**IMPORTANT NOTICE**

  • The format of this RFQ has been simplified.
  • Only the following pages require signatures:
  1. Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet, Bidder Information and Acceptancepage
  2. Must be signed by Bidder
  3. Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet, SLEB Partnering Information Sheet
  4. Must be signed by Bidder
  5. Must be signed by SLEB Partnerif subcontracting to a SLEB

Please read EXHIBIT A – Bid Response Packet carefully,INCOMPLETE BIDS WILL BE REJECTED. Alameda County will not accept submissions or documentation after the bid response due date.

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION No. 901139

for

Janitorial Trash Can Liners

For complete information regarding this project, see RFQ posted ator contact the County representative listed below. Thank you for your interest!
Contact Person:Nicholas Roberts, Contracts Specialist I
Phone Number: (510) 208-9616
E-mail Address:

RESPONSE DUE

by

2:00 p.m.

on

August 2, 2013

at

Alameda County, GSA–Purchasing

1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907

Oakland, CA 94612

Alameda County is committed to reducing environmental impacts across our entire supply chain.

If printing this document, please print only what you need, print double-sided, and use recycled-content paper.

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

REQUEST FORQUOTATIONNo. 901139

SPECIFICATIONS, TERMS & CONDITIONS

for

Janitorial Trash Can Liners

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I.STATEMENT OF WORK

A.INTENT

B.SCOPE

C.BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

D.SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

E.DELIVERABLES / REPORTS

II.CALENDAR OF EVENTS

F.NETWORKING / BIDDERS CONFERENCES

III.COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS

G.NOTICE OF RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD

H.TERM / TERMINATION / RENEWAL

I.BRAND NAMES AND APPROVED EQUIVALENTS

J.QUANTITIES

K.PRICING

L.AWARD

M.METHOD OF ORDERING

N.INVOICING

O.ACCOUNT MANAGER / SUPPORT STAFF

IV.INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

P.COUNTY CONTACTS

Q.SUBMITTAL OF BIDS

R.RESPONSE FORMAT

ATTACHMENTS

EXHIBIT A -BID RESPONSE PACKET

EXHIBIT B - INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS – INTENTIONALLY OMITTED

EXHIBIT C - VENDOR BID LIST

EXHIBIT D –DELIVERY LOCATIONS

EXHIBIT E – PLASTIC TRASH CAN LINER RECYCLED CONTENT CERTIFICATION

Specifications, Terms & Conditions

for Janitorial Trash Can Liners

I.STATEMENT OF WORK

A.INTENT

It is the intent of these specifications, terms, and conditions to describe janitorial trash can liners and accompanying support services as required by the County of Alameda General Services (GSA) Building Maintenance Department (BMD), Probation Department (Probation), Public Works Agency (PWA), and Sheriff’s Office (ASCO).

The County intends to award 3-year contract (with option to renew) to the bidder selected as the lowest responsible bidder whose response meets the County’s requirements.

It is the intent of these specifications, terms, and conditions to procure the most environmentally preferable products with equivalent or higher performance and at equal or lower cost than traditional products. Specific requirements from the County’s Sustainability Program that are related to this Bid are included in the appropriate Bid sections.

B.SCOPE

BMD provides maintenance and operation services for one hundred and sixty-six (166) County owned and leased facilities. These buildings include offices, detention facilities, the Veteran’s Memorial buildings, firing ranges, parking structures and training facilities. BMD provides the services required to assure clean, safe, and functionally operative facilities.

Other departments and agencies, such as the Probation Department, Public Works Agency, and the Sheriff’s Department are also interested in obtaining janitorial trash can liners for their service needs.

Contractorwill be required and must be able to make inside deliveries of janitorial trash can liners to multiple delivery locations. Note that some of these locations may have delivery restrictions, including site clearance into high security prisons.

