| SMALL PURCHASE PROCEDURES |
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| If it has
been decided that the MHACY will directly purchase the required items or
contract for services or repairs, one of the following procurement methods
shall be chosen, based on the nature and anticipated contract value of the
total requirement. |
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| A. | General. Small purchase procedures are broadly defined and solicited as follows: |
| | a. | Contracts for up to a maximum amount of
$10,000.00 for services may be procured using small purchase procedures as
defined herein. A detailed MHACY
estimate shall be computed with a scope of work or purchase needed and a
selection process defined. Advertisement
in a general newspaper is recommended when time allows and if deemed applicable
for the purchases being procured. Offers
in response to a formal MHACY solicitation must be in writing. |
| | b. | Contract requirements shall not be
artificially divided, so as to constitute a small purchase under this section
(except as may reasonably be necessary to comply with Section 4 of this
Statement). |
| | c. | All other small purchase procurements
shall conform to following rules: |
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| B. | Petty
Cash Purchases. Small purchases under $250.00 that can be satisfied by local sources may be
processed through the use of a petty cash system. Examples include postage,
incidental supplies, freight and express, repair services and emergency office
supplies. The Contracting Officer shall ensure that the account is established
in an amount sufficient to cover small purchases made during a reasonable
period (e.g., one month); security is maintained, and only authorized
individuals have access to the account; the account is periodically reconciled
and replenished by submission of a voucher to the Petty Cash Custodian; and the
account is periodically audited by the finance officer or designee to validate
proper use and to verify that the account totals equals cash on hand plus the
total accumulated vouchers. |
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| C. | Check
Request Memo. Check Request Memo is used to process payment for certain expenditures that do
not require competitive bids. Where applicable, the Check Request Memo will be
prepared, approved and processed before the purchase is made. Some examples of
where a Check Request Memo can be used are: |
| | - Travel and conferences, registration
fees, travel expenses, mileage and travel advances.
|
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| D. | Small
Purchases of $1,000.00 or less. For a small purchase
below $1,000.00 a minimum of three quotations need be solicited if the price
received is considered reasonable. Such purchases must be distributed equitably
among qualified sources. If practicable, a quotation shall be solicited from
other than the previous source before placing a repeat order. |
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| E. | Small
purchases over $1,000.00. For small purchases in excess of
$1,000.00 (but not exceeding $10,000.00) no less than three offerors
shall be solicited to submit price quotations, which may be obtained orally, by
telephone, or in writing, as allowed by State or local laws. Award shall be
made to the offeror providing the lowest acceptable
quotation, unless justified in writing based on price and other specified
factors, such as for architect-engineer contracts. If non-price factors are used, they shall be
disclosed to all those solicited. The names, addresses, and/or telephone
numbers of the offerors and persons contacted, and
the date and amount of each quotation shall be recorded and maintained as a
public record (unless otherwise provided in State and local law). |
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| F. | Purchase
Requisitions. Purchase Requisitions are required for all purchases. The Executive
Director/Chief Executive Officer and/or his/her designee will final approve the
requisition for Purchase Order generation. The Purchase Order will then be
either faxed or mailed to the vendor. The Chief Executive Officer can authorize other staff positions approval
MHACY within the parameters of those above and can require measures in addition
to the above. A purchase requisition is utilized to obtain all relevant
information prior to the generation of a purchase order. |
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| G. | Purchase
Orders. Purchase
Orders are to be used for all requisitioned items.The Chief Executive Officer or his/her
designee is authorized to execute all Purchase Orders. |
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| H. | Emergency
Purchases. Purchase
Orders are to be used for all requisitioned items. True
emergencies are considered to be life, health, and/ or safety issues. Requests
for non-emergency purchases will be denied. In the case of an emergency
affecting the safety of residents or the protection of MHACY property, a
department head is authorized to authorize the work/purchase necessary. The
department head must notify the Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee on
the next business day to include the specifics of the purchase authorized. A
purchase requisition should be submitted afterwards for the goods/service. |
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| I. | Unauthorized
Obligations. Under
no circumstances, except as stated above, are funds to be obligated by the
MHACY and members of its staff unless authorized through the proper procurement
process as outlined in this Policy or the MHACY Procurement Procedures. The
Chief Executive Officer will take positive action to preclude, to the maximum
extent possible, the need for procurement actions to be ratified by the
Commission after the MHACY staff has expended funds. |
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| SEALED BIDDING (FORMAL ADVERTISING) |
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| A. | Conditions
for Use. Bids are
publicly solicited and a firm-fixed price contract (lump sum or unit price) is
awarded to the responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to all the material
