[Amended 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B; 12-8-1987 by Ord. No. 87-38]
A. 
All public contracts with nongovernmental contractors for the purchase or lease of goods or for the purchase of services, insurance or construction shall be awarded after competitive sealed bidding or competitive negotiation as provided in this section, unless otherwise authorized by law.
B. 
Where the cost of the professional service is expected to exceed $20,000, such service shall be procured by competitive negotiation. In all other cases, professional services may be procured on the basis of three or more competitive proposals, which may be informal but of which there shall be a written record. Such proposals may be evaluated on the basis of professional competence, price or other criteria reasonably deemed relevant by the public body.
C. 
Services for which the rate or price is fixed by a public authority authorized by law to fix rates or prices may be procured without recourse to competitive bidding or competitive negotiation.
No contract for the construction of any building or for an addition to or improvement of an existing building for which state funds of $100,000 or more, either by appropriation, grant-in-aid or loan, are used or are to be used for all or part of the cost of construction shall be let, except after competitive bidding. The procedure for the advertising for bids and letting of the contract shall conform, mutatis mutandis, to this chapter. No person or firm shall be eligible to bid on any such contract or to have the same awarded to him or it who or which has been engaged as architect or engineer for the same project.
A. 
Notice inviting bids shall be published once in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the city, or the agent shall advertise all pending purchases or sales by notice posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building, or both, at least 10 days prior to the last day set for the receipt of proposals.
B. 
The newspaper notice provided for herein shall include a general description of the articles to be purchased or sold and shall state where bid blanks and specifications may be secured and the time and place for opening bids.
C. 
The Purchasing Agent shall also solicit sealed bids from all responsible prospective suppliers who have requested their names to be added to a bidders' list, which the agent shall maintain, by sending such other notice as will acquaint them with the proposed purchase or sale. In any case, invitations sent to the vendors on the bidders' list shall be limited to commodities that are similar in character and ordinarily handled by the trade group to which the invitations are sent.
[Amended 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B]
A. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, all contracts shall be awarded by the City Purchasing Agent.
B. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A hereof to the contrary, the sole authority to authorize the Purchasing Agent to reject any or all bids or direct readvertisement or award to other than the low bidder shall rest with City Council for any contract for an amount in excess of $10,000, as shall the sole authority to procure professional services when the cost is expected to exceed $10,000.
C. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A hereof to the contrary, the sole authority to authorize the Purchasing Agent to reject any or all bids or direct readvertisement or award to other than the low bidder shall rest with the City Manager for any contract for an amount of $10,000 or less, as shall the sole authority to procure professional services when the cost is expected to be less than $10,000.
A. 
In the case of a tie bid, preference shall be given to goods, services and construction produced in Virginia or provided by Virginia persons, firms or corporations, if such a choice is available; otherwise, the tie shall be decided by lot.
B. 
Whenever any bidder is a resident of any other state and such state under its laws allows a resident contractor of that state a preference, a like preference may be allowed to the lowest responsible bidder who is a resident of Virginia.
C. 
If all bids received are for the same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal, the contract shall be awarded to a local bidder.
Unless otherwise provided in the invitation to bid, the name of a certain brand, make or manufacturer does not restrict bidders to the specific brand, make or manufacturer named; it conveys the general style, type, character and quality of the article desired, and any article which the City Council, in its sole discretion, determines to be the equal of that specified, considering quality, workmanship, economy of operation and suitability for the purpose intended, shall be accepted.
Every contract of over $10,000 shall include the following provisions:
A. 
During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees that:
(1) 
He will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, sex or national origin, except where religion, sex or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the contractor. The contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.
(2) 
He will state, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, that such contractor is an equal opportunity employer.
(3) 
Notices, advertisements and solicitations placed in accordance with federal law, rule or regulation shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this section.
B. 
He will include the provisions of the foregoing Subsection A(1), (2) and (3) in every subcontract or purchase order of over $10,000, so that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor.
