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 #4324BB- Rebuilt Automatic Transmissions

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 pertaining to any technical aspects of this bid should be posed through Public Purchase.

Purchasing Contact: Bibi Boodram, Procurement Specialist

E-mail:

Fax: 352-253-6763

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.

Prior to the release of this Invitation to Bid (ITB), a review of State of Florida purchasing agreements was conducted to determine if their use would be economically advantageous to the District.

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.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO BIDDERS: The Procurement Services Department of Lake County Schools has partnered with Public Purchase for the posting, notification, and processing of their bid opportunities. There is NO COST to Vendors to use this service for Lake County Schools bid opportunities.

Please follow the link www.publicpurchase.com to register with Public Purchase for Lake County Schools. This will place the Bidder on the notification list for any forthcoming addendum or other official communications. Failure to register as a prospective Bidder and/or accept receipt of each document may cause your Submittal Package to be rejected as non-responsive. If you have submitted a package without Lake County School Board issued forms and/or acknowledgment of issued addenda as provided by the Lake County School Board your submittal may be considered non-responsive.

2.  ONLY ON LINE RESPONSES shall be accepted on line at www.publicpurchase.com prior to 4:00 pm on July 27, 2016.

It is strongly recommended THAT respondents submit bids as early as possible. time should be allowed to receive any requested assistance FROM PUBLIC PURCHASE. waiting until the last hours of the solicitation could impact the bid submittal.

3.  SCOPE OF WORK AND SPECIFICATIONS: The intent of this Invitation to Bid is to establish frim prices for Rebuilt Automatic Transmissions, 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.  Pick-up and Delivery: All prices shall include pick-up from and delivery to the Transportation Department bus garage site requiring service. Removal of transmissions from vehicles and installation of rebuilt transmission will be performed by Lake County School Board staff. Return of the transmission shall be no more than (3) working days from date and time of notice requesting service. Failure to do so may result I termination of bid.

B.  Core: Requests to purchase rebuilt transmissions will be as needed for replacement in School Board Vehicles. The School Board will return a core in exchange at the time of purchase.

C.  Tools: All tools used to repair/rebuild and calibrate transmissions shall be factory recommended or equal. This included the use of Allison approved valve body machine and governor test stand to calibrate each transmission for the buses.

D.  Minimum Requirements: Successful bidder shall conform to the following minimum requirements for all transmissions.

1)  Repair, replace and update torque converter.

2)  Parts showing more than 40% wear from original tolerance must be replaced.

Note: The requirement is a minimum and is not to be construed as meeting all requirements for every unit; from time to time, additional parts may be required. Successful Bidder is expected to anticipate needs when calculating bid prices; no upcharges will be permitted except for unusable casings.

E.  Warranty: All rebuilding of transmissions shall be performed in a manner acceptable to industry standards, both labor and parts, must be guaranteed to perform satisfactorily under intended use conditions for a period of not less than two (2) years from date of installation. In the event a transmission fails, Successful Bidder agrees to pay associated tow charges to nearest Lake County Schools’ bus garage. The Successful Bidder shall also be responsible for removing, repairing, and re-installation of the failed transmission which shall include replacing fluids and filter at no additional cost to Lake County Schools.

F.  Inspection: From time to time, Lake County School Board staff may disassemble and inspect units to verify compliance with the above stated Minimum Requirements. In the event that non-compliance is established, the Successful Bidder must rebuild transmission to bring unit into compliance and reassemble at no additional charge. Additionally, should inspection reveal non-compliance and/or 10% or more of the transmission fail during service, the School Board reserves the right to terminate any/or all agreements and refuse to pau for work performed on the failing transmissions.

G.  When a transmission is rebuilt, the successful bidder must have the ability to re-flash the ECU and send to the Lake County School Board.

H.  Allowable upcharges: Bid prices are to be all-inclusive for necessary parts and labor with the exception of unusable casings. Successful Bidder must obtain authorization from the Transportation Supervisor before replacing any unusable casings should it prove necessary to do so. Fees will be negotiated. Failure to comply with this provision will result in a non-allowable charge and will not be paid.

I.  Diagnostics: Occasionally, the Lake County School Board may require the Successful Bidder to perform diagnostics before authorizing the purchase of rebuilt transmissions. When this occurs, the Successful Bidder shall pick the vehicle up and return to designated School Board lot. Proof of proper licensing and insurance is required.

J.  Should the Successful Bidder notify the Transportation Supervisor of the necessity to replace any unusable casings but is denied authorization, the School Board will assume all liability for failure. However, should the unit fail and it is discovered that the Successful Bidder did not notify the Transportation Supervisor that casings required replacement, it shall be the Successful Bidders responsibility to assume all charges as outlined under the Warranty provisions stated above.

K.  Rebuilding of Allison transmission recommended specifications:

1)  Transmissions will be rebuilt in accordance to Allison Transmission Services Manual Procedures, specifications and services wear limits, with genuine Allison replacement parts.

2)  Allison transmission will be rebuilt by Allison trained personnel who have received training from an accredited Allison training instructor.

3)  Upon rebuild, each Allison transmission will received dynamometer testing. Pressures, output torque, and shift points will be recorded and confirmed to be in accordance with the Allison Service Manual.

4.  BID SCHEDULE:

Deadline for Questions: July 5, 2016 @ 5:00PM

Last Date for Addendums: July 14, 2016

Bid Opens: July 27, 2016 @ 4:00PM

Posting of Award Recommendation: August 30, 2016

Board Action on Recommendation: September 12, 2016

5.  AWARD: It is anticipated that Award shall be made on a lot by lot basis to the lowest and best responsive and responsible bid received for each respective lot submitted based on conformity to specifications and price. Multiplying unit cost per item by quantity estimated and summing the totals shall determine lowest bid price. The School Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids that in it’s judgment will be for the best interest of the Lake County Schools. The Board also reserves the right to waive any informality.

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 be 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 9.

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.

6.  Bid tabulations with recommended awards will be posted for review by interested parties on or about August 30, 2016 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 www.publicpurchase.com. 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.

7.  QUANTITIES: Quantities stated are estimated annual quantities. The School Board reserves the right to order greater than, or less than, quantity stated.

8.  BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS: The following items shall be included with bid response. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

A.  Project references, 3 minimum with similar experience.

Bidder must download forms to complete. Once completed bidder must upload documents to bid.

B.  Copies of all applicable licenses.

Upload licenses to bid.

C. List of projects for last 12 months.

Upload to bid.

9.  PROMOTIONAL PRICING:

A.  Best Pricing Offer – During the Contract term, if the Customer becomes aware of better pricing offered by the AWARDED VENDOR(S) for substantially the same or a smaller quantity of a product outside the Contract, but upon the same or similar terms of the Contract, then at the discretion of the Customer the price under the Contract shall be immediately reduced to the lower price.