Supplier Training - Procurement Policy & Protocol

Supplier Training - Procurement Policy & Protocol covering topics like SRM,
Procurement Policy,
Contracts Management,
Dispute Resolution,
Bidding Process,
Bid Submission,
Ethical Bidding,
Open Tendering,
Conflict of Interest,
Supplier Suspension and
Supplier Evaluation.

1. Supplier Training Procurement Policy & Protocols

2. Why did the City develop a new Procurement Policy?

3. Overview of Procurement Policy

4. Procurement Principles

5. Sustainable Procurement

6. Local Preference Local Business means a business that has a valid City or inter-municipal business licence and has a physical address located in the City from which its business is conducted.

7. Supplier Conduct The City requires its Suppliers to act with integrity and conduct business in an ethical manner. The City may refuse to do business with any Supplier that has engaged in illegal or unethical business practices or fails to disclose an actual or potential Conflict of Interest or an unfair advantage . Illegal or Unethical Bidding Practices

8. Conflict of Interest

9. Procurement Value Procurement Method Up to $10,000 Low Value Procurement (direct purchase) Greater than $10,000 up to $50,000 Invitational Competition (3 quotes) Greater than $50,000 Open Competition (RFQ/RFT/RFP/NRFP) Existing Supply Arrangement Procurement Method Existing Standing Offer or Cooperative Purchasing Arrangement Order Process Existing Qualified Supplier Roster Roster Competition Special Circumstances Procurement Method Single Source / Sole Source Non-Competitive Procurement

10. Notification of Procurement Opportunities Notification of competitive procurement opportunities exceeding $50,000 will be made by open, electronic tendering means. Notification of competitive procurement opportunities by means of open, electronic tendering may be complemented by other means where appropriate, e.g., newspaper advertising. If means other than electronic tendering is used for notification of procurement opportunities, consideration shall be given to ensuring wide dissemination and equal opportunity for suppliers. Source lists may be maintained by the City’s Procurement Office for specific deliverables, in which case public notification will not be used to notify the supplier community of the opportunity.

11. Enquiries, Debriefings, and Bid Disputes Prior to the deadline of the enquiries as outlined in the solicitation document, all bidders have an opportunity to ask questions, seek clarification, and address any discrepancies, errors, concerns and/or omissions in the solicitation document . After the award of the contract, bid challenges pertaining to matters that could have been addressed through that enquiry process will not be considered by the City. Suppliers who have submitted an unsuccessful bid in a procurement process will be offered the opportunity for a debriefing. The goal of the debriefing is to assist suppliers in improving their bids for future projects. Areas for improvement will be discussed on a comparative basis only, without divulging the point values of other suppliers or any proprietary information. Debriefings may be either verbal or written. In the instance of a bid dispute which has not been resolved through a supplier debrief, the City shall put into place a bid challenge panel to review the bid dispute and make a determination in accordance with the Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol.

12. Contracts A contract may be entered into through the execution of a formal agreement or through the issuance of a purchase order. A purchase order is to be used when the resulting contract is straight forward and will contain the City’s standard terms and conditions. A formal agreement is to be used when the resulting contract is complex and will contain terms and conditions other than the City’s standard terms and conditions. Where a formal agreement is used, the City will also issue a purchase order incorporating the formal agreement. No amendment or revision to a contract shall be made unless the amendment is in the best interests of the City and no amendment that changes the price of a contract shall be agreed to without a corresponding written change in requirement or scope of work.

13. Contracts The City may exercise an option to renew a contract if the supplier’s performance has met or exceeded the requirements of the contract and the renewal is in the best interests of the City. The City may also choose to extend a contract that does not have an option to renew for up to two years if the supplier’s performance has met or exceeded the requirements of the contract and the extension is in the best interests of the City. The maximum duration of a contract will be 5 years including the option years. Inflationary increases for contract renewal will be limited to the annual Consumer Price Index, unless the supplier can demonstrate that the supplier’s costs have increased significantly from the original contract price and the supplier’s cost increases can be independently verified by the City.

14. Guarantees of Contract Execution and Performance A solicitation document may require that a bid be accompanied by a bid bond or other similar security to guarantee entry into the contract. The successful supplier may be required to provide a performance bond to guarantee the faithful performance of the Contract and/or a payment bond to guarantee the payment for labor and materials to be supplied in connection with the Contract. Ordinarily, the City will require a performance and payment bonds for construction contracts valued at $ 500,000 or higher. The City may select the appropriate methods to guarantee execution and performance of the contract. Methods may include bonds or other forms of security deposits, provisions for liquidated damages, progress payments, and holdbacks.

