TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A PANEL OF ATTORNEYS FOR THE NATIONAL HOME BUILDERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL (“NHBRC”) FOR A CONTRACTUAL PERIOD OF THREE (03) YEARS
RFP NO: NHBRC 1125/2014
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The NHBRC is a regulatory body established in terms of Section 2 of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No. 95 of 1998) with a mandate to protect the interests of housing consumers against defined defects in new homes as well as to regulate the home building industry.
2. OBJECTIVE
2.1 The NHBRC is requires to establish a panel of attorneys to provide various legal services to the organization through a competitive bidding process. The establishment of the said panel is aimed to ensure not only easy access and availability of the appointed law firms on an “as and when required” basis, but also to ensure a panel comprising of suitably qualified law firms that will assist the NHBRC to execute its mandate in an efficient and effective manner.
2.2 The purpose of this request for proposals is therefore, to outline the NHBRC’s requirements and/or criteria for the appointment of firms of attorneys to the NHBRC’s panel of attorneys.
2.3 Suitably qualified firms of attorneys in all provinces are hereby invited to submit their proposals for consideration by the NHBRC.
3. SCOPE OF WORK
3.1. The successful firms of attorneys will be required to render legal services to the NHBRC on a wide range of specialized areas, including but not limited to:
3.1.1. Provision of corporate, commercial and regulatory compliance legal advice;
3.1.2. Representing and acting on behalf of the NHBRC in court including handling applications for interdicts against defaulting home builders;
3.1.3. Reviewing, negotiating and drafting of contracts;
3.1.4. Representing and acting on behalf of the NHBRC in arbitration, other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms and quasi-judicial forums;
3.1.5. Representing and acting on behalf of the NHBRC at Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and the labour courts;
3.1.6. Chairing and/or representing the NHBRC during employee disciplinary hearings;
3.1.7. Prosecution of home builders in terms of the Act;
3.1.8. Investigation of cases;
3.1.9. Debt collections including recovery of monies expended by the NHBRC in respect of remedial works;
3.1.10. Legislative review and drafting;
3.1.11. Training on relevant pieces of legislation and any other related legal issues;
3.1.12. Legal due diligence.
3.2. The firm of Attorneys must have a working knowledge in inter alia, the following legal fields:
3.2.1. Public Finance Management legislative framework;
3.2.2. Construction Law, including built environment legislative framework;
3.2.3. Property Law;
3.2.4. Company Law;
3.2.5. Court Rules (civil and criminal procedure);
3.2.6. Contract Law;
3.2.7. Labour Law;
3.2.8. Administrative Law;
3.2.9. Constitutional Law;
3.2.10. Law of Damages;
3.2.11. Access to Information Law;
3.2.12. Insolvency Law;
3.2.13. Credit Law;
3.2.14. Intellectual Property Law; and
3.2.15. Consumer Law.
4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The following must be included in the proposal:
A. Mandatory Requirements
NO. / DECSRIPTION / COMPLY(ü) / NOT COMPLY (ü)
4.1. / Fidelity Fund certificate issued in terms of the Attorneys (Act No.53 of 1979 as amended).
4.2. / Proof of registration with the relevant Law Society.
4.3. / Letter of good standing with the relevant Law Society not older than six (6) months.
4.4. / Original and Valid Tax Clearance Certificate.
Mandatory
4.5. Curriculum Vitae of the Lead and Key Staff and certified copies of qualifications as well as their speciality within the fields stated in paragraph 3 above. The Curriculum Vitae must include the following:
4.5.1. area of speciality
4.5.2. years of experience in the identified areas (s) of speciality
4.5.3. Number of projects undertaken in the area of speciality in the last two (2) years
4.6. The Lead Attorney must have at least seven (7) years’ post admission experience in identified area (s) of speciality.
4.7. The hourly rates from Director to Candidate Attorneys.
4.8. Three reference letters from clients whom the bidder has provided services similar to the identified areas of speciality in the last two (2) years.
4.9. Locality, i.e. the business (and postal address) address where the bidder conducts its business including other regional offices within the Republic of South Africa.
4.10. Skills transfer strategy and implementation plan:
4.10.1. The bidder should demonstrate an approach and methodology of how the firm will transfer skills to the NHBRC employees.
5. BID EVALUATION
5.1. The bid evaluation process shall be carried out in two (2) stages namely:
Stage 1: Compliance check of Mandatory Documents; and
Stage 2: Functionality in terms of the set technical evaluation criteria.
STAGE 1: Compliance check of Mandatory Documents
5.2. The bidder’s documents will be assessed at this stage of the process to establish compliance with the required standard conditions of the proposal.
STAGE 2: Functionality
5.3. Proposals will be evaluated based on functionality, which has been allocated a total of 100 points.
5.4. During this phase, bidders will be evaluated based on achieving a minimum qualifying score of 70 points. Bidders who fail to achieve the minimum qualifying score shall be disqualified.
