Chapter 3.28
INFORMAL BIDDING
Sections:
3.28.040 Informal bidding threshold.
3.28.060 Notice inviting informal bids.
3.28.070 Mailing of notices inviting informal bids and project description.
3.28.080 Rejection of bids/no bids.
3.28.090 Bids received in excess of informal bidding threshold.
3.28.010 Application.
Contracts for work in the amounts specified in Section 22032 shall be governed by the Act and this chapter. (Ord. 19-04 § 1, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 1, 2014; Ord. 05-17 § 1, 2005; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.020 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the terms below are defined as follows:
A. “Act” means the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act, Division 2, Part 3, Chapter 2 of the Public Contract Code, Section 22000 et seq.
B. “Facility” means any plant, building, structure, ground facility, utility system, real property, streets and highways, or other public work improvement.
C. “Maintenance work” includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
1. Routine, recurring, and usual work for the preservation or protection of any publicly owned or publicly operated facility for its intended purposes.
2. Minor repainting.
3. Resurfacing of streets and highways at less than one inch.
4. Landscape maintenance, including mowing, watering, trimming, pruning, planting, replacement of plants, and servicing of irrigation and sprinkler systems.
5. Work performed to keep, operate, and maintain publicly owned water, power, or waste disposal systems, including, but not limited to, dams, reservoirs, power plants, and electrical transmission lines of 230,000 volts and higher.
D. “Public project” means any of the following:
1. Construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, renovation, improvement, demolition, and repair work involving any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility.
2. Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility.
3. In the case of a publicly owned utility system, “public project” shall include only the construction, erection, improvement, or repair of dams, reservoirs, power plants, and electrical transmission lines of 230,000 volts or higher.
4. Work that is not maintenance work.
E. “Section” shall refer to the most current version of the California Public Contract Code as may be amended from time to time.
F. “Work” means either a public project or maintenance work as defined above. (Ord. 19-04 § 2, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 2, 2014; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.030 Force account.
Work with a cost less than the amount specified in Section 22032(a) may be performed by city employees by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order. (Ord. 19-04 § 3, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 3, 2014; Ord. 05-17 § 2, 2005; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.040 Informal bidding threshold.
Any work with a cost that does not exceed the amount specified in Section 22032(b) may be let to contract by informal procedures set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 19-04 § 4, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 3, 2014; Ord. 05-17 § 3, 2005; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.050 Contractor’s list.
A list of qualified contractors for work subject to this chapter, identified according to categories of work, shall be annually developed and maintained pursuant to the requirements set forth in Section 22034 by the city of Hughson public works department in accordance with the minimum criteria determined from time to time by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission (“Commission”). (Ord. 19-04 § 5, 2019; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.060 Notice inviting informal bids.
Where work subject to the provisions of this chapter is to be performed and the work does not meet the criteria set forth in HMC 3.28.030, or informal bidding is desired, a notice inviting informal bids shall be mailed, faxed, or emailed by the city to all contractors for the category of work to be bid, as shown on the contractor’s list, and to all appropriate construction trade journals as specified by the Commission. Additional contractors and/or construction trade journals may be notified at the city’s discretion. If there is no contractor’s list for the particular category of work to be performed, the notice inviting bids shall be sent only to the construction trade journals specified by the Commission. If the product or service required to be performed is, in the discretion of the city’s director of public works, determined to be proprietary in nature such that it can be obtained only from a certain contractor or contractors, the notice inviting informal bids may be sent exclusively to such contractor or contractors. (Ord. 19-04 § 6, 2019; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.070 Mailing of notices inviting informal bids and project description.
The mailing of notices to contractors and/or construction trade journals pursuant to HMC 3.28.060 shall be completed not less than 10 calendar days before bids are due. The notice inviting bids shall: (A) describe the work in general terms; (B) explain how more detailed information about the proposed work may be obtained; and (C) state the time, date, and location for the submission of bids. (Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.080 Rejection of bids/no bids.
A. The city’s director of public works may, in his or her sole discretion, reject any bids presented. If, after the first invitation of bids, all bids received are rejected, after re-evaluating its cost estimates of the project, the city shall have the option of either of the following:
1. The city’s director of public works may abandon the project or re-advertise for bids in the manner described in this chapter; or
2. The city council may, by passage of a resolution by a four-fifths majority, declare that the project can be performed more economically by its employees; the city may have the project done by force account (i.e., by using internal resources including but not limited to labor, equipment, materials, supplies, and subcontracts of the city), without further compliance with this chapter.
B. If no bids are received, the project may be performed by force account without a city council resolution or by negotiated contract. (Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.090 Bids received in excess of informal bidding threshold.
If all bids received are in excess of the amount specified in Section 22032(b), the city council may, by passage of a resolution by a four-fifths vote, award the contract up to the amount specified in Section 22034(d), or less, to the lowest responsible bidder, if the city council determines that the cost estimate was reasonable. (Ord. 19-04 § 7, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 4, 2014; Ord. 05-17 § 4, 2005; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)
3.28.100 Award of contracts.
Except as specified under HMC 3.28.090, dealing with bids in excess of the amount specified in Section 22032(b), the city’s director responsible for public works is authorized to award or enter into contracts pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. If informal bidding has been solicited, the city’s director responsible for public works shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. If two or more bids are the same and the lowest, the city’s director responsible for public works may accept the one he or she chooses. (Ord. 19-04 § 8, 2019; Ord. 14-02 § 5, 2014; Ord. 05-17 § 5, 2005; Ord. 04-10 § 1, 2004)