15. Supplier Performance Tracking The City may monitor and document the performance of suppliers providing Deliverables with a value greater than $50,000 in accordance with the Supplier Performance Evaluation Protocol. In the event of poor Supplier performance, the City will develop a Supplier performance corrective action plan, with the participation of the Supplier, to bring performance back to an acceptable level. If acceptable performance is not restored, the City may terminate a Contract and prohibit the unsatisfactory supplier from bidding on future Contracts.

16. Supplier Suspension The City may exclude a supplier from participating in a procurement process or reject a supplier’s bid, if: T he supplier has failed to demonstrate that it has met the requirements of a performance corrective action plan intended to bring performance back to an acceptable level or other supplier management plan initiated by the City; The supplier has failed to declare a potential conflict of interest when responding to a solicitation document; and/or The supplier, or any of its officers or directors has been engaged in, or is currently engaged in, directly or indirectly, a lawsuit against the City, its employees or elected officials or appointed officers in relation to any other procurement process, any other contract for deliverables; and/or any matter arising from the City's exercise of its powers, duties, or functions. A supplier subject to such an exclusion may apply to City Council for a review of the exclusion .

17. Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol Purpose and Interpretation Scope of the Procurement Protest Process Application Procurement Protest Process

18. Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol The bid dispute resolution process is meant to provide an opportunity for suppliers to voice complaints and to assist the City in identifying any gaps or shortcomings in its procurement policies and practices. The process is intended to help resolve issues that involve no significant factual or interpretive disagreement between the parties. It is not intended to resolve fundamental disputes over facts or legal rights and obligations, or to establish a mechanism to adjudicate such disputes. Where the supplier is a bidder that is challenging a competitive process, the supplier must request and attend a debriefing prior to engaging in the bid dispute resolution process. The bid dispute resolution process will not be used to challenge a procurement process in respect of which the supplier has commenced legal proceedings against the City.

19. Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol A supplier that wishes to challenge a procurement process must do so by submitting a request for review in writing within ten (10) days from the debriefing. Requests for review will not be addressed until after the City has publicly posted or otherwise provided formal notification of the outcome of the procurement process. A request for review of a procurement process must be directed to the City’s Procurement Office and must contain the following: a clear statement as to which procurement the supplier wishes to challenge; a clear explanation of the supplier’s concerns with the procurement, including specifics as to why it disagrees with the procurement process or its outcome; and the supplier’s contact details, including name, telephone number and email address.

20. Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol Within five (5) business days from receiving the supplier’s request for review, the Procurement Office will send an initial response to acknowledge receipt and indicate the date by which the City will provide the supplier with a formal response. In general, the City will endeavor to make a determination and provide a formal response within twenty (20) business days from receipt of the supplier’s request for review. The Procurement Office will submit the supplier’s request for review and related background information and documents to the City’s Bid Challenge Panel that will be established in accordance with the City’s Procurement Policy. The Bid Challenge Panel will convene a meeting to review and consider the supplier’s request for review and all related background information and documents.

21. Bid Dispute Resolution Protocol Upon completion of its review, the Panel will make a determination and issue a response to the supplier . If the Panel finds that the supplier’s rationale for requesting a review of the procurement process does not have merit, then it will issue a response to the supplier indicating that the Panel has reviewed its concerns and providing reasons for its determination. If the Panel finds that the supplier’s concerns in respect of the procurement process have merit, then it will further determine the appropriate resolution to the matter. Upon making its determination, the Panel will issue a response to the supplier indicating its proposed resolution to the matter, if any, and indicating any changes that will be made to the City’s policies and practices to help prevent similar issues arising in future procurement processes.

22. Supplier Performance Evaluation Protocol Purpose and Interpretation Performance Evaluation Incident Reports Performance Corrective Action Plan Interim Performance Evaluation Report Final Performance Evaluation Report Decision to Suspend Retention of Evaluation Reports Disclosure of Results to Others Consideration of Performance in Evaluation of Bids

23. Supplier Performance Evaluation Protocol Supplier performance is critical to the success of procurement projects. Poor workmanship, unnecessary contract delays and unsafe work practices will not be tolerated. At the outset of the contract, the Contract Administrator will provide the supplier with copies of the Interim and Final Performance Evaluation Reports that will be used to rate the supplier’s performance. Interim Evaluations: In the case of multi-year contracts, the City’s Contract Administrator will evaluate the supplier’s performance on an annual basis. Performance will also be evaluated prior to the renewal or extension of the contract. Final Evaluation: The City’s Contract Administrator will evaluate the supplier’s performance upon completion, expiration or termination of the contract.