terms and conditions of the invitation for bids, is the lowest in price. Contracts shall be awarded based on
competitive sealed bidding if the following conditions are present: a complete,
adequate and realistic specification or purchase description is available; two
or more responsible bidders are willing and able to compete effectively for the
work; the procurement lends itself to a firm fixed price contract; and the
selection of the successful bidder can be made principally on the basis of
price. Sealed bidding is the preferred method for construction procurement. For
modernization projects, sealed bidding shall be used for all construction and
equipment contracts exceeding the small purchase limitation. For professional
services contracts, sealed bidding should not be used. |
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| B. | Solicitation
and Receipt of Bids. An invitation for bids shall be issued including specifications and all
contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement; including a
statement that award will be made to the lowest responsible and responsive
bidder whose bid meets the requirements of the invitation for bids. The invitation for bids shall state the time
and place for both the receipt of bids and the public bid opening. All bids
received shall be time-stamped but not opened and shall be stored in a secure
place until bid opening. A bidder may
withdraw its bid at any time prior to bid opening. Unopened bids shall be
brought to the public bid opening in a locked bid box and opened publicly at
the stated bid open date and time. |
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| C. | Bid
Opening and Award. Bids shall be opened publicly and in the presence of one witness. An abstract
of bids shall be recorded, and the bids shall be available for public
inspection. If equal low bids are
received from responsible bidders, award shall be made by drawing lots or
similar random method, unless otherwise provided in State or local law and
stated in the invitation for bids. If only one responsive bid is received from
a responsible bidder, award shall not be made unless a cost or price analysis
verifies the reasonableness of the price. |
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| COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS |
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| A. | Conditions
for Use. Competitive proposals (including turnkey
proposals for development) may be used if there is an adequate method of
evaluating technical proposals and where the MHACY determines that conditions
are not appropriate for the use of sealed bids. An adequate number of qualified
sources shall be solicited. |
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| B. | Solicitation. The request for proposals (RFP)
shall clearly identify the relative importance of price and other evaluation
factors and sub factors. A mechanism for fairly and thoroughly evaluating the
technical and price proposals shall be established before the solicitation is
issued. Proposals shall be handled so as
to prevent disclosure of the number of,
identity of the offerors, and the contents of their
proposals. The proposals shall be
evaluated only on the criteria stated in the request for proposals. |
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| C. | Negotiations. Unless there is no need for
negotiations with any of the offerors, negotiations
shall be conducted with offerors who submit proposals
determined to have a reasonable chance of being selected for award, based on
evaluation against the technical and price factors as specified in the
RFP.Such offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for
negotiation and revision of proposals. The purpose of negotiations shall be to seek clarification with regard
to, and to advise offerors of, the deficiencies in
both the technical and price aspects of their proposals so as to assure full
understanding of and conformance to the solicitation requirements. No offeror shall be
provided information about any other offeror's
proposal, and no offeror shall be assisted in
bringing its proposal up to the level of any other proposal. Offerors shall not
be directed to reduce their proposed prices to a specific amount in order to be
considered for award. A common deadline
shall be established for receipt of proposal revisions based on negotiations. |
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| D. | Award. After evaluation of proposal
revisions, if any, the contract shall be awarded to the responsible firm whose
qualifications, price and other factors considered are the most advantageous to
the MHACY. |
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| E. | Architect/Engineer
or Other Professional Services. Architectural/engineering or other professional services in
the excess of the small purchase limitation (or less if required by State or
local law) may be obtained by either the competitive proposals method or
qualifications based selection procedures, unless State law mandates a specific
method. Sealed bidding, however, shall not be used to obtain
architectural/engineering or other professional services. Under qualifications-based selection
procedures, competitors' qualifications are evaluated and the most qualified
competitor is selected, subject to the negotiation of fair and reasonable
compensation. Price is not used as a selection factor under this method. Qualifications-based selection procedures
shall not be used to purchase professional services even though architectural-engineering
firms are potential sources. |
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| F. | Legal
Services. The MHACY can obtain the use of legal
services through procurement contracts. Such procurement is subject to the
requirements set forth in 24 CFR Part 85, "Uniform Administrative Requirements
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments," in
particular, 24 CFR § 85.36. In
accordance with 24 CFR § 85.22, the costs of legal services incurred under HUD
grants (including those obtained under contract) must be reasonable and
necessary. Section 85.22(b) incorporates the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Circular A-87, which contains a set of cost principles that MHACY must