Except as provided herein, all proceedings, records, contracts and other public records relating to procurement and transactions shall be open to the inspection of any citizen or any interested person, firm or corporation, in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Cost estimates relating to a proposed transaction prepared by or for the City shall not be open to public inspection. Any bidder or offeror, upon request, shall be afforded the opportunity to inspect bid and proposal records within a reasonable time after the opening of all bids but prior to award, except in the event that the City decides not to accept any of the bids and to reopen the contract. Otherwise, bid and proposal records shall be open to public inspection only after award of the contract. Any inspection of procurement transaction records under this section shall be subject to reasonable restrictions to ensure the security and integrity of the records. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by a bidder, offeror or contractor in connection with a procurement transaction shall not be subject to public disclosure; however, the bidder, offeror or contractor must invoke said protection prior to or upon submission of the data or other materials and must identify the data or other materials to be protected and state the reasons why protection is necessary.
Unless canceled or rejected, a responsive bid from the lowest responsible bidder shall be accepted as submitted, except that if the bid from the lowest responsible bidder exceeds available funds, the City Council may negotiate with the apparent low bidder to obtain a contract price within available funds; however, such negotiation may be undertaken only under conditions and procedures described in writing and approved by the Council prior to issuance of the invitation to bid and summarized therein.
A. 
In any contract for construction which provides for progress payments in installments based upon an estimated percentage of completion, the contractor shall be paid at least 95% of the earned sum when payment is due, with not more than 5% being retained to assure faithful performance of the contract. All amounts withheld may be included in the final payment.
B. 
Any subcontract for a public project which provides for similar progress payments shall be subject to the same limitations.
[Amended 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 06-24]
A. 
Except in cases of emergency, all bids or proposals for construction contracts in excess of $50,000 shall be accompanied by a bid bond from a surety company selected by the bidder which is legally authorized to do business in Virginia, as a guaranty that if the contract is awarded to such bidder, that bidder will enter into the contract for the work mentioned in the bid. The amount of the bid bond shall not exceed 5% of the amount bid.
B. 
No forfeiture under a bid bond shall exceed the lesser of the difference between the bid for which the bond was written and the next low bid or the face amount of the bid bond.
[Amended 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B; 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 06-24]
A. 
Upon the award of any construction contract exceeding $50,000 awarded to any prime contractor, such contractor shall furnish to the City the following bonds:
(1) 
A performance bond in the sum of the contract amount conditioned upon the faithful performance of the contract in strict conformity with the plans, specifications and conditions of the contract.
(2) 
A payment bond in the sum of the contract amount. Such bond shall be for the protection of claimants who have and fulfill contracts to supply labor or materials to the prime contractor to whom the contract was awarded or to any subcontractors in the prosecution of the work provided for in such contract and shall be conditioned upon the prompt payment for all such material furnished or labor supplied or performed in the prosecution of such work. "Labor or materials" shall include public utility services and reasonable rentals of equipment, but only for periods when the equipment rented is actually used at the site.
B. 
Each of such bonds shall be executed by one or more surety companies which are legally authorized to do business in Virginia, selected by the contractor.
C. 
Bonds shall be made payable to the City.
D. 
Each of the bonds shall be filed with the Purchasing Agent or such other City office or official as the City Manager shall designate.
E. 
The City Manager may, upon specific written finding of reasonable cause, require payment or performance bonds of the same terms for construction contracts below $50,000.
F. 
Nothing in this section shall preclude such contractor from requiring each subcontractor to furnish a payment bond with surety thereon in the sum of the full amount of the contract with such subcontractor, conditioned upon payment to all persons who have and fulfill contracts which are directly with the subcontractor for performing labor and furnishing materials in the prosecution of the work provided for in the subcontract.
No action against the surety on a performance bond shall be brought unless within one year after completion of the contract, including the expiration of all warranties and guarantees, or discovery of the defect or breach of warranty, if the action be for such.
A. 
Subject to the provisions of Subsection B hereof, any claimant who has performed labor or furnished materials in accordance with the contract for which a payment bond has been given, and who has not been paid in full therefor before the expiration of 90 days after the day on which such claimant performed the last of such labor or furnished the last of such materials for which he claims payment, may bring an action on such payment bond to recover any amount due him for such labor or material and may prosecute such action to final judgment and have execution on the judgment. The obligee named in the bond need not be named a party to such action.
B. 