24. Supplier Performance Evaluation Protocol Incident Reports: Specific incidents of poor performance, in particular any incidents related to the health and safety matters, should be recorded at the time of occurrence or discovery. Performance Corrective Action Plan: When performance issues are identified in an Interim Performance Evaluation Report and/or an Incident Report, the Contract Administrator will develop a Performance Corrective Action Plan setting out the corrective action(s) that the supplier must take to bring its performance back to an acceptable level within a specified time period.

25. Supplier Performance Evaluation Protocol If the supplier receives a “Below Standard” rating on any of the rated criteria in the Interim Performance Evaluation Report, the Contract Administrator will meet with the supplier to discuss the performance issues and prepare a Performance Corrective Action Plan. If the supplier receives a “Below Standard” rating on any of the rated criteria in the Final Performance Evaluation Report, the Contract Administrator will meet with the supplier to discuss the performance issues and will consider any comments or explanations provided by the supplier in the finalization of the Final Performance Evaluation Report. Based on the final rating of the criteria in the Final Performance Evaluation Report, the Contract Administrator will make a recommendation to either: allow the supplier to continue participating in future procurement processes; or suspend the supplier from participating in future procurement processes in accordance with the Supplier Suspension Protocol.

26. Supplier Suspension Protocol Purpose and Interpretation Application Reasons for Suspension Process for Suspension Appeal Suspension Decision Application for Reinstatement Appeal Reinstatement Decision Suspended Suppliers List

27. Supplier Suspension Protocol In order to ensure that the City is receiving quality deliverables and value for public money and is dealing with suppliers that conduct business in a professional and ethical manner, the City may suspend suppliers from participating in its procurement processes for prescribed time periods. Suppliers are responsible for any employees, representatives, agents or subcontractors that are acting on their behalf and all references to the actions or conduct of the supplier under this protocol include the actions of any individual or entity acting on behalf of the supplier. In most cases, the length of the suspension period will not exceed a maximum of five (5) years. In the most serious of cases involving convictions criminal or quasi-criminal offences, a suspension period of up to ten (10) years may be considered. The scope of the suspension can be either a blanket suspension for all procurement processes or a suspension limited to procurement processes for specific deliverables. The suspension can apply to both corporate entities as well as individuals.

28. Supplier Suspension Protocol Crimes or Offences If a supplier is convicted of serious crimes or other serious offences, including bid-rigging, price-fixing or collusion, fraud or other statutory offenses, the City will suspend that supplier from participating in future procurement processes. False Declarations If a supplier includes false or misleading information in its bids or fails to fails to disclose a conflict of interest, the City may suspend that supplier from participating in future procurement processes. Professional Misconduct or Lack of Commercial Integrity The City may suspend a supplier for professional misconduct or acts or omissions that adversely reflect on the commercial integrity of the supplier. Litigation The City may suspend a supplier if the Supplier, or any of its officers or directors has been engaged in, or is currently engaged in, directly or indirectly, a lawsuit against the City, its employees or elected officials or appointed officers

29. Supplier Suspension Protocol The Procurement Supervisor will notify the supplier of the decision to recommend suspension and the reasons for the suspension. The supplier will have an opportunity to respond to the recommendation for suspension by sending written submissions to the Procurement Supervisor within 10 business days of the date of the notice. All decisions to suspend a supplier must be approved by the City’s Suspension Review Committee (“SRC”). The SRC will be established by the City Manager and will include the City Manager and two other officers or employees of the City. In making its decision, the SRC will consider the Suspension Recommendation Report and any response submitted by the supplier.

30. Supplier Suspension Protocol The supplier will be notified, in writing, of the suspension decision made by the SRC. A supplier subject to suspension may apply to City Council for a review of the suspension decision. A suspended supplier may apply for reinstatement upon the completion of half of the original suspension period. For example, if the original suspension period was two years, the supplier may apply for reinstatement after one year. In order to apply for reinstatement, the supplier must submit a written case for reinstatement, including supporting documentation if necessary, that provides reasons why the original reason for the suspension would no longer prove a risk for the City. A supplier that is denied reinstatement may apply to City Council for a review of the reinstatement decision.