Morgan Hill Municipal Code Ch. 3.60 Procurement Procedures for Certain Public Works Projects

This chapter has been adopted to implement the procedures for contracting for public works projects as authorized by the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act set forth in the California Public Contract Code.

(Ord. No. 2150, § 1, 8-5-2015)

The following definitions apply to this chapter:

"Contractors list" shall mean a list of qualified contractors, identified according to categories of work. The minimum criteria for the development and maintenance of the list shall be determined by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

"Public project" is as defined in section 22002 of the Public Contract Code, and means any of the following, but does not include "maintenance work:"

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

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

3. "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, (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, or (e) work performed to keep, operate, and maintain publicly owned water, power, or waste disposal systems.

(Ord. No. 2150, § 1, 8-5-2015)

A. Unless otherwise indicated, the city manager, or his or her delegate, is authorized to and shall implement, oversee and administer the provisions of this chapter for the city.

B. The dollar amount thresholds provided in this section shall automatically adjust upon the effectiveness of any adjustment notification by the state controller in accordance with Public Contract Code section 22020, without the necessity of amending this section or any subdivision herein to reflect any such adjustment.

1. Public projects of forty-five thousand dollars or less may be performed by city employees by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order. Provided the expenditure is within the budget limitation, the city manager is authorized to approve the use of city employees for public projects, and approve and sign any contract or purchase order for public projects, not exceeding forty-five thousand dollars.

2. Public projects of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars or less may be let to contract by informal bidding procedures as follows:

a. Informal Bid Procedures. Public projects, in accordance with the limits listed in Section 22032 of the Public Contract Code, may be let to contract by informal procedures as set forth in Section 22032, et seq., of the Public Contract Code.

b. Contractors List. City shall develop and maintain a list of qualified contractors in accordance with the provisions of Section 22034 of the Public Contract Code and criteria promulgated from time to time by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

c. Notice Inviting Informal Bids. A notice inviting informal bids shall be prepared, which notice shall describe the project in general terms, describe how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and state the time and place for the submission of bids. The notice shall be mailed, not less than ten calendar days before bids are due, to either all contractors on the contractors list for the category of work to be bid, or to and to all construction trade journals as specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission in accordance with Section 22036 of the Public Contract Code. Additional contractors and/or construction trade journals may be notified at the discretion of the department soliciting bids, provided, however:

i. If there is no contractors list maintained by the city for the particular category of work to be performed, the notice shall be sent only to the construction trade journals specified by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission.

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

d. Award of Contracts. Contracts for public projects in excess of forty-five thousand dollars shall be awarded by the City council. If all bids received are in excess of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, the city council may, by adoption of a resolution by four-fifths vote, award the contract, at one hundred eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if it determines the project cost estimate was reasonable.

3. Public projects of more than one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars shall, except as otherwise provided in this Section, be let to contract by formal bidding procedure in accordance with applicable provisions of the Public Contract Code.

(Ord. No. 2150, § 1, 8-5-2015)