C.BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

1.BIDDER Minimum Qualifications

a.Be regularly and continuously engaged in the business of manufacturing or distributing janitorial trash can liner products for at least two years.

b.Possess all permits, licenses, and professional credentials necessary to do business with the County as required.

c.Must possess (or have access to) a fleet of delivery trucks or access to a delivery service that can make immediate inside deliveries to designated delivery locations throughout the County within seventy-two (72) business hours from receipt of order.

D.SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

1.Trash Can Liner Specifications

a.The liners or bags shall be as specified in the Exhibit A - BID FORM. Sealing shall be achieved by heat or electronic methods of no more than two (2) millimeters(mil) thicknesses of material. The bag shall be constructed in a manner that will not allow odors or contents to escape when properly closed.

b.The bottom seal dimensions from the outside edges of the liner or bag to the inside of the seam shall be ½ inch (1.270 cm) maximum. The bottom seal dimension from the outside edge to outside of the seam shall be ¼ inch (.635 cm) minimum.

c.The liners or bags shall have good workmanship. The liners or bags shall be uniformly constructed, free from sharp creases, crinkles and other defects that will affect serviceability. The seam shall be uniform, straight, continuous, and free from gaps and creases. Bids offering lower quality or substituting alternate mil weights and sizes will be disqualified.

d.Code Compliance: Manufacturers selling trash bags in California of 0.70 mil or greater thickness must be in compliance with the State of California Public Resources Code, Sections 42290-42297, which stipulates that they must meet either one of the following:

(1)Ensure that its plastic trash bags contain a quantity of recycled plastic post-consumer material equal to at least 10 percent of the weight of the regulated bags, or

(2)Ensure that at least 30 percent of the weight of material used in all of its plastic products intended for sale in California is recycled plastic post-consumer material. Manufacturers must either be listed as in compliance on the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Summary of Compliance with Plastic Trash Bag Certification Requirements found at or show other official proof from the State that they are in compliance. Manufacturers or wholesalers listed as non-compliant at this website will be disqualified unless appropriate documentation of certification is provided.

2.Specific Vendor Requirements

a.Contractor shall ensure that all items ordered shall be packaged individually for each of the ordering departments, marked for that department, and delivered to the designated County location.

b.There will be no changes to any of the liners delivered throughout the Contract term, unless the County has given the Contractor written permission to change the product.

c.Contractor may bid multiple items at different recycled content percentages, as stated in Exhibit A – Bid Form.

d.Delivery Requirements

(1)Contractor shall make inside deliveries to various County designated locations. Refer to Exhibit D - Delivery Locations, for a list of delivery locations.

(2)Contractor shall make deliveries to various County designated locations by or before 10:00 AM PST.

(3)All deliveries must be on pallets, or as specified by the department.

(4)Contractor shall be responsible for removing pallets used for deliveries.

(5)Contractor shall provide employees who can unload and deliver all liners inside all the facilities.

(6)The driver(s)/delivery person will be responsible for any equipment required to unload or move any of the liners for inside delivery. The County will not be responsible for unloading any deliveries or providing any equipment to the driver(s)/delivery person.

(7)Each individual box cannot weigh more than 50 pounds.

e.Contractor shall package orders in accordance with the terms of any agreement that may arise out of this RFQ, and to secure material from breakage and pilferage. Each order shall have a copy of a packing slip attached. The packing slip shall be displayed, as to show the Department’s name, “ship to” location, contact person, Purchase Order (PO) number, or Blanket Purchase Order (BPO) number.

f.If there are any problems with the delivered liners, the County will return the delivered items at no additional cost and at any time, no matter how long ago the liners were shipped, as long as it falls in the Contract term. Contractor will be responsible for the return shipping cost of any delivered liners that do not meet the specifications.

g.Contractor shall be required to supply all contract items exactly as ordered. Items not immediately available (back-orders) shall be so indicated on the packing slip by the Contractor. Back-ordered items shall be delivered no longer than five (5) business days from receipt of order. Item substitutions are not allowed. In the event that back-ordered items cannot be filled within the above time frame, Contractor shall immediately purchase these items from a local source and deliver them to the end user at contract pricing. No additional charges will be allowed.

