Arcadia Municipal Code Ch. 12 Design-Build Contracts

The purpose of this Chapter is to provide definitions, procedures, and guidelines for the award, use, and evaluation of Design-Build Contracts by the City of Arcadia.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

For the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Best Value" means a value determined by criteria, including but not limited to price, features, functions, and life-cycle costs.

(b) "Design-Build" means a public works procurement method in which both the design and construction of a project are procured from a single entity pursuant to a single contract.

(c) "Design-Build Contract" means a single contract between the City and a Design-Build Entity to furnish the architecture, engineering, and related services as required for a given public works project, and to furnish the labor, materials and other construction services for the same project. A Design-Build Contract may be awarded conditioned upon subsequent refinements in scope and price during the development of the design, and may permit the City to make changes in the scope of the public works project without invalidating the Design-Build Contract.

(d) "Design-Build Entity" means the entity (whether natural person, partnership, joint venture, corporation, business association, or other legal entity) that proposes to enter into a contract with the City to design and construct any public works project under the procedures set forth in this Chapter.

(e) "Performance Criteria" means the requirements for the public works project, including as appropriate, capacity, durability, production standards, ingress and egress requirements, or other criteria for the intended use of the public works project, expressed in conceptual documents, performance-oriented preliminary drawings, outline specifications and other documents provided to Design-Build Entity by the Request for Proposals establishing the project's basic elements and scale, and their relationship to the work site suitable to allow the Design-Build Entity to make a Proposal.

(f) "Proposal" means an offer to enter into a Design-Build Contract, as further defined in this Chapter.

(g) "Request for Proposals" means the document or publication whereby the City Manager or applicable City Department Head with assistance from staff as necessary, solicits proposals for a Design-Build Contract.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

For purposes of this Chapter only, the City Manager or applicable City Department Head with the assistance of staff as necessary, shall prepare and issue a Request for Proposals for the competitive selection/award of any Design-Build Contract. The Request for Proposals shall set forth the scope of the project and may include, without limitation, the following elements:

(a) Establishment of a prequalification process (optional), pursuant to Sections 1943 and 1944 below.

(b) Identification of the basic scope and needs of the project and Design-Build Contract, the expected cost range, and other information deemed necessary by the City to inform interested parties of the contracting opportunity, to include the methodology that will be used by the City to evaluate Proposals, and specifically whether the contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder or on a Best Value basis as set forth in the Request for Proposals.

(c) Significant Performance Criteria and other objective factors which the City reasonably expects to consider in evaluating Proposals in order to determine responsiveness and the Best Value Proposal, including cost or price and all nonprice related factors.

(d) The relative importance or weight assigned to each of the factors identified in the Request for Proposals as will be used to establish the Best Value Proposal.

(e) The Request for Proposals shall be advertised publicly.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

The City Manager or applicable City Department Head has the discretion to establish a competitive prequalification and selection process prior to the issuance of a Request for Proposals for the Design-Build Contract. If a prequalification process is used, such prequalification procedure shall be advertised publicly. In the event a prequalification process is used, only prequalified Design-Build Entities shall be permitted to submit Proposals in response to the Request for Proposals. In the event that a prequalification process is not used, the Request for Proposals shall be advertised publicly as described above.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

If the City Manager or applicable City Department Head elects the optional prequalification process as the basis for the selection process of the Design-Build Entity, the objective criteria for prequalification may include, but are not limited to, consideration of the following criteria supplied by a Design-Build Entity:

(a) Possession of all required licenses, registration, and credentials in good standing that are required to design and construct the project.

(b) Submission of documentation establishing that the Design-Build Entity members have completed, or demonstrated the capability to complete, projects of similar size, scope, building type, or complexity, and that proposed key personnel have sufficient experience and training to competently manage and complete the design and construction of the project.

(c) Submission of evidence establishing that the Design-Build Entity has the capacity to obtain all required payment and performance bonding, liability insurance, and errors and omissions insurance, as well as a financial statement assuring the City that the Design-Build Entity has the capacity to complete the project.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

The information submitted to the City in a prequalification process concerning the Design-Build Entity's qualifications and experience shall be verified under oath by the Design-Build Entity and its members. It is unlawful to submit any declaration under this Chapter containing any material matter that is false.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

All Proposals for a Design-Build Contract shall be accompanied by a cashier's check or certified check made payable to the City of Arcadia, or a bidder's bond executed by a surety admitted to engage in such business in the State of California, for an amount equal to [ten percent] (10%) of the amount of the Proposal, and no Proposal shall be considered unless such proposal guarantee is properly enclosed therewith. The proposal guarantee shall be forfeited if the Proposal is withdrawn beyond the submission deadline set forth in the Request for Proposals, or if the Proposal is accepted but the Design-Build Entity fails to execute the Design-Build Contract.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

(a) The City Manager or applicable City Department Head may appoint a selection committee to review and rank the Proposals of the Design-Build Entities from most to least advantageous to the City. The selection committee shall use the evaluation criteria set forth in this Chapter and the applicable Request for Proposals in its review of the Proposals. The composition of the committee shall be within the discretion of the City Manager or applicable City Department Head.

(b) The City Council shall award the final contract after considering the selection committee's evaluation of Proposals to the Design-Build Entity submitting the Proposal found to be most advantageous to the City as the Best Value.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)

The City recognizes that the Design-Build Entity is charged with performing both design and construction. Because a Design-Build Contract may be awarded prior to the completion of the design, it is often impracticable for the Design-Build Entity to list all subcontractors at the time of the award.

(a) It is the intent of the City to establish a clear process for the selection and award of subcontracts entered into pursuant to this Chapter in a manner that retains protection for subcontractors while enabling the Design-Build project to be administered in an efficient fashion.

(b) All of the following requirements shall apply to subcontractors, licensed by the State, that are employed on Design-Build projects undertaken pursuant to this Chapter.

(1) The Request for Proposals shall specify the essential design disciplines, construction trades or types of subcontractors that must be listed by the Design-Build Entity in the Proposal.

(2) Subcontractors not listed in the Proposal shall be awarded subcontracts by the Design-Build Entity in accordance with a competitive selection process set forth in the Request for Proposals. The Design-Build Entity shall furnish to the City documentation verifying that all subcontractors not listed at the time of award were subsequently awarded subcontracts in accordance with the process set forth in the Request for Proposals. All subcontractors that are listed in the Proposal or subsequently awarded subcontracts shall be afforded the protection of all applicable laws.

(Added by Ord. No. 2305 adopted 12-4-12)