Any claimant who has a direct contractual relationship with any subcontractor from whom the contractor has not required a subcontractor payment bond under § 63-18 but who has no contractual relationship, express or implied, with such contractor may bring an action on the contractor's payment bond only if he has given written notice to such contractor within 180 days from the day on which the claimant performed the last of the labor or furnished the last of the materials for which he claims payment, stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the person for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was furnished. Any claimant who has a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor from whom the contractor has required a subcontractor payment bond under § 63-18 but who has no contractual relationship, express or implied, with such contractor may bring an action on the subcontractor's payment bond. Notice to the contractor shall be served by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed to such contractor at any place where his office is regularly maintained for the transaction of business. Claims for sums withheld as retainages with respect to labor performance or materials furnished shall not be subject to the time limitations stated in this subsection.
C. 
Any action on a payment bond must be brought within one year after the day on which the person bringing such action last performed labor or last furnished or supplied materials.
A. 
In lieu of a bid, payment or performance bond, a bidder may furnish a certified check or cash escrow in the face amount required for the bond.
B. 
If approved by the City Attorney, a bidder may furnish a personal bond, property bond or bank or savings and loan association's letter of credit on certain designated funds in the face amount required for the bid bond. Approval shall be granted only upon a determination that the alternative form of security proffered affords protection to the City equivalent to the corporate surety's bond.
[Amended 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 06-24]
A. 
Contracts for goods and services, except for professional services, involving an expenditure in excess of $50,000 shall require bid, payment and performance bonds.
B. 
Except upon specific written requirement of the City Manager for reasonable cause, no bid payment or performance bonds shall be required for other contracts for goods or services.
C. 
In the case of any bond required pursuant to this section, the terms of such bond shall be the same as those required above for construction contracts. All such requirements shall be provided for in the invitation to bid or the request for proposal.
A. 
An invitation for bids, a request for proposals or other solicitation may be canceled or any or all bids or proposals may be rejected in whole or in part when the City Manager, in respect of all purchases or contracts involving an expenditure of $10,000 or less, or the City Council, in all other cases, determines that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. The Purchasing Agent may be in like manner authorized to readvertise for bids or to make the purchase or contract in the open market after the rejection of all bids. The reasons therefor shall be made a part of the record in the matter.
B. 
The City Manager may waive informalities in bids.
A. 
A bidder for a public construction contract, other than a contract for construction or maintenance of public highways, may withdraw his bid from consideration if the price bid was substantially lower than the other bids due solely to a mistake therein, provided that the bid was submitted in good faith and that the mistake was a clerical mistake as opposed to a judgment mistake and was actually due to an unintentional arithmetic error or unintentional omission of a quantity of work, labor or material made directly in the compilation of a bid, which unintentional arithmetic error or unintentional omission can be clearly shown by objective evidence drawn from inspection of original work papers, documents and materials used in the preparation of the bid sought to be withdrawn. The procedure for bid withdrawal shall be stated in the advertisement for bids. The bidder shall give notice in writing of his claim of right to withdraw his bid within two business days after the conclusion of the bid opening procedure.
B. 
Procedures for the withdrawal of bids for other than construction contracts may be established by the Purchasing Agent.
C. 
No bid may be withdrawn under this section when the result would be the awarding of the contract or another bid of the same bidder or of another bidder in which the ownership of the withdrawing bidder is more than 5%.
D. 
If a bid is withdrawn under the authority of this section, the lowest remaining bid shall be deemed to be the low bid.
E. 
No bidder who is permitted to withdraw a bid shall, for compensation, supply any material or labor to or perform any subcontract or other work agreement for the person or firm to whom the contract is awarded or otherwise benefit, directly or indirectly, from the performance of the project for which the withdrawn bid was submitted.
F. 
If the City Council denies the withdrawal of a bid under the provisions of this section, it shall notify the bidder in writing stating the reasons for its decision.
In determining the lowest responsible bidder, in addition to price and other considerations permitted by law, the agent shall consider such other reasonably related requirements as have been set forth in the invitation, which may include but shall not be limited to:
A. 
The ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service required.
B. 
Whether the bidder can perform the contract or provide the service promptly, or within the time specified, without delay or interference.
C. 
The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency of the bidder.
D. 
The quality of performance of previous contracts of services.
E. 
The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract or service.
F. 
The sufficiency of the financial resources and ability of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service.
G. 
The quality, availability and adaptability of the goods or services to the particular use required.
H. 
