REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 20, 2019
FROM
TERRY W. THOMPSON, Director
Real Estate Services Department - Facilities Management Division
SUBJECT
Title
Terminate Request for Bid No. FMD119-FM-3381 and Reject All Bids
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Terminate Request for Bid No. FMD119-FM-3381 and reject all bids received on July 12, 2019 for custodial services in Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario.
(Presenter: Terry W. Thompson, Director, 387-5252)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Terminating Request for Bid No. FMD119-FM-3381 and rejecting all bids received on July 12, 2019 will not require additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). There is no cost associated with the recommended action. At a future date, the Real Estate Services Department, Facilities Management Division (FMD) intends to procure these services via issuance of a Request for Proposal applying best value evaluation.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
FMD is responsible for providing custodial services for all County-owned and certain leased facilities. Due to the number of buildings that require service and the geographical size of the County, private custodial service providers are contracted to service various locations throughout the County (the locations are identified as a numbered lot). Public Contract Code sections 22002 and 22003 allow the County to solicit these services using either an RFB (low bid) or RFP (best value).
On June 25, 2019 (Item No. 49), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the release of Request for Bid (RFB) No. FMD119-FM-3381 for custodial services in Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario (one lot containing three facilities, including the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse which encompasses 253,189 square feet). On June 25, 2019, FMD released the RFB through the County of San Bernardino Electronic Procurement Network, and sent notification of the RFB to the required trade journals. On June 28, 2019, the RFB was advertised in the Daily Press.
On July 2, 2019, six vendors attended the mandatory job walk and on July 12, 2019 the following five bids were received:
|
Vendor |
Cost (annual) |
Vendor Location |
|
Nelsen’s Janitorial Service |
$209,448 |
Palm Springs |
|
Williams & Associates, Plus One |
$270,301 |
Corona |
|
JJ Property Maintenance |
$284,888 |
Pasadena |
|
Santa Fe Building Maintenance |
$337,040 |
Chino Hills |
|
Allied Universal Janitorial |
$543,569 |
Santa Ana |
FMD recommends the Board reject these bids and terminate RFB No. FMD119-FM-3381, a right reserved in the RFB and permitted by law, if doing so is in the County’s best interest.
The bids received span a wide range of services, and do not appear to accurately reflect the scope of work included in the RFB. RFB 3381 required bidders to provide a cost for all labor, materials and supplies necessary to maintain the facilities in a clean and sanitary condition as indicated in the scope of work. The lot includes three buildings, including a 253,189 square foot courthouse, which is a high security building, and requires three full-time custodians and special periodic services. All bidders were presented with the same scope of work. The low bid received was $209,448 per year, and the highest bid was $543,569 per year, a difference of $334,121.
Specifically, some of the bids do not appear sufficient to provide labor, materials and supplies for the lot and/or exclude some of the buildings in the lot. Experience dictates insufficient bids result in undesirable contract issues, including but not limited to, labor issues and noncompliance with contract requirements and interference with County operations, which in turn costs the County unnecessary expense in terms of additional staff time.
Given the wide disparity in bids received, there is a question whether any accurately address the requested scope of work. FMD believes it is within the County’s best interest to reject all the bids and resolicit services via an RFP as indicated below.
PROCUREMENT
The Public Contract Code sections 22002 and 22003 allow the County to solicit these services using either an RFB (low bid) or RFP (best value). Use of an RFP would allow the County to consider best overall value rather than price alone. This will enable the County to select the optimal combination of quality, price and various qualitative elements. This is the intended course of action, and the one, for the reasons stated herein which appears to be in the County’s best interest. The RFP will be reviewed and issued pursuant to County Policy 11-04 and 11-04SP3, and released through the County Electronic Procurement Network (ePro). All current bidders are free to participate in that process. The resulting contract will be brought to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Council (Katherine M. Hardy, Deputy County Council, 387-5437) on August 1, 2019; Purchasing (Michael Candelaria, Buyer III, 387-0321) on July 26, 2019; Finance (Ginger Roosa, Administrative Analyst, 387-4883) on August 6, 2019; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Ericson, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on August 8, 2019,