COMPANY NAME: Insert Company Name
INVITATION TO BID
SCHOOL BOARD OF LAKE COUNTY
PURCHASING DEPARTMENT
29529 COUNTY ROAD 561
TAVARES, FLORIDA 32778-2496
The School Board of Lake County, located in Tavares, Florida, solicits your company to submit a bid on our Bid #3686DG – Fire Sprinkler Systems: Inspections, Maintenance, and Repairs.
All terms and conditions below are a part of this Invitation to Bid (ITB) and no bids will be accepted unless the vendor complies with all conditions required herein. Rights are reserved by the School Board of Lake County to accept or reject any and all bids and to waive all technicalities and award in the best interest of the Board. The Board does not sign contract forms provided by vendors. The bid, request for proposal, or invitation to negotiate with the vendor’s signature will constitute an offer to sell to the Board under the stated terms and conditions.
All prospective vendors are hereby cautioned not to contact any Board member of the School Board of Lake County or any other employee, officer, staff or agent, nor to attempt to persuade or promote through other channels. All contacts must be channeled through the Procurement Department. Failure to comply with these procedures shall be cause for disqualification of firm’s Submittal.
From the notice of publication until 72 hours after the posting of the recommendation of award only the Purchasing Department should be contacted concerning any questions concerning this bid. No other employee, officer, staff or agent of the School Board should be contacted during this period. All questions/concerns shall be directed, in writing, to:
Deborah Gardner, Assistant Purchasing Agent
E-mail:
Fax: 352-742-8516
Address: 29529 CR 561
Tavares, Florida 32778
Formal bid openings will no longer be held for bids other than construction. Only the names of the bidders will be read.
1. BIDDERS RESPONSIBILITY: Before submitting their bid proposal, each bidder is required to carefully examine the invitation to bid specifications and to completely familiarize themselves with all of the terms and conditions that are contained within this bid. Ignorance on the part of the bidder will in no way relieve them of any of the obligations and responsibilities, which are a part of this bid.
2. SCOPE OF WORK AND SPECIFICATIONS: The intent of this ITB is to establish firm bid prices for contract labor for the performance, on a turnkey basis, of all inspections, maintenance, and repairs of fire sprinkler systems and fire system backflows, in accordance with all terms, conditions, and specifications listed and described in the body of these specifications, to be used as needed, by the School Board.
A. The Successful Bidder(s) shall be fully competent in all areas of fire sprinkler systems and fire system backflow, maintenance, and repairs. Contractor shall provide a sufficient number of qualified people as required by the School Board to perform the work under this specification.
B. The Successful Bidder shall maintain a current State of Florida Fire Protection Systems Contractor I or II license for the duration of the term of this agreement. Bidders shall include copies of all applicable licensure and state certifications in their bid submission.
C. The Successful Bidder shall inspect all fire sprinkler systems and fire system backflows in the District in accordance with the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 25. All services performed under the terms of this Agreement shall comply with the regulations of the State Fire Marshall and the Department of Education State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF), as they pertain to the fire sprinkler systems. Guidelines established by manufacturer and NFPA 25 shall be followed during the inspection. The Successful Bidder shall use form(s) approved by the School Board to report each inspection. Bidders shall include a sample of their annual inspection form and their quarterly inspection form in their bid submission.
D. The Successful Bidder shall perform one (1) in-depth annual inspection to be performed in July, followed by three (3) quarterly inspections performed during the months of January, April and October, in accordance with NFPA 25 on each fire sprinkler system in the District. Backflow devices shall be certified and tagged annually. Sprinkler system inspections may be conducted during the same visit. Each inspection shall re-certify code compliance. Cost of labor, tags, labels, etc. shall be included in inspection cost.
E. After award the School Board may request a cost proposal for 5 Year Obstruction Inspection of fire systems’ internal pipe. This proposal shall use the standard work hourly rate contained in the cost proposal, item #6.
F. The Successful Bidder shall schedule all inspections through the School Board Maintenance Department. For expediency, a School Board technician will accompany the Successful Bidder on the inspections. The School Board technician will assist, provide knowledge, reset fire alarm panels, and check signals. Inspection times will generally be limited to a time frame of 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Flex times may be scheduled if requested. The Successful Bidder must sign in at front office of each site upon arrival and sign out upon departure.
