Commerce Municipal Code Ch. 3.18 Bidding Procedures Under the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting…

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 774, § 3, adopted June 1, 2021, repealed the former Ch. 3.18, §§ 3.18.010—3.18.050, and enacted a new Ch. 3.18 as set out herein. The former Ch. 3.18 pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. 382 § 2(part), 1986.

This Chapter establishes efficient procedures for the adoption and implementation of the provisions of the California Uniform Public Construction Cost.

Accounting Act ("UPCCAA" or the "Act") (Public Contract Code Section 22000 et seq.) as they relate to "public projects" as defined under Public Contract Code Section 22002. Under the authority of Public Contract Code Section 22003, the city has also elected to utilize the bidding procedures set forth by the Act when contracting for "maintenance work," as defined in Public Contract Code Section 22002. It is the intent of the city that any future amendments, duly adopted by the state legislature, to Public Contract Code Section 22000 et seq., shall automatically become the law of the city, even if in conflict with this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)

As used in this Chapter:

"Commission" means the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

"Facility" means any plant, building, structure, ground facility, utility system, subject to the limitation found in Subsection (3) of the definition for "public project," real property, streets, and highways or other public work improvement.

"Public Project" means any of the following:

(1) Construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, renovation, improvement, demolition, and repair work involving any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility;

(2) Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility;

(3) In the case of publicly owned utility system, "public property" includes only the construction, erection, improvement or repair of dams, reservoirs, powerplants and electrical transmission lines of two hundred thirty thousand volts and higher.

Public project does not include maintenance work. For purposes of this Chapter, "Maintenance Work" includes all of the following:

(1) Routine, recurring and usual work for the preservation or protection of any publicly owned or publicly operated facility for its intended purposes;

(2) Minor repainting;

(3) Resurfacing of less than one inch in thickness of streets and highways;

(4) Landscape maintenance, including mowing, watering, trimming, pruning, planting, replacement of plants and servicing of irrigation and sprinkler systems;

(5) Work performed to keep, operate, and maintain publicly owned water, power or waste disposal systems, including, but not limited to, dams, reservoirs, powerplants, and electrical transmission lines of two hundred thirty thousand volts and higher.

"UPCCAA" means the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (or the "Act") adopted by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 22000, et seq., Part 3, Chapter 2.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)

The city council delegates the authority to the director of public works to award informal contracts, pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)

(a) Contracts for Public Projects and Maintenance Work of Sixty Thousand Dollars or Less.

Public projects and maintenance work of sixty thousand dollars or less (or as thereafter amended by the commission), may be performed by city employees, by force account, by negotiated contract or by purchase order. Where it is anticipated that a public project or maintenance work may be conducted and finished at a cost of sixty thousand dollars (or as thereafter amended by the commission) or less, the purchasing agent or designee is authorized to approve the public project, provided the expenditure is within the approved budget.

(b) Contracts for Public Projects and Maintenance Work of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars or Less.

Public projects and maintenance work estimated to cost two hundred thousand dollars or less (or as thereafter amended by the commission), may be procured through the following informal procedures prescribed by the UPCCAA:

(1) Notice Inviting Informal Bids. The director of public works or designee shall send a notice inviting informal bids not less than ten calendar days before bids are due to: (a) all contractors on the list of qualified contractors developed by the commission; or (b) all contractors on the list of qualified contractors and to the designated construction trade journals specified in Public Contract Code Section 22036. The notice inviting informal bids shall describe the public project or maintenance work, how to obtain more detailed information about the public project or maintenance work, and the time, date, and place for the submission of bids. Additional contractors and/or construction trade journals may be notified at the discretion of the department soliciting bids, provided however:

(A) If there is no list of qualified contractors maintained by the city for the particular category of work performed, the notice inviting bids shall be sent only to the construction trade journals specified by the commission.

(B) If the product or service is proprietary in nature such that it can be obtained only from a certain contractor or contractors, the notice inviting informal bids may be sent exclusively to such contractor or contractors.

(2) Distribution of Bid Documents. Bid documents may be transmitted and/or received via mail, facsimile, or email notice inviting informal bids to all construction trade journals specified in Public Contract Code Section 22036.

(3) Award of Contracts. The director of public works or his designee is authorized to award such informal public projects or maintenance work, provided the expenditure is within the approved budget and in a form approved by the city attorney. The purchasing agent or designee may, at his/her sole discretion, reject any or all bids presented and waive any minor irregularity or informality in such bids. The contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. If two or more bids are the same and the lowest, the purchasing agent may accept the one he/she chooses. If no bids are received through the informal procedure, the public project or maintenance work may be performed by city employees, by force account or negotiated contract without further complying with this Section.