The ability of the bidder to provide future maintenance and service for the use of the subject of the contract.
I. 
The number and scope of conditions attached to the bid.
A. 
Unless otherwise provided by law, a contract for goods, services or insurance may be entered into for any period of time deemed to be in the best interests of the city, provided that the term of the contract and conditions of renewal or extension, if any, are included in the solicitation and funds are available for the first fiscal period at the time of contracting. Payment and performance obligations for succeeding fiscal periods shall be subject to the availability and appropriation of funds therefor.
B. 
Cancellation due to unavailability of funds in succeeding fiscal periods. When funds are not appropriated or otherwise made available to support continuation of performance in a subsequent fiscal period, the contract shall be canceled.
A public contract may include provisions for modification of the contract during performance, but no fixed-price contract may be increased by more than 25% of the amount of the contract or $10,000, whichever is greater, without the advance written approval of the governing body.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 16.1-29, entitled "Contracting for professional services by competitive negotiation," which immediately followed this section, was deleted 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B.
[Amended 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B; 12-8-1987 by Ord. No. 87-38]
A. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, in case of emergency, a contract may be awarded without competitive sealed bidding or competitive negotiation; however, such procurement shall be made with such competition as is practicable under the circumstances. A written determination of the basis for the emergency and for the selection of the particular contractor shall be included in the contract file. A notice stating that the contract is being awarded on an emergency basis and identifying that which is being procured, the contractor selected and the date the contract was or will be awarded shall be posted on a public bulletin board in the Municipal Building on the day of the award or of the announcement of the decision to award, whichever occurs first, or as soon as thereafter as is practicable.
B. 
An emergency shall be deemed to exist when a breakdown in machinery or equipment or a threatened termination of essential services or a dangerous condition develops, or when any unforeseen circumstances arise causing curtailment or diminution of an essential service or where materials or services are needed to prevent loss of life or property.
[Amended 12-8-1987 by Ord. No. 87-38; 10-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-23; 9-9-1997 by Ord. No. 97-23; 9-12-2006 by Ord. No. 06-24]
A. 
Single or term contracts not expected to exceed $50,000 may be awarded without competitive sealed bids or competitive negotiation but shall be awarded on the basis of such competition as the Purchasing Agent, in his discretion, finds practicable. Such awards shall be based, except when the Purchasing Agent shall determine in writing that it is impracticable to do so, on three or more competitive bids, which may be informal but of which there shall be a written record.
B. 
In making determinations as to practicability, the Purchasing Agent shall consider whether or not:
(1) 
The cost of the items purchased is the lowest from the supplier current price lists in the Purchasing Office.
(2) 
All competitors have the same price for the items to be purchased.
(3) 
The purchase is a reorder of commodities purchased on a previous bid or part thereof obtained within six months prior to the proposed purchase.
(4) 
Only two competitive bids are reasonably available. In making said determinations, the Purchasing Agent shall also consider the cost of the purchasing process relative to the cost of items being purchased and shall not be limited necessarily to consideration of factors specifically stated herein.
C. 
No contract amount shall be artificially divided so as to constitute a small purchase under this section.
[Amended 8-13-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14B]
The following transactions are hereby exempt from the provisions of this chapter as to competitive bidding or negotiation:
A. 
Purchases from the state penitentiary or state contracts from the state purchasing department warehouse.
B. 
Contracts for legal services, expert witnesses or services associated with actual or potential litigation or regulatory proceedings, which may be entered into by the City Attorney without resort to competitive bidding or negotiation.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: For Charter provisions relating to this topic, see Charter, § 10.3(g).
C. 
Purchases for special police work when the Chief of Police certifies to the Purchasing Agent that items are needed for undercover police operations.
[Added 12-8-1987 by Ord. No. 87-38]
Upon a determination by the Purchasing Agent, in writing, that there is only one source practicably available for that which is to be procured, a contract may be negotiated and awarded to that source without competitive sealed bidding or competitive negotiation. The writing shall document the basis of this determination. A notice shall be issued stating that only one source was determined to be practicably available and identifying that which is to be procured, the contractors selected and the date on which the contract was or will be awarded. This notice shall be posted on a public bulletin board in the Municipal Building on the day of the award or the day of the announcement of the intention to award, whichever occurs first.