Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

The intent of this chapter is to establish purchasing procedures for the purchase of equipment, supplies and services, to conform to the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Act (Public Contract Code section 22000 et seq.) and to establish procedures for the disposition of property. Nothing in this chapter is intended to require the City to solicit bids for equipment, supplies or services or accept the lowest bid to provide equipment, supplies or services, except as required by State law. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall govern the construction of this chapter:

A. In order to more efficiently manage all purchases and other contracts, the City shall issue a purchase order to each vendor who agrees to provide goods or supplies to the City and the City shall issue a purchase order to accompany every contract for the performance of services or public projects unless otherwise authorized by an administrative regulation signed by the city manager or authorized by the rules and regulations adopted by the Director pursuant to this chapter. Except as otherwise provided herein, no contract shall be deemed to be an authorization to proceed with work unless accompanied by a purchase order authorized and executed pursuant to this section, nor shall any vendor or contracting party be authorized to perform any service, perform any public project, or provide any supplies or equipment without first receiving a purchase order authorized and executed pursuant to this section.

B. Notwithstanding the above, litigation service contracts shall be exempted from the requirement to issue a purchase order due to the confidential nature of the fees anticipated. Litigation services shall be paid with a contract in place and the responsible department shall not pay more than the appropriated budget. If additional funding is required, an additional appropriation must be approved by the city council. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

It shall be unlawful for any officer, employee, or agent of the City to order the purchase of supplies or equipment, or to contract for services or contract for the performance of public projects, or otherwise make any contract in violation of this chapter. Any order, purchase, or contract made contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall not be binding on the City, and the City shall not be obligated thereunder. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Purchases of supplies, equipment, and services, and the performance of public projects shall not be divided or staged for the purpose of circumventing the requirements of this chapter. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the City from using specialized contracting procedures when authorized by state law. If state law authorizes such procedures, they need not also be specifically authorized by this chapter. Such specialized procedures may include, without limitation, prequalification of general contractors or subcontractors and design/build contracting procedures. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Purchasing and contract procedures are categorized into four (4) different levels as set forth in sections 3-3-200 et seq. of this chapter. Each level shall govern purchase orders and contracts of different values. Level 1 shall govern the least expensive purchase orders and contracts and level 4 shall govern the most expensive purchase orders and contracts.

Level 1 purchases may be awarded in the maximum amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) by the head of the City department or his/her authorized designee for which the purchase is made;

Level 2 purchases may be awarded in the maximum amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) by the Purchasing Agent or his/her authorized designee;

Level 3 purchases may be awarded in the maximum amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) by the city manager or his/her authorized designee; and

Level 4 purchases exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) and shall be awarded by the city council. The city manager's purchasing authority is increased to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) if the city manager determines: (a) there is an urgent need to enter into a purchase order or contract and (b) the equipment, supplies or services is a budgeted expense as set forth in the City adopted budget. In such case, the purchase and/or contract shall be governed by the regulations applicable to Level 3 purchases and contracts. The purchase order or contract must be reported to the city council at its next regularly scheduled meeting. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Bid security shall be required as a condition of submitting a written bid unless deemed unnecessary in writing by the Purchasing Agent. Bid security shall be in the form of a cashier's check or surety bond and shall be no less than ten percent (10%) of the bid amount or such other amount as determined by the Purchasing Agent.

A successful bidder shall forfeit his bid security upon refusal or failure to execute a contract or purchase order with the City. On refusal or failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract or purchase order, the City may award the bid to the next lowest responsible bidder who is willing to execute the contract or purchase order. In such case, the amount of successful bidder's security shall be applied by the City to the purchase or contract price differential between the successful bidder and the next lowest responsible bidder. The remaining security, if any, shall be returned. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Oral interpretation of written bid specifications shall not be made by the City to prospective bidders. If the prospective bidder discovers discrepancies or omissions in any specification, or if the bidder is in doubt as to the meaning of any specification, the bidder shall request a written interpretation or modification from the City. If interpretations or modifications are deemed necessary, the City will then issue a written addendum to all parties known to have received copies of the specifications. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

A. Any alteration to, amendment of, or deviation from an awarded purchase order or contract as to scope, cost, time for completion, material, or equipment furnished as a part of the purchase order or contract, or any alteration to, amendment of, or deviation from the nature of work to be performed, shall require the completion and issuance of a change order or execution of a contract amendment. Additions to work cannot be combined with deletions to work to avoid the change order requirement.