(4) Informal bids between two hundred thousand dollars and two hundred thousand five hundred dollars. If all bids received are in excess of the amount specified in this Section, the city council may, by adoption of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract, at two hundred thousand five hundred dollars or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines the cost of the estimate of the city was reasonable.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)

(a) Contracts for Public Projects and Maintenance Work of More Than Two Hundred Thousand Dollars.

Public projects and maintenance work of more than two hundred thousand dollars (or as thereafter amended by the commission), shall be procured through the following formal bidding procedures prescribed by Public Contract Code Section 22037:

(1) Notice Inviting Formal Bids. The public works director or his designee shall publish a notice inviting formal bids for public projects and maintenance work at least fourteen calendar days before the bid opening date in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. Additionally, the purchasing agent or designee shall send an electronic notice (via either facsimile or electronic mail) inviting formal bids to all contractors on the list of qualified contractors and mailed to the designated construction trade journals specified in Public Contract Code Section 22036 at least fifteen calendar days before bids are due. The notice shall describe the project, how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and the time and place for submission of bids.

(2) Bidder's Security. All bids presented in connection with the public project shall be accompanied by bidder's security in the form and amount prescribed by Public Contract Code Section 20170, which security shall be dealt with as prescribed therein. In all cases bidders shall be entitled to return of bid security provided that a successful bidder shall forfeit its bid security upon refusal or failure to execute the contract within ten days after the notice of award of contract has been mailed, unless the city is responsible for the delay. The city council may, on refusal or failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract, award it to the next lowest responsible bidder. If the city council awards the contract to the next lowest bidder, the amount of the lowest bidder's security shall be applied by the city to the difference between the low bid and the second lowest bid, and the surplus, if any, shall be returned to the lowest bidder.

(3) Bid Opening Procedure. Sealed bids shall be submitted to the department identified in the invitation for bid documents and shall be identified as bids on the envelope. Bids shall be opened in public at the time and place stated in the public notice. A tabulation of all bids received shall be open for public inspection during regular business hours for a period of not less than thirty calendar days after the bid opening.

(4) Award of Contracts. Contracts shall be awarded by the city council to the lowest responsible bidder. The city council may, in its sole discretion, waive minor irregularities in the bids or in the bidding procedures. The city council may reject all bids presented and re-advertise for bids.

(5) Tie Bids and No Bids. If two or more bids are the same and the lowest, the city council may accept the one it chooses. If no bids are received through the formal procedure, the project may be performed by city employees, by force account or negotiated contract without complying with this Section.

(6) Rejecting Bids and Performing Project through City Employees. In its discretion, the city council may reject any bids presented, if the city, prior to rejecting all bids and declaring that the project can be more economically performed by employees of the city, furnishes a written notice to an apparent low bidder. The notice shall inform the bidder of the city's intention to reject the bid and shall be mailed at least two business days prior to the hearing at which the city intends to reject the bid. If after the first invitation of bids, all bids are rejected, the city shall reevaluate its cost estimates of the project and either:

(A) Abandon the project or re-advertise for bids in the manner described by this Section; or

(B) May have the project completed by force account without further complying with this Section, if it passes a resolution by a four-fifths vote of the city council declaring that the project can be performed more economically by the employees of the city.

(7) Performance Bonds. The director of public works or his designee shall have authority to require a performance bond before entering a contract in such amount as he/she finds reasonably necessary to protect the best interests of the city. If a performance bond is required the form and amount of the bond shall be described in the notice inviting bids.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)

(a) In cases of emergency when repair or replacements are necessary, the city council, pursuant to a four-fifths vote, may proceed at once to replace or repair any public facility without adopting plans, specifications, strain sheets, or working details, or giving notice for bids to let contracts. The work may be done by day labor under the direction of the city council, by contractor, or by a combination of the two. The city council's authority under this Section may be exercised pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 22035.

(b) In case of emergency, if notice for bids to let contracts will not be given, the city shall comply with Chapter 2.5 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contracting Code (commencing with Section 22050).

(c) City council delegates to the purchasing agent, the authority to order any direct and immediate action necessary to repair or replace a public facility, procure the necessary equipment, services, and supplies for the purposes of addressing an emergency, without giving notice for bids to let contracts per paragraph (b) of this Section. If the director of public works, or his designee, takes any action specified under this Section, director of public works or his designee shall report to city council at its next meeting as required under Public Contract Code Section 22050.

(Ord. No. 774, § 3, 6-1-2021)