Hawthorne Municipal Code Art. 3 Public Projects

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, contracts for public projects, as defined in this section, shall be administered by the city's director of public works, or designee, and shall be awarded in accordance with the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act ("UPCCAA") commencing at California Public Contract Code Section 22000, et seq., and in compliance with the provisions of this section. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the provision of this section shall be alternative to any other means provided by law for effecting the completion of public projects. However, nothing contained herein shall limit or preclude the use of a design-build delivery method provided by Public Contract Code Section 20175.2, or any other authority or procedure provided by law, and the city council expressly authorizes the director of public works to utilize any such procedures with the concurrence of the city manager.

B. Definitions. Unless otherwise provided by law, for purposes of this section the following terms shall have those definitions as are set forth next to each:

1. "Facility" means any plant, building, structure, ground facility, utility system (subject to the limitation found in subsection (B)(2)(c) of this section), real property, streets and highways, or other public work improvement.

2. "Public project" means any of the following:

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

b. Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased or operated facility;

c. In the case of a publicly owned utility system, public project includes only the construction, erection, improvement or repair of dams, reservoirs, power plants and electrical transmission lines of two hundred thirty thousand volts and higher.

3. Public project does not include maintenance work. For purposes of this section, maintenance work includes all of the following:

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

b. Minor repainting;

c. Resurfacing of streets and highways at less than one inch;

d. Landscape maintenance, including mowing, watering, trimming, pruning, planting, replacement of plants and servicing of irrigation and sprinkler systems;

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

C. Classification of Projects.

1. The director of public works shall review all city public projects with respect to the monetary limits imposed by Public Contract Code Section 22032, or any successor provision thereto, and shall designate such projects as follows:

a. Projects that may be performed with the city's own forces by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order;

b. Projects that may be let by contract after informal bidding, and the director shall accomplish such identified projects by informal bidding;

c. Projects that may be let by contract only after formal bidding, and the director shall accomplish such identified projects by formal bidding.

2. Projects shall not be split to avoid any of the bidding requirements contained in Public Contract Code Section 22000, et seq.

D. Informal Bidding Procedures.

1. Development, Maintenance and Use of List of Qualified Contractors.

a. The director of public works shall develop a list of qualified contractors eligible to bid on projects awarded by informal bidding, in accordance with the provisions of Public Contract Code Section 22034(a).

b. The list shall be organized in accordance with the license classifications of the Contractor's State License Board.

c. Any licensed California contractor may request to be added to the list of qualified contractors at any time by filing a completed application with the director of public works on a form provided by the director. The contractor will be added to the list if the contractor meets all criteria established by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission (Commission).

2. Plans, Specifications and Working Details. The director of public works shall prepare and adopt plans, specifications and working details for all contracts awarded by informal bidding to enable a qualified contractor to perform the work required for each contract awarded by informal bidding.

3. Identifying and Inviting Bids.

a. The director of public works shall mail notice inviting informal bids to all contractors on the list of qualified contractors for the category of work being bid, and/or to all construction trade journals as specified by the Commission pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 22036.

b. The director of public works shall complete the mailing of notices inviting informal bids, as required by this subsection, not less than ten calendar days before bids are due.

c. The notice inviting informal bids shall describe the projects in general terms, how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and state the time and place for the submission of bids.

4. Opening of Informal Bids and Award of Contract.

a. At the time provided in the notice inviting informal bids, the city clerk shall open all bids timely received. If a contract is awarded, it shall be awarded by the city council to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. If two or more responsive bids are the same and lowest, the city council may award the contract by drawing lots. If no bids are received, the project may be performed by city forces, negotiated contract, or by any other means provided by law, as the city council determines to be in the best interests of the city.

b. If all competent bids received are in excess of the informal bidding limit, the city council may, by adoption of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract, at or below the provisional limit set forth in Public Contract Code Section 22034(f), to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines that the city's cost estimate was reasonable.

E. Formal Bidding Procedures.

1. Contracts for public projects determined by the director of public works to require formal bidding pursuant to the provisions of Public Contract Code Section 22032 and subsection (C)(1) of this section, shall be formally bid and awarded or rejected, in accordance with the provisions of Public Contract Code Sections 22037 and 22038.

2. The city council shall adopt plans, specifications and working details for all formally bid public projects.

3. If a contract is awarded, it shall be awarded by the city council to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. If two or more bids are the same and the lowest, the city council may accept either bid. If no bids are received, the project may be performed by city forces, negotiated contract, or by any other means provided by law, as the city council determines to be in the best interests of the city.

(Ord. 2210 § 1, 2021)

Each contract for public project construction shall be subject to all applicable requirements of state and federal law including all provisions of the California Public Contract Code applicable to local agency public works contracts not in conflict with the UPCCAA.

A. Changes in Dollar Limits. In the event that the monetary limits specified in Sections 22032 and 22034 of the UPCCAA are amended by the State Legislature or adjusted by the State Controller pursuant to Section 22020 of the UPCCAA, such amendment or adjustment in the monetary limits shall prevail and apply in place of the monetary limits specified in subsections B, C, D, and E of this section.

B. Formal Bidding. Each contract for public project construction in an amount of more than two hundred thousand dollars shall be subject to the formal bidding process as set forth in Section 22037 of the UPCCAA. This includes a notice inviting formal bids published by the city in a newspaper at least fourteen calendar days before the bid deadline. This also includes a notice mailed to the construction trade journals as specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission in accordance with Section 22036 of the UPCCAA at least thirty calendar days before the bid deadline.

C. Informal Bidding. Each contract for public project construction in an amount of more than sixty thousand dollars, and less than or equal to two hundred thousand dollars, shall be subject to the informal bidding process set forth in Section 22034 of the UPCCAA as follows:

1. Bidder's List. A list of qualified contractors identified according to categories of work shall be developed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of Section 22034 of the UPCCAA and criteria promulgated from time to time by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

2. Notice Inviting Informal Bids. A notice inviting informal bids (describing the project in general terms, how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and the time and place for the submission of the bids) shall be mailed at least ten calendar days before the bid deadline to the qualified contractors on the relevant bidders list. The city shall also endeavor, but shall not be required, to provide prior notice of informally bid projects to the construction trade journals as specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission in accordance with Section 22036 of the UPCCAA. If, after following sole-source exception procedures set forth in Section 3.20.120, the product or service is determined to be 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.

D. If all bids received pursuant to the informal bidding process are in excess of two hundred thousand dollars, the city council may, by passage of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract, at two hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines that the original cost estimate of the city was reasonable.

E. Minor Project Process. Each contract for public project construction in an amount of sixty thousand dollars or less shall be subject to the minor project process as set forth in Section 3.20.197.

(Ord. 2210 § 1, 2021)

A. Each contract subject to minor project requirements shall comply with this section.

B. The city shall request either formal bids, informal bids, qualifications, or proposals from qualified potential contractors on the bidders list, or by such other means which, in the discretion of the city manager, provide notice of the potential project to a reasonable number of potential contractors.

C. The bids, qualifications, or proposals shall be submitted to the city in a form appropriate for the level of detail of the project requirements, as identified in the city's request (which may be based in whole or in part on the requirements set forth in this chapter for informal bidding or competitive negotiations, either in writing or telephonically).

D. After receiving bids, qualifications, or proposals, the city, may, in its discretion, negotiate the contract terms with any or all potential contractors who meet the city's project needs. The city may enter into a contract with any or all potential contractors who meet the city's project needs; provided, that the terms of the contract meet the purpose and goals identified in Section 3.20.010.

(Ord. 2210 § 1, 2021)