The Maintenance Department determines when inspections should be performed at each school. The Successful Bidder will be responsible for contacting each school to schedule the actual time of inspection. A contact list will be provided to the Successful Bidder.
G. The Successful Bidder shall leave the inspection report at each site after completion. The Successful Bidder shall also forward a copy of each inspection report to the Maintenance Department. Inspection reports shall include an itemized list of repairs, update requirements, or other items necessary to meet required code compliance. The report shall also include the total cost of all equipment, parts, and labor charges to bring the unit into code compliance standards. Approval to proceed with repairs must be obtained from the Maintenance Department prior to the start of work. While not a requirement of this ITB, it is highly desirable for the Successful Bidder to provide to the Maintenance Department an annual summarized report listing all inspections, maintenance service, and repairs by site and device.
H. The Successful Bidder shall, at a minimum, perform the following maintenance during annual inspection: lubricate all control valves, replace missing fire department connection caps, drain all low points of dry or pre-action systems, replace missing valves signage (excluding hydraulic data plates), and complete all inspections listed on the approved inspection form.
I. The Successful Bidder shall not proceed with any project until an approved purchase order has been received.
J. Successful Bidder shall be responsible for quality of work and assuring that work meets all existing codes. Work done improperly shall be redone at the Successful Bidder’s expense.
K. Successful Bidder shall furnish all tools and equipment required to accomplish any of the above tasks.
L. Contractor Supplied Materials:
1) Materials purchased by the Successful Vendor and incorporated into the Work shall be reimbursed at invoice cost including all (1) sales and/or use taxes and (2) freight.
2) Materials shall remain the property of the School Board. Contractors shall transport materials when requested.
3) The School Board may, if not prohibited by law, exercise a right to purchase directly various construction materials, supplies, and equipment that may be a part of the work. If so, the School Board will, via their purchase orders, purchase materials with assistance from the Successful Bidder, if required, in the preparation of such purchase orders. The materials shall be purchased from the suppliers selected by the Successful Bidder, for the prices negotiated by the Successful Bidder. The Successful Bidder will assist in the preparation of all purchase orders for the School Board and will coordinate the purchase of the materials in a timely manner so as not to negatively impact on the performance of the construction activity of the work.
The total cost estimated for the work shall be reduced by the net, undiscounted amount of these purchase orders, plus all sales taxes. Issuance of the purchase orders by the School Board shall not relieve the Successful Bidder of any of his responsibilities regarding material purchases, or installation, with the exception of the payments for the materials so purchased. The Successful Bidder shall remain fully responsible for coordination, correct quantities ordered, submittals, protection, storage, scheduling, shipping, security, expediting, receiving, installation, cleaning and all applicable warranties
3. The forms included within this ITB may be completed on-line using Microsoft Word© or simply printed and completed by hand. Areas where information may be inserted while on-line are indicated by a gray form field box and then the complete document can be printed. Original signatures from an authorized representative of the company shall be affixed where indicated within this document before submitting to the Purchasing Department.
4. All bids shall be filed in the Purchasing Department of the Lake County School Board, 29529 County Road 561, Tavares, Florida 32778, prior to 2:00PM, local time, Wednesday, April 3, 2013, and clearly marked "Bid #3686DG to be opened April 3, 2013." Bids received after this time will not be considered. All bids shall be submitted, in a sealed package or envelope, on the attached bid form properly extended and signed by an authorized representative; place bid number and opening date of bid on envelope. Faxed or e-mailed bids will not be accepted.