use for determining the allowability of costs they
incur under Federal grants and provide guidance in their use. Contracts for litigation services are also to
meet the requirements of the HUD Litigation Handbook 1530.1 REV-4 dated May 8,
1981 (the "Litigation Handbook"), as amended (CHG 1, February 17,
1994; CHG 2, February 5, 1996). |
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| | Legal
services can be procured on an hourly basis using a type of contract known as
time-and-materials (or sometimes, "labor-hour") contracts. Under
these contracts, the contractor's services are pre-priced (usually, in terms of
hours) in the contract, and the MHACY orders services in unit amounts (e.g.,
hours) as needed until the funds in the contract are exhausted; may use this
type of contract only after the MHACY determines that no other contract is
suitable; and, if the contract includes a ceiling price that the contractor
exceeds at its own risk. |
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| NONCOMPETITIVE PROPOSALS |
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| A. | Conditions
for Use. Procurements shall be conducted competitively
to the maximum extent possible. Procurement by noncompetitive proposals may be used only when the award
of a contract is not feasible using small purchase procedures, sealed bids, or
competitive proposals, and one of the following applies: |
| | a. | The
item is available only from a single source, based on a good faith review of
available sources; |
| | b. | An emergency exists that
seriously threatens the public health, welfare, or safety; endangers property;
or would otherwise cause serious injury to the MHACY, as may arise by reason of
a flood, earthquake, epidemic, riot, equipment failure, or similar event. In such cases, there must be an immediate and
serious need for supplies, services, or construction such that the need cannot
be met through any other procurement methods and the emergency procurement
shall be limited to those supplies, services, or construction necessary to meet
the emergency; |
| | c. | HUD authorizes the use of
noncompetitive proposals; |
| | d. | After
solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate or
unable to accomplish; or |
| | e. | The
work required cannot be adequately determined before the fact and therefore it
is not feasible to secure prices without the knowledge of the scope of the work
or the problem. |
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| B. | Justification. Each procurement based on noncompetitive proposal shall be
supported by a written justification for using such procedures that shall be
maintained in the contract file. The
justification shall be approved in writing by the Contracting Officer. |
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| C. | Price
Reasonableness. The reasonableness
of the price for all procurements based on noncompetitive proposals shall be
determined by performing a cost analysis, as described in Section 2.4 (Cost and
Price Analysis). The MHACY will perform
a cost or price analysis in connection with every procurement action including
contract modifications. The method and
degree of analysis is dependent on the facts surrounding the particular
procurement situation, but as starting point, the MHACY will make independent
estimates before receiving bids or proposals.
A cost analysis will be performed when the offeror
is required to submit the elements of his estimated cost, e.g., under
professional, contracts. A cost analysis
will be necessary when adequate price competition is lacking. |
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| | The MHACY will negotiate
profit as a separate element of the price for each contract in which there is
no price competition and in all cases where cost analysis is performed. Consideration will be given to the complexity
of the work to be performed, the risk borne by the contractor, the contractor’s
investment, the amount of subcontracting, the quality of its record of past
performance, and industry profit rates in the surrounding geographical area for
similar work. |
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| D. | Proposal
Evaluation. The approach to
evaluation of the proposals will depend upon the complexity of the procurement.
It may be relatively simple covering two or three factors or it may be as
complex as the approach herein discussed. The operative principle is that the
evaluation should be impartial, consistent, and fair. This objectivity must be
readily apparent upon review. The evaluation plan is an essential tool to
assure that proposals are evaluated in a uniform and objective manner. The
amount of detail in the plan will depend on the complexity of the procurement. A written plan for evaluating technical and
cost proposals should be established and an evaluation review process
established before the RFP is issued. Failure to take this action until after
the solicitation is issued may give the appearance of favoritism toward one or
more contractors. A specific evaluation plan should be developed for each procurement.
Normally, exclusively the Contracting Officer will handle the cost or
price evaluation. The technical evaluation requires a detailed evaluation plan
to be successful. This plan shall include a rating sheet for each offeror, which lists each of evaluation criteria and the
weight assigned. The rating description shall be clearly stated (for example, a
rating of “Excellent” or 20 points out of 20 available for a particular
evaluation factor means, “Good” or 15 of 20 points means… etc.). The rating sheets should require the
technical evaluator to assign both numerical (or similar) ratings and narrative
justifications to support the ratings given. |
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| E. | Evaluation
Panel. Normally, a committee should be appointed to
evaluate technical proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated
in the RFP. This committee (with a chairperson indicated) should be officially
appointed in writing by the office funding the requirement. The designated
chairperson shall be responsible for the deliberations of the committee.
Usually, a three-person committee (or one having an odd number designated as
voting members) will be sufficient.