5.5. The functionality criteria is listed below, and will be rated as follows:
Table 1: below illustrates the breakdown of the evaluation scoring:
Evaluation Criteria Score
Evaluation Criteria / Score /Capacity and experience of the proposed team
a) Demonstrate ability in identified scope of specialty.
Experience as reflected in projects (5 key projects in the last 5 years) already undertaken (indicate the following in the form of a table which should cover area of speciality, description of the project, value of the contract, name of client and client contact person), period of the contract, start and end date.
b) A minimum of five reference of similar work undertaken, list names, addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses of businesses of which work has accomplished for the supply of legal services in respect of the above projects. / 30
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c) Provide detailed CVs and certified copies of qualifications of lead attorneys who will be directly involved in providing the required services specifying areas of specialty as referred to in (paragraph 3.12) above. The lead attorneys must have at least seven (7) years post admission working experience in identified areas of specialty.
d) Provide detailed CVs of team members and certified copies of qualifications specifying areas of specialty as referred to in (paragraph 3.12) above. The team members must have at least two (02) years minimum post admission working experience in identified areas of specialty. / 10
10
Financial Position
Audited Financial Statements with auditor’s report of the company for the past three years. Financial Statements of a Close Corporation for the past three years prepared by an independent accountant with proof. / 15
Infrastructure and other related resources
The Service Provider should demonstrate the capacity to provide the infrastructure and resources in respect to the services as required.
e) Premises
Office address must correspond with the location of the province you are responding for. Proof of offices in the locations where you are responding to render services (as indicated by the provinces that were selected).
The NHBRC reserves the right to conduct site visits / 15
Skills Transfer / 15
Demonstrate the approach and methodology of how the firm will transfer skills to the NHBRC employees. The methodology must include:
f) Strategy
g) Implementation plan
Total / 100
Threshold Score / 70
Table 2: The following scale will be used to rate this sub criterion on the score sheet
Value / Description5 – Excellent / Meets or exceeds NHBRC functionality requirements
4 – Very Good / Above average compliance to requirements
3 – Good / Satisfactory and should be adequate for stated element
2 – Average / Below average compliance to requirements
1 – Poor / Unacceptable, does not meet criteria
6. RFP SUBMISSION INSTRUCTION
6.1. Availability of the RFP Document
6.1.1. Bid documents will be available from the NHBRC Website from the 27 February 2015.
Website / www.nhbrc.org.zaEmail Address / or
6.2. Non Compulsory Briefing Session
6.2.1. The non-compulsory briefing sessions will be held on Thursday, 06th March 2015 at the following address.
Province / Physical Address & Contact NumberGauteng Province / Focus Rooms Conferencing, 1st floor South, The Core, corner Kikuyu and Leeuwkop Street, Sunninghill, Sandton, Gauteng Johannesburg
Note: Bidders who have not attended the non-compulsory briefing session will not be disqualified.
6.3. RFP Closing Date
6.3.1. All Bid documents must be deposited into the Bid box situated at the NHBRC Head Office, on or before 19 March 2015, at 11:00 am at the following address:
Province / Physical Address & Contact NumberGauteng Province / 5 Leeuwkop Road,
Sunninghill,
Johannesburg
Tel: (011) 317 0000
Late proposals shall NOT be accepted
6.3.2. Bid documents should be marked for Attention: Supply Chain Manager, and deposited into the Bid/Tender box at the NHBRC Head Office, at no 5 Leeuwkop Road, Sunninghill, Sandton,Johannesburg. No emailed or faxed responses will be accepted. The Bid document should be submitted in a sealed envelope and clearly marked with the Bid number, description and the full name of the service provider.
7. Enquiries should be directed to:
Mr. Bernard Kekana - Tel. (011) 317 0114, email:
Ms.Paballo Relela -Tel. (011) 317 0144,email:
8. Number of bid envelopes/files to be deposited:
8.1. Submission of bid envelopes/files must include one (1) Original and six (6) copies.
The following documents as listed will be made available with the distribution of the RFP.
DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTEDNo. / Please note; the items marked with an (X) are mandatory requirements and failure to meet the requirements will result in your bid being disqualified. / Yes/No
1. / Original and valid B-BBEE Status Level or certified copy
2. / X / SBD1 (Invitation to bid) (Make sure it is signed and thoroughly completed)
3. / X / SBD2 (Tax Clearance Certificate) Certificate must be original and valid
4. / X / SBD 4 (Declaration of interest) (Make sure it is signed) and thoroughly completed)
5. / SBD 6.1 (Preference claim form) Must be signed regardless if points are claimed or not. (Make sure it is signed and thoroughly completed)
6. / X / SBD 8 (Declaration of Bidder’s past supply chain management practices) (Make sure it is signed and thoroughly completed)
7. / X / SBD 9 (Certificate of independent bid determination – Make sure it is signed and thoroughly completed )
8. / General Conditions of the contract (GCC)
9. / X / Other documents as mentioned in the bid terms of reference.
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