3.Product Certification:

Bidders must submit Exhibit E –Plastic Trash Can Liner Recycled Content Certification, a statement signed by a corporate officer of the manufacturing entity, certifying the accuracy of the post-consumer recycled content, and the total recycled content of the products submitted in the bid response. In the event that a product substitution is necessary once the contract is awarded, a certification for the proposed product, signed by the manufacturer must also be provided to the County.

The Contractor will also provide a 3rd party certification adequate to verify that all liners meet the standards for size and thickness specified in this RFP.

4.Labeling:

Product packaging shall be labeled to indicate the percentage of post-consumer recycled content for the products contained within the package.

5.Products Testing and Product Samples:

a.Prior to bid award, the County will field test and may lab test the proposed products to ensure quality and performance.

b.Contractor shall provide samples, when requested from the County, for initial evaluation.

c.The samples received by the County will represent what will be sent if the Contractor is awarded the Contract. The sample liners requested will come in a labeled box and will contain the number of liners as stated per case in Exhibit A - Bid Form. These samples will be representative of the liners and packaging the County will receive if the Contractor is awarded the Contract.

d.The County may request additional samples for testing after initial product screening.

e.All samples shall be furnished to the County at no charge.

f.The County reserves the right to accept or reject samples based on quality and performance, as deemedsolely by the County.

g.The County will not require samples of the non-standard trash can liner size 32x2x36.

6.Off/Non Contract Products

Off-contract products are those products without fixed contract pricing. The categories contained in Exhibit A – Off/Non Contract Discount will be the same as the categories listed in Exhibit A – Bid Form. For example, if a bidder provides contract pricing for Exhibit A – Bid Form, then the same bidder is obligated to provide a guaranteed minimum fixed discount off of the Contractor’s catalog(s) prices stated for trash can liners that are not on-contract. This discount must be valid for the duration of any agreement, and will apply to any and all trash can liners ordered from the Contractor’s catalog(s) whether they be in print form or items available for ordering online. Contractor shall provide County the maximum discount possible from their catalog list price to match or improve on competitor’s retail prices for same exact product required by County. The primary objective is for each Contractor to provide its entire catalog(s) of products for the specific bid category they are awarded so that County agencies may order a broad range of products as appropriate for their needs with exceptions noted as excluded items.

E.DELIVERABLES/REPORTS

1.Contractor shall provide electronic quarterly usage reports to the County of Alameda Sustainability Department. The reports shall be provided to the County at no charge at designated intervals, as well as by request, and shall include all purchases made as a result of this contract. These reports shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel soft copy. Two (2) reports shall be provided:

  1. Detailed Quarterly Usage Report with per transaction detail, and
  2. Quarterly Summary Report of all activity providing usage information per product for the quarter.

The County will work with the Contractor to finalize the format of these reports upon contract award. The County reserves the right to make changes to the report and to request additional information, if deemed necessary.

The County may, upon its discretion, request that these reports be submitted as hard copy. These reports will be issued within two business weeks of the close of the previous quarter. Electronic and/or hard copies of these reports shall be sent to additional County business units upon request. Ad hoc reports shall be provided by the Contractor as required at no additional cost.

a.description of these reports are as follows:

(1)Detailed Quarterly Usage Report

The report shall be formatted so that it can be sorted on any of the categories below, and shall be submitted sorted chronologically by order date. Each line shall contain the required data for a single transaction. The total shall be per line, not a running total. No breaks or subtitles within the data set that would compromise the ability to sort the data are allowed. All data shall be provided on one excel spreadsheet.

(a)Order Date

(b)Purchasing organization (department/agency)

(c)Delivery location

(d)Date order delivered

(e)Item part number and description

(f)Percentage of post-consumer content in item

(g)Item description

(h)Individual product per unit (e.g. # rolls/carton)

(i)Unit cost

(j)Units purchased

(k)Total order cost

(2)Quarterly Summary Report

For each item type purchased the quarterly summary report shall include:

(a)A summary of the total quantities and costs purchased during the quarter and year-to-date by each County department; and

(b)The summary shall contain a description of the product, and shall include the percentage of post-consumer recycled content and whitening technology, if applicable.