Non-voting members, advisors, and a recording secretary may also be
designated in the appointment letter. A single person from the program office
could serve in place of a committee but ordinarily should do so only in
relatively small procurements. |
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| | The
technical evaluation panel or committee performs the following functions: review all technical proposals (using the
RFP's evaluation criteria as standards); meet to discuss the evaluations and
reach a consensus on the rating of each offeror;
prepare a formal written report to the Contracting Officer; participate in
negotiations, if requested by the Contracting Officer; evaluate best and final
offers, if required, and provide an amended evaluation report based on such
evaluation. In general, there should be at least three members on the technical
evaluation panel, if such resources are available. |
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| | It may be
advantageous to conceal the identity of offers submitted to the technical
evaluation panel, to ensure objectivity.
This can be done by instructing offerors not
to include identifying information in their offer (other than by a cover
letter) or by covering or deleting the names of the offeror
when submitting proposals for technical evaluation. In such cases, the
Contracting Officer identifies the offerors by number
on a master list, which is not disclosed to others. Even if this method of assuring anonymity is
not used, the technical evaluators shall not disclose any information in any of
the proposals, including the names and number of the offerors,
to anyone without the Contracting Officer's permission. In the competitive
proposals method of procurement, offerors submit
proposals in confidence and expect their proposals to be protected from
disclosure to other offerors or individuals. |
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| | The
evaluation shall be based on the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP. Factors not specified in the RFP shall not be
considered. Initially, proposals should
be compared on an individual basis, separately, against the requirements stated
in the RFP, not analyzed in comparison with each other. During the initial
evaluation, the Authority should only evaluate the content of the proposals;
personal knowledge that is not based on the contractor's written submission
should not be part of the initial technical evaluation of the written proposals. The written evaluations may be open for
inspection after award is made, depending on State law, and will almost
certainly be made available in the case of litigation, so evaluators should be
especially careful to make the evaluations as thorough, objective, and
well-documented as possible. |
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| | Another
important part of the proposal evaluation process is the review of proposals
for any exceptions taken to the solicitation. Occasionally, offerors
may include conditions regarding state law ("choice of law" clauses
that attempt to impose the law of the offeror's state
rather than that of the HA); "hold harmless" clauses to avoid certain
liabilities; and attorney's fees (to attempt to make the MHACY pay the
contractor's legal costs if the MHACY sues the contractor). Offerors
may also try to take exception to certain clauses, in whole or in part, such as
the termination for convenience clause. The Contracting Officer should plan to
negotiate the removal of such objectional
conditions. The evaluation of each technical
proposal shall be documented in an evaluation report. This report shall rank
the offerors by technical merit, using point scores
or similar methodology. In addition, a
narrative must accompany the scores to explain how the scores were arrived at. |
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| Policy for Assistance to Small
Businesses and Other Businesses |
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| A. | Consistent
with Presidential Executive Orders 11625, 12138, and 12432, and Section 3 of
the HUD Act of 1968, the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers,
New York (hereinafter referred to as the Authority or MHACY) shall make efforts
to ensure that small and minority-owned businesses, women's business
enterprises, and individuals or firms located in or owned in substantial part
by persons residing in the area of a MHACY project are used when possible. Such efforts shall include, but shall not be
limited to: |
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| | a. | Including such firms, when qualified,
on solicitation mailing lists; |
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| | b. | Encouraging
their participation through direct solicitation of bids or proposals whenever
they are potential sources; |
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| | c. | Dividing total requirements, when
economically feasible, into smaller tasks or quantities to permit maximum
participation by such firms; |
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| | d. | Establishing delivery schedules, where
the requirement permits, which encourage participation by such firms; |
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| | e. | Using the services and assistance of the
Small Business Administration, and the Minority Business Development Agency of
the Department of Commerce; |
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| | f. | Including in contracts a clause
requiring contractors, to the greatest extent feasible, to provide
opportunities for training and employment for lower income residents of the
project area (Section 3 residents) including participants in HUD Youthbuild Programs in the order of preference set forth in
24 CFR 135.34 and to award subcontracts for work in connection with the project
to business concerns which are located in, or owned in substantial part by,
persons residing in the area of the project (Section 3 businesses), as
described in 24 CFR 135; |
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| | g. | Requiring prime contractors, when
subcontracting is anticipated, to take the positive steps listed in A.1.a. through A.1.f. above |
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| B. | MHACY’s prime contract goals may be established by MHACY
periodically for participation by small businesses, Section 3 businesses,
minority-owned businesses, women's business enterprises, and Hubzone businesses.
Particular efforts shall be made by MHACY to make contracting
opportunities known by and available to Section 3 residents and business
concerns by, for example, advertising in newspapers in the minority community. |
