§ 1734 — Contracts of the authority

New York § 1734

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PBA: Public Authorities
• Title 6: The New York City School Construction Authority Act
• Art. 8: Miscellaneous Authorities

Text

§ 1734. Contracts of the authority. 1. a. All contracts for the\nconstruction, reconstruction, improvement, rehabilitation, maintenance,\nrepair, furnishing, equipping of or otherwise providing for educational\nfacilities for the city board may be awarded in accordance with the\nprovisions of this section, notwithstanding the provisions of section\neight of the public buildings law, section one hundred three of the\ngeneral municipal law, section one hundred thirty-five of the state\nfinance law, section seven of the New York state financial emergency act\nfor the city of New York or of any other provision of general, special\nor local law, charter or administrative code.\n b. The authority shall be subject to the provisions of section one\nhundred one of the general municipal law.\n 2. a. Except as otherwise provided in this section, all purchase\ncontracts for supplies, materials or equipment involving an estimated\nexpenditure in excess of ten thousand dollars and all contracts for\npublic work involving an estimated expenditure in excess of fifty\nthousand dollars shall be awarded by the authority to the lowest\nresponsible bidder after obtaining sealed bids in the manner hereinafter\nset forth. For purposes hereof, contracts for public work shall exclude\ncontracts for personal, engineering and architectural, or professional\nservices.\n b. The authority may reject all bids and obtain new bids in the manner\nprovided by this section when it deems it in the public interest to do\nso or, in cases where two or more responsible bidders submit identical\nbids which are the lowest bids, award the contract to any of such\nbidders or obtain new bids from such bidders. Nothing herein shall\nobligate the authority to seek new bids after the rejection of bids or\nafter cancellation of an invitation to bid. Nothing in this section\nshall prohibit the evaluation of bids on the basis of costs or savings\nincluding life cycle costs of the item to be purchased, discounts, and\ninspection services so long as the invitation to bid reasonably sets\nforth the criteria to be used in evaluating such costs or savings. Life\ncycle costs may include but shall not be limited to costs or savings\nassociated with installation, energy use, maintenance, operation and\nsalvage or disposal.\n 3. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of subdivision two\nof this section, the authority shall establish guidelines governing the\nqualifications of bidders entering into contracts for the construction,\nreconstruction, improvement, rehabilitation, maintenance, repair,\nfurnishing, equipping of or otherwise providing for educational\nfacilities for the city board. The bidding may be restricted to those\nwho have qualified prior to the receipt of bids according to standards\nfixed by the authority; provided, however, that the award of contracts\nshall, to the extent not inconsistent with this paragraph, be in\naccordance with paragraph b of subdivision two of this section.\n b. In determining whether a prospective bidder qualifies for inclusion\non a list of pre-qualified bidders, the authority shall consider (1) the\nexperience and past performance of the prospective bidder; (2) the\nprospective bidder's ability to undertake work; and (3) the financial\ncapability, responsibility and reliability of prospective bidders. The\nauthority may also consider such other factors as it deems appropriate.\n c. The authority shall, not less than twice each year, publish, in a\nnewspaper of general circulation in the city of New York, an\nadvertisement requesting prospective bidders to submit qualification\nstatements. Lists of pre-qualified bidders shall be reviewed and updated\nnot less than annually by the authority. The authority shall delete from\nthe list of pre-qualified bidders any bidder who has failed to perform\nadequately or satisfactorily for the authority, the city board or any\nother city or state agency or authority.\n d. Lists of pre-qualified bidders may be established on a\nproject-specific basis; provided, however, that any such list shall have\nno less than five bidders.\n 4. a. Advertisement for bids, when required by this section, shall be\npublished at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the\ncity of New York. Publication in such a newspaper shall not be required\n(i) if bids for contracts for supplies, materials or equipment are of a\ntype regularly purchased by the authority and are to be solicited from a\nlist of potential suppliers, if such list is or has been developed\nconsistent with the provisions of subdivision six of this section or\n(ii) if bids are to be solicited from a list of pre-qualified bidders\npursuant to the provisions of paragraph d of subdivision three of this\nsection. Any such advertisement shall contain a statement of the time\nand place where all bids received pursuant to such notice will be\npublicly opened and read. At least fourteen days shall elapse between\nthe first publication of such advertisement or the solicitation of bids,\nas the case may be, and the date of opening and reading of bids.\n b. The authority may designate any officer or employee to open the\nbids at the time and place bids are to be opened and may designate an\nofficer to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Such\ndesignee shall make a record of all bids in such form and detail as the\nauthority shall prescribe. All bids received shall be publicly opened\nand read at the time and place specified in the advertisement or at the\ntime of solicitation, or to which the opening and reading have been\nadjourned by the authority. All bidders shall be notified of the time\nand place of any such adjournment.\n 5. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the authority may by resolution\napproved by a vote of its members declare (i) that competitive bidding\nfor non-construction contracts is impractical or inappropriate because\nof the existence of any of the circumstances hereinafter set forth or\n(ii) that competitive bidding for construction contracts is impractical\nor inappropriate because of the existence of the circumstances set forth\nin paragraph a of this subdivision. Thereafter the authority may proceed\nto award contracts without complying with the requirements of\nsubdivision two or three of this section. In each case where the\nauthority declares competitive bidding impractical or inappropriate, it\nshall state the reason therefor in writing and summarize any\nnegotiations that have been conducted and shall be made available upon\nrequest. Except for contracts awarded pursuant to paragraphs a, b and c\nof this subdivision, the authority shall not award any contract pursuant\nto this subdivision earlier than thirty days from the date on which the\nauthority declares that competitive bidding is impractical or\ninappropriate. Competitive bidding may only be declared impractical or\ninappropriate where:\n a. the existence of an emergency involving danger to life, safety or\nproperty requires immediate action and cannot await competitive bidding\nor the item to be purchased is essential to efficient operation or the\nadequate provision of service by the city board or the authority and as\na consequence of unforeseen circumstance such purchase cannot await\ncompetitive bidding;\n b. the authority receives no responsive bids or only a single\nresponsive bid in response to an invitation for competitive bids;\n c. the item is available through an existing contract between a vendor\nand (i) another public authority provided that such other authority\nutilized a process of competitive bidding or a process of competitive\nrequests for proposals to award such contracts, or (ii) the city board,\nor (iii) the state of New York, or (iv) the city of New York, provided\nthat in any case when under this paragraph the authority determines that\nobtaining such item thereby would be in the public interest and sets\nforth the reason for such determination. The authority shall accept sole\nresponsibility for any payment due the vendor as a result of the\nauthority's order; or\n d. the authority determines that it is in the public interest to award\ncontracts pursuant to a process for competitive requests for proposals\nas hereinafter set forth. For purposes of this section, a process for\ncompetitive requests for proposals shall mean a method of soliciting\nproposals and awarding a contract on the basis of a formal evaluation of\nthe characteristics, such as quality, cost, delivery schedule and\nfinancing of such proposals against stated selection criteria. Public\nnotice of the requests for proposals shall be given in the same manner\nas provided in subdivision three of this section and shall include the\nselection criteria. In the event the authority makes a material change\nin the selection criteria from those previously stated in the notice, it\nwill inform all proposers of such change and permit proposers to modify\ntheir proposals.\n (i) The authority may award a contract pursuant to this paragraph only\nafter a resolution approved by a vote of its members at a public meeting\nof the authority with such resolution (A) disclosing the other proposers\nand the substance of their proposals, (B) summarizing the negotiation\nprocess including the opportunities, if any, available to proposers to\npresent and modify their proposals, and (C) setting forth the criteria\nupon which the selection was made.\n (ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall require or preclude (A)\nnegotiations with any proposers following the receipt of responses to\nthe request for proposals or (B) the rejection of any or all proposals\nat any time. Upon the rejection of all proposals, the authority may\nsolicit new proposals or bids in any manner prescribed in this section.\n 6. Upon the adoption of a resolution by the authority stating, for\nreasons of efficiency, economy, compatibility or maintenance\nreliability, that there is a need for standardization, the authority may\nestablish procedures whereby particular supplies, materials or equipment\nare identified on a qualified products list. Such procedures shall\nprovide for products or vendors to be added to or deleted from such list\nand shall include provisions for public advertisement of the manner in\nwhich such lists are compiled. The authority shall review such list no\nless than twice a year for the purpose of making such modifications.\nContracts for particular supplies, materials or equipment identified on\na qualified products list may be awarded by the authority to the lowest\nresponsible bidder after obtaining sealed bids in accordance with this\nsection or without competitive sealed bids in instances when the item is\navailable from only a single source, except that the authority may\ndispense with advertising provided that it mails copies of the\ninvitation to bid to all vendors of the particular item on the qualified\nproducts list.\n 7. The authority shall compile a list of potential sources of\nsupplies, materials or equipment regularly purchased. The authority\nshall, by resolution, set forth the procedures it has established to\nidentify new sources and to notify such new sources of the opportunity\nto bid for contracts for the purchase of supplies, materials or\nequipment. Such procedures shall include, but not be limited to\nadvertising in trade journals.\n 8. The authority shall be subject to the provisions of section\ntwenty-eight hundred seventy-nine of this chapter in awarding contracts\nfor personal services.\n 9. The board shall, by resolution, establish procedures for the fair\nand equitable resolution of contract disputes. Prior to the\nestablishment of such policy, the board shall publish in appropriate\npublications a notice of such policy and invite comment from interested\nparties, including, but not limited to representatives of construction\norganizations. Such notice shall also state that the authority will hold\na public hearing to consider the policy at a specified time and place on\na date not less than ten days after such publication, and the authority\nshall conduct the public hearing pursuant to such notice.\n 10. The provisions of article eight of the labor law shall be\napplicable to all contracts entered into directly or indirectly by the\nauthority.\n 11. The provisions of subdivision one of section one hundred six-b of\nthe general municipal law shall apply to the authority, provided,\nhowever, that the authority may retain up to four times the value of any\nremaining items to be completed.\n