The Contractor shall be responsible for assuring the accuracy of the aforementioned reports.

II.CALENDAR OF EVENTS

EVENT / DATE/LOCATION
Request Issued / June 3, 2013
Written Questions Due / by 5:00 p.m. onJune 27, 2013
Networking/Bidders Conference #1 / June 26, 2013 @ 2:00 p.m. / at:County of Alameda Public Works Agency
Conference Room
4825 Gleason Drive
Dublin, CA 94568
Networking/Bidders Conference #2 / June 27, 2013@ 10:00 a.m. / at:General Services Agency
Room 1107, 11th Floor
1401 Lakeside Dr.
Oakland, CA 94538
Addendum Issued / July 18, 2013
Response Due / August 2, 2013by2:00 p.m.
Evaluation Period / August 2– 26, 2012
GSAConsideration Award Date / September 27, 2013
Contract Start Date / September 30, 2013

Note:Award and start dates are approximate.

F.NETWORKING / BIDDERS CONFERENCES

Networking/bidders conferences will be held to:

1.Provide an opportunity for Small Local Emerging Businesses (SLEBs) and large firms to network and develop subcontracting relationships in order to participate in the contract(s) that may result from this RFQ.

2.Provide an opportunity for bidders to ask specific questions about the project and request RFQ clarification.

3.Provide the County with an opportunity to receive feedback regarding the project and RFQ.

All questions will be addressed, and the list of attendees will be included, in anRFQAddendum following the networking/bidders conferences.

Potential bidders are strongly encouraged to attend networking/bidders conferences in order to further facilitate subcontracting relationships. Vendors who attend a networking/bidders conference will be added to the Vendor Bid List. Failure to participate in a networking/bidders conference will in no way relieve the Contractor from furnishing goods and/or services required in accordance with these specifications, terms and conditions. Attendance at a networking/bidders conference is highly recommended but is not mandatory.

III.COUNTY PROCEDURES, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS

G.NOTICE OF RECOMMENDATIONTO AWARD

1.At the conclusion of the RFQ response evaluation process (“Evaluation Process”), all bidders will be notified in writing by e-mail or fax, and certified mail, of the contract award recommendation, if any, by GSA – Purchasing. The document providing this notification is the Notice of Recommendationto Award.

The Notice of Recommendationto Award will provide the following information:

a.The name of the bidder being recommended for contract award; and

b.The names of all other parties that submitted proposals.

2.At the conclusion of the RFQ process, debriefings for unsuccessful bidders will be scheduled and provided upon written request and will be restricted to discussion of the unsuccessful offeror’s bid.

a.Under no circumstances will any discussion be conducted with regard to contract negotiations with the successful bidder.

b.Debriefing may include review of successful bidder’s proposal with redactions as appropriate.

3.The submitted proposals shall be made available upon request no later than five (5) business days before approval of the award and contract to GSA.

H.TERM / TERMINATION / RENEWAL

1.The term of the contract, which may be awarded pursuant to this RFQ, will be three (3) years.

2.By mutual agreement, any contract which may be awarded pursuant to this RFQ, may be extended for an additional two-year term at agreed prices with all other terms and conditions remaining the same.

I.BRAND NAMES AND APPROVED EQUIVALENTS

1.Any references to manufacturers, trade names, brand names and/or catalog numbers are intended to be descriptive, but not restrictive, unless otherwise stated, and are intended to indicate the quality level desired. Bidders may offer any equivalent product that meets or exceeds the specifications. Bids based on equivalent products must:

a.Clearly describe the alternate offered and indicate how it differs from the product specified; and

b.Include complete descriptive literature and/or specifications as proof that the proposed alternate will be equal to or better than the product named in this bid.