General Information & Procedures
Protest Procedures
The procedures established hereunder shall be available to contractors with respect to a Bid/RFP/RFQ for the purpose of handling and resolving disputes relating to procurements hereunder. A protestor must exhaust all administrative remedies hereunder before pursuing a protest in any court of law. In the event you desire to protest an opening. You must write your letter of protest within 8 hours of the opening date/time. A written decision will be returned to you from the Bureau of Purchases in a timely manner.
Bonding Requirements
For those construction or facility improvement contracts or subcontracts exceeding $100,000, the City requires the following:
a.) Bid bonds
b. A performance bond on the part of the contractor for 100 percent of the contract price. A "performance bond" is one executed in connection with a contract to secure fulfillment of all the contractor's obligations under such contract; and
c. A labor and material bond on the part of the contractor for 100 percent of the contract price. A labor and material bond is one executed in connection with a contract to assure payment, as required by law, of all persons supplying labor and material in the execution of the work provided for in the contract.
General Insurance Requirements
Other
Services (non-Construction) maintenance, performances, rental of equipment, etc
require a Certificate of Insurance (COI). The following limits and clauses are
required:
1. The statement "The City of New Haven is named as an additional insured." must
be typed in the "Description" column as a complete separate statement.
2. City of New Haven must be designated as Certificate Holder on the face of the
Certificate.
3. An endorsement stating the work description, contract name, contract number,
and location
4. An endorsement that the insurance company will give at least thirty (30) day
written notice to the City prior to any modification or cancellation of any such
insurance coverage;
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS: Minimum
Workers
Compensations: Evidence Required
General Aggregate (Other than Products/Completed Operations: $2 million
Products and Completed Operations: $2 million
Personal and Advertising injury: $1 million
Each Occurrence Limit: $1 million
Fire Damage legal Liability $300,000
Medical Payments, any one person: $ 10,000
Automobile $100,000 / 300,000
Professional Liability Insurance $1 million (when applicable)
For your company
The following Hold Harmless clause and premium payment clause
must be typed on your company stationery and signed by a company officer who is
authorized to sign on behalf of the company
"The Contractor agrees to hold harmless and indemnify the City of New Haven from
and against all claims, damages, losses or expenses, including attorney's fees,
for the negligence, gross negligence and/or willful acts of the Contractor or
any of its subcontractors arising out of the performance of its services under
this Agreement."
"The Contractor will be responsible for the payment of all insurance premiums
and/or charges."
Brand Name or Equals
Incorporate a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for the material, product, or service to be procured. Such description shall not contain features unduly restricting competition. The description may include a statement of the qualitative nature of the material, product, or service to be procured and when necessary, shall set forth those minimum essential characteristics and standards to which it must conform if it is to satisfy its intended use. Detailed product specifications should be avoided if at all possible. When it is impractical or uneconomical to make a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements, a "brand name or equal" description may be used.
Requisitioning Departments shall use a "brand name or equal" description only when it cannot provide an adequate specification or more detailed description, without performing an inspection and analysis, in time for the acquisition under consideration. Further, a department wishing to use "brand name or equal" must carefully identify its minimum needs and clearly set forth those salient physical and functional characteristics of the brand name product in the solicitation.
Conflicts of Interest
The City's Code of Ethics covers standards of conduct and conflict of interest issues. In addition, employees, officers, board members, or agents of the City of New Haven are prohibited from participating in the selection, award, or administration of contracts or sub-agreements supported by federal funds if a real or apparent conflict of interest exists. To that end, any of the above mentioned persons must submit a City of New Haven to the Human Resources Department on an annual basis.
The following language must be included in all RFPs for design and evaluation services covered under this section. This statement prohibits contractors from bidding on follow-up (add on) construction work resulting from the design.
"In order to prevent real or apparent conflicts of interest, the City prohibits contractors that have participated in funded design or evaluation services from bidding on any resulting construction work, services, or capital equipment purchases. All specifications prepared by design consultants must be written in such a manner that any reasonable, competent contractor could understand the requirement and perform the work"
Local Business Preference Ordinance:
This ordinance (section 2-483) was promulgated as part of the City's ongoing effort to support local business enterprises physically located in the City of New Haven.
