application process is through an invitation for bid, request for proposal, request for qualifications, or other procurement process.
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT Any contract of more than $250,000 awarded for the construction, alteration, demolition, or repair of any public building or public work of the City of Royal Oak. The labor and material necessary, for the construction, renovation, repair, or improvements to real property, except repair in emergency situations, which requires solicited bids.
CONTRACTOR Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or any combination thereof, which enters into a contract with any awarding authority of the City of Royal Oak and includes a recipient of City financial assistance and a public lessee or licensee.
RESPONSIBLE BIDDER A bidder for a construction project that has satisfied the prequalifying criteria designated in the bid and as provided in these guidelines.
SUBCONTRACTOR Any person not an employee who enters into a contract with a contractor to assist the contractor in performing a contract, including a contractor or subcontractor of a public lessee or licensee or sublessee or sublicensee, to perform or assist in performing services on the leased or licensed premises. The term "subcontractor" does not include vendors or suppliers to City purchasing contractors.
In the event the amount of a bid appears disproportionately low when compared with estimates undertaken by or on behalf of the City and/or compared to other bids submitted, the City reserves the right to inquire further of the bidder to determine whether the bid contains mathematical errors, omissions, and/or erroneous assumptions, and whether the bidder has the capability to perform and complete the contract for the bid amount.
The City must develop a complaint form that will allow members of the public to report suspected violations of this article to the Finance Department. Members of the public may at any time submit a report of suspected violations of this article. The complaint form must be accessible to the public on the City's website and a physical copy of the form will be available at Royal Oak City Hall. If the City receives a complaint through the public complaint form, the Finance Department must investigate the claim and respond to the complainant within 21 calendar days with the Finance Department's reply to the complaint.
The terms, conditions, and provisions of this article are hereby declared to be severable and, should any portion, part or provision of this article be found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unenforceable, or unconstitutional, the City commission hereby declares its intent that this article shall have been enacted without regard to the invalid, unenforceable or unconstitutional portion, part, or provision of this article.