5. BID SCHEDULE:
Deadline for Questions: March 14, 2013 @ 4:00PM
Last Date for Addendums: March 20, 2013
Bid Opens: April 3, 2013 @ 2:00PM
Posting of Award Recommendation: May 1, 2013
Board Action on Recommendation: May 13, 2013
6. AWARD:
A. It is anticipated that Award recommendations shall be made to one Primary and one Alternate vendor who submits the first and second “lowest” and “best” responsive and responsible bid submitted based on conformity to specifications and price. The Primary vendor shall always be contacted first for all work and the School Board shall contact the alternate vendor only when the Primary vendor cannot complete the work within the required period of time as determined by the School Board of Lake County. The School Board reserves the right to request written proposals estimating the cost of a proposed project from any and/or all of the awarded bidders, on an as needed basis, during the term of this agreement. However, as the best interests of the School Board may require, the School Board reserves the right to make award(s) on a lowest price basis by item, group of items, all or none, or a combination thereof; with one or more Vendors; to reject any and all bids, that in it’s judgment will be for the best interest of the Lake County Schools, or waive any minor irregularity or technicality in bids received. Award shall be made on conformity to specifications and price. Multiplying unit cost per item by quantity estimated and summing the totals shall determine lowest bid price.
It is important that vendors understand the District’s budgetary restrictions when offers are submitted. To fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities we are requesting that all pricing submitted is as competitive as possible so that we may return maximum value to the District. By providing a bid the vendor is acknowledging that the District’s current or future budgetary shortfalls may materially impact long-term completion of the District’s projections under this bid and/or may materially impact the District’s ability to consider renewal of any subsequent terms. Please also see Item 10.
B. The Board reserves the right to use the next lowest and best responsive and responsible bidder in the event the original awardee(s) of the bid cannot fulfill their contract, subject to the terms and conditions provided herein. The next lowest and best responsive and responsible bidder’s prices must remain the same as originally bid and must remain firm for the duration of the contract.
7. Bid tabulations with recommended awards will be posted for review by interested parties on or about May 1, 2013 and will remain posted for a period of 72 hours. The award recommendation will be posted in the Purchasing Department located at 29529 County Road 561, Tavares, Florida and on our website at http://lake.k12.fl.us. To access information from our website select Purchasing from the Department list, click on Bid Opportunities, then click on the appropriate title of the ITB for a listing of all published information. Since this information is available as outlined above, the purchasing department will not mail or fax recommendation of award notices to all bidders. Failure to file a protest within the time prescribed in Section 120.57 (3), Florida Statutes, shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. Any person who is affected adversely by the decision or intended decision shall file with the Board, through it’s Purchasing Department, a written notice of protest within 72 hours after the posting or notification. A formal written protest shall be filed within 10 calendar days after filing the notice of protest. With respect to a protest of the specifications contained in an invitation to bid or in a request for proposals, the notice of protest shall be filed in writing within 72 hours after the receipt of the project plans and specifications or intended project plans and specifications in an invitation to bid or request for proposals (but no later than the time when the bids or responses must be received in order to be considered), and the formal written protest shall be filed within 10 calendar days after the date the notice of protest is filed. The 72 hours period referred to herein shall not include Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays. The word "holiday" shall mean any weekday on which the School Board's Administrative offices are closed. Failure to file a timely formal written protest shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. The formal written protest shall state with particularity the facts and law upon which protest is based. Any person who files an action protesting a decision or intended decision pertaining to a bid pursuant to FS 120.57(3)(b), shall post at the time of filing the formal written protest, a bond payable to the School Board of Lake County in an amount equal to one percent (1%) of the total estimated contract value, but not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, which bond shall be conditioned upon the payment of all costs which may be adjudged against the protester in the administrative hearing in which the action is brought and in any subsequent appellate court proceeding. In lieu of a bond, a cashier’s check, certified bank check, bank certified company check, or money order will be an acceptable form of security. If, after completion of the administrative hearing process and any appellate court proceedings, the district prevails, it shall recover all costs and charges which shall be included in the final order or judgment, including charges made by the Division of Administrative Hearings, but excluding attorney’s fees. Upon payment of such costs and charges by the protester, the protest security shall be returned. If the protester prevails, he or she shall recover from the district all costs and charges which shall be included in the final order of judgment, excluding attorney’s fees. Upon receipt of the formal written protest and protest bond which has been timely filed, the district shall stop the bid solicitation process or the contract award process until the subject of the protest is resolved by final district action, unless the Superintendent sets forth in writing particular facts and circumstances which require the continuance of the bid solicitation process or the contract award process without delay in order to avoid an immediate and serious danger to the public health, safety, or welfare.