Livable Wage
On April 24, 1997, the Board of Aldermen of the City of New Haven adopted an
Ordinance Establishing A Living Wage for Service Workers and for all Small
Business Initiative bids under $50,000.00. All qualifying contracts bid after
the effective date of the ordinance, with services/commodities to be provided
after 7/1/97, must meet the requirements of this ordinance. The Purchasing Agent
determines which Bids/RFPs require the livable wage. It will be indicated in the
invitation to bid or instructions to bidders. The current rate will also be
provided.
Provisions of the Living Wage Ordinance:
For all hours worked on a City property or site, employees or subcontractor's
employees must receive a wage consistent with the ordinance. In the event the
contract provides for an extension or renewal, the vendor/contractor will
continue to provide workers the living wage, as determined by the City
Controller for the time period concerned.
The vendor/contractor is required to adhere to all applicable federal, state and
local laws or regulations, which require or encourage employers to adopt and
implement affirmative action plans.
The vendor/contractor must adhere to all applicable federal, state and local
laws or regulations pertaining to the employment of persons with disabilities.
The vendor/contractor must give priority in hiring to employees of the service
contractor who previously had the contract that provided these
services/commodities and to any former City Employees who have been laid off,
and who would have had a rightful opportunity to perform this work had the City
decided to assign its own staff to this purpose.
The vendor/contractor will give every consideration to the hiring and training
of current or former welfare recipients for positions required to fulfill this
contract.
The vendor/contractor will advise workers whose gross hourly pay is less than
twelve dollars ($12) per hour of their possible right to the federal Earned
Income Credit ("E.I.C.") under Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,
26 U.S.C. Section 32, and shall make available to such service workers forms
informing them about the E. I. C. payments from the vendor/contractor.
The vendor/contractor will utilize community based hiring halls as follows: (1)
Upon receipt of a contract award, and as vacancies may occur subsequently on
work related to this contract, the vendor/contractor shall promptly post all
vacant work positions with the community-based hiring halls; (2) Beginning July
1, 1998, the vendor/contractor shall give first consideration for vacant
positions to persons referred by the community based hiring halls.
The vendor/contractor must post copies of documents, provided by the City
Controller, stating the living wage applicable to workers. This posting shall
include a form, which may be used by workers to file a complaint with the City
Controller for non-compliance with the provisions of this article. Postings
shall be made at the work site in a prominent place, where all documents posted
pursuant to this article may be easily seen and read by all workers. A copy of
each of any of the posted documents shall be given by the vendor contractor to
any worker upon request of the worker, no later than (I) the last hour of the
service worker's next shift or (ii) the last hour of the next business day.
The vendor/contractor must routinely submit wage reports to the City, and he/she
will be monitored periodically for compliance with the living wage ordinance.
Restitution to the worker must be made for any wages paid for qualifying hours
that are less than stipulated in the living wage ordinance.
The vendor/contractor will be subject to penalty for lack of compliance with the
provisions of the living wage ordinance. Such penalties include fines,
termination of contract, and removal from eligible bidders list.
An hourly wage may not be reduced to achieve the stipulated livable wage;
Restitution to the employee of wages owed under the ordinance, should review of
contractor records reveal non-compliance with the Living Wage Ordinance or
should a finding be made in favor of a complaining employee; and
Fines and penalties in the event an employer remains non-compliant.
State of Connecticut Prevailing Wage Rates
The City of New Haven is required under State statute to require prevailing wage
rates for any construction project with a value in excess of $50,000.00. On
bids/rfps that require state wage rates the Bureau of Purchases will indicate in
the Invitation to bid that the State wage rates apply and will provide the
rates.
Federal Prevailing Wage Rates
The City of New Haven is required under Federal law to require Federal wage
rates on federally funded projects. On bids/rfps that require Federal wage rates
the Bureau of Purchases will indicate in the Invitation to bid that the Federal
wage rates apply and will provide the rates.
Image: Church, New Haven Green