B. The appropriate Contracting Officer may approve a change order as long as the combined amount of the original purchase order and the change order does not exceed the Contracting Officer's purchasing authority. If the original purchase order or contract was approved by the city council, a change order may be approved in an amount that does not exceed the Contracting Officer's purchasing authority. All other change orders shall be approved by the city council or the person, if any, designated in a contract approved by the city council. No change order shall be binding on the City until approved as provided herein.

Change orders shall not be issued unless:

1. The change order arises in good faith out of an unknown condition or unforeseen circumstance including, without limitation, unforeseen or unknown quantities of goods and/or services differing materially from the quantities of goods and/or services that were contemplated in the purchase order or contract, or, alternatively, the change order arises due to an error in the City's specifications that accompanied the bid solicitation; and

2. The change order does not change the purpose of the purchase order or contract; and

3. With regard to a service contract or a contract for public project performance, the change order is reasonably related to the scope of work authorized under the original contract; and

4. With regard to the purchase of goods or supplies, the change order is required to allow the goods or supplies to fulfill the purpose for which they were intended.

C. Any change order for a public project shall be in accordance with the most current edition of the "Standard Specifications For Public Works Construction", adopted by the joint cooperative committee of the Southern California chapter of the American Public Works Association and the Southern California districts of the Associated General Contractors Of California. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

The Director shall make an annual report to the city council of the level 2 and level 3 awarded purchases and contracts. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Except with regard to public projects of more than sixty thousand dollars ($60,000.00), the bidding requirements of this chapter shall not apply in the following circumstances:

A. When the purchase order or contract is for utility or communications services; insurance; freight and courier services; postage; education and training expenses; subscriptions and memberships in professional organizations; attendance at meetings or conventions; and hotel and travel accommodations.

B. Where items to be purchased are for resale to the public.

C. When the needed equipment, supplies or services are proprietary items of original equipment manufacturers and/or their authorized exclusive distributors.

D. When the equipment is a component for equipment or a system of equipment previously acquired by the City, and is necessary to repair, maintain or improve the City's utilization of the equipment.

E. Where items to be purchased are circulating library materials, including books, periodicals, films, and recordings; computer software, hardware maintenance services or software maintenance services; food, condiments and similar items; or art.

F. Any contract involving the purchase of supplies, equipment or services entered into with another governmental entity.

G. Any contract for professional services such as attorneys, physicians, architects, engineers, consultants, accountants, specialized printers or other individuals or organizations possessing a high degree of professional, unique, specialized or technical skill or expertise.

H. When the requesting department determines in writing, after conducting a good faith review of the available sources, that there is only one source for the required equipment, supplies or services or that a sole source procurement is necessary to ensure compatibility with existing City equipment. The department requesting sole source procurement shall provide written evidence to support a sole source determination. Such evidence shall be approved by the Purchasing Agent. The city manager may require that negotiations be conducted as to price, delivery and terms. The city manager may also require the submission of cost or pricing data in connection with an award under this section.

I. Emergency procurement as set forth in sections 3-3-206 and 3-3-303 of this chapter.

Nothing in this section prohibits the Purchasing Agent or appropriate Contracting Officer from requiring more stringent bidding requirements for a purchase that falls under one of the exceptions listed above. (Ord. 18-O-2763, eff. 1-1-2019; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

Unless otherwise limited by law, the term of a contract shall be as set forth in the contract, and may include extensions as authorized in the contract. The appropriate Contracting Officer may approve a multiyear contract, provided that the annual value of the multiyear contract does not exceed three (3) times the Contracting Officer's purchasing authority over the entire term of the contract. Otherwise, multiyear contracts shall be approved by the person designated in section 3-3-107 using the total value of the contract. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)

The Director is authorized, subject to approval by the city manager, to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this article. (Ord. 06-O-2504, eff. 10-20-2006; amd. Ord. 21-O-2835, eff. 4-16-2021)