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## PROCUREMENT POLICY MUNICIPALITY OF THE COUNTY OF VICTORIA
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| 1.0 Purpose and Objectives.. .. 3 ...3 |
|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2.0 Definitions.. .. 5 |
| 3.0 Application. |
| 4.0 Directives .. 6 |
| 5.0 Alternative Procurement Practices... 6 |
| 6.0 Bid Opening, Evaluation, and Award ...7 |
| 7.0 Fair Treatment for Nova Scotia Suppliers.. . 7 |
| 8.0 Other Considerations ... |
| 9.0 Obligations under the Public Procurement Act .. 8 ...8 |
| 10.0 Amendments.. 10 |
| Appendix 1.. ... 13 |
| Appendix 2 |
Questions and enquiries regarding this policy may be directed to:
A.W. (Sandy) Hudson, CAO
902-295-3660
Email: [email protected]
## 1.0 Purpose and Objectives
The Municipality of the County of Victoria is committed to
- Providing for the procurement of goods, services, construction and facilities in a fair, open, consistent, and transparent manner resulting in best value
- Encouraging competition, innovative ideas and solutions, while respecting all Legislative and Trade Agreement obligations
- Promoting sustainable procurement in procurement decisions, including identifying and exploring opportunities to work with and support social enterprises and businesses that are owned by and who employ under-represented populations
- Ensuring that qualified suppliers have equal opportunity to bid on the Municipality of the County of Victoria procurement activity
- Being accountable for procurement decisions.
## 2.0 Definitions
For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions are provided:
## Atlantic Standard Terms & Conditions
Standard instructions that support public tenders issued by the four Atlantic provinces for goods and services. Supplements may be added if and when required.
Best Value Evaluating bids not only on purchase price and life cycle cost considerations, but also taking into account items such as environmental and social considerations, delivery, servicing, and the capacity of the supplier to meet other criteria as stated in the tender documents.
## Bid
A supplier response to a public tender notice to provides goods, services, construction or facilities.
## Construction
The construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair, or renovation of a building, structure, road or other engineering or architectural work, excluding the professional consulting services related to the construction contract unless they are included in the procurement.
## Construction Contract Guidelines
Standard instructions developed in consultation with the Construction Association of Nova Scotia that support construction tenders.
Goods Materials, furniture, merchandise, equipment, stationery, and other supplies required by the Municipality of the County of Victoria for the transaction of its business and affairs and includes services that are incidental to the provision of such supplies.
## Facilities (also referred to as Building Leases)
All building lease requirements covering the conveyance of the right to use tangible building property for a specified period of time in return for rent.
Procurement Advisory Group The advisory group established by the Public Procurement Act to provide advice and recommendations to advance the outcomes of the Act.
Procurement Activity The acquisition of all goods, services, construction, or facilities procured by purchase, contract, lease, or long-term rental.
rocurement Value The value of the total contract excluding taxes but including all options whether exercised or not. For Facilities this value is determined by the monthly lease/rent times the term of the contract.
Procurement Web Portal The public website maintained by the Province where all public tender notices are posted.
## Public Advertisement
Advertising a public tender notice on the procurement web portal.
## Public Procurement Act (PPA)
An Act outlining the rules related to the procurement activity of all public sector entities in the Province of Nova Scotia.
Public Tender Procurement for goods, services, construction, or facilities obtained through public advertisement. (See appendix 2 for an outline of the various tools that can be used for public tender.)
## Public Tender Notice
Notice of intended procurement for goods, services, construction, or facilities obtained through public advertisement.
Services Services required by the Municipality of the County of Victoria for the transaction of its business and affairs, excluding services provided by an employee through a personal services contract.
Standing Offer A standing offer is a contractual arrangement with a supplier to provide certain goods or services on an 'as required' basis, during a particular period of time, at a predetermined price or discount, generally within a predefined dollar limit.
Sustainable Procurement Sustainable Procurement involves taking a holistic approach to obtain best value. This will be done by integrating the following considerations in the procurement process:
- Economic considerations: e.g. Life Cycle Cost, Fiscal Responsibility, Support for the Local Economy
- Environmental considerations: e.g. Green House Gas Reduction, Waste Reduction, Toxic Use Reduction
- Social considerations: e.g. Employee Health and Safety, Inclusiveness and Fair Wage, Health Promotion.
## 3.0 Application
This policy applies to all procurement activity of the Municipality of the County of Victoria effective 04/01/2013.
The CAO of the Municipality of the County of Victoria is responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy.
All Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel who have responsibility for the procurement of goods, services, construction, or facilities must adhere to this policy. Failure to adhere may result in a temporary or permanent loss of procurement privileges or in more extreme cases result in disciplinary action and/or dismissal.
## 4.0 Directives
4.1 Low Value Procurement
| | up to and including | $25,000 |
|-------------------------|------------------------------|-----------|
| - Goods | up to and including | $ 50,000 |
| Services | up to and including | $ 50,000 |
| Facilities Construction | up to and including $100,000 | |
The above are the MASH sector thresholds built into the Atlantic Procurement Agreement (APA). Contracting Authorities may want/need to build additional thresholds into the Directives section of their policy as mandated to them by their individual authorities.
For all low value procurement activity with a procurement value as outlined above (excluding taxes), Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are expected to, as far as practicable, attempt to obtain at least three quotes and award to the supplier offering best value. The only exception to this would be when the Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are using Alternative Procurement Practices as outlined in section 5.0 of this Policy, or is accessing a publicly tendered standing offer.
When selecting the list of suppliers to be provided the opportunity to quote, Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel will make every effort to ensure a fair and open process is followed. While Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are expected to invite only qualified suppliers, they are not to consistently invite bids from only one or a select group of suppliers. Invitations and bidding opportunities are to be equitably distributed among all potential bidders in an area, and all interested and qualified suppliers are to be evaluated on a consistent and equitable basis. Where increased competition is appropriate, Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may choose to publicly tender for goods, services, construction or facilities that fall within the above thresholds.
## 4.2 High Value Procurement:
| Goods | over | $25,000 |
|--------------|--------|-----------|
| | over | $ 50,000 |
| Services | | $ 50,000 |
| Facilities | over | $100,000 |
| Construction | over | |
All procurement activity with a procurement value over the thresholds (excluding taxes) outlined above must be obtained through a public tender. See appendix 2 of this Policy for an outline of some of the various tools that can be used for public tender. The only exception to this would be when Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are using an Alternative Procurement Practices as outlined in section 5.0 of this policy, or is accessing a publicly tendered standing offer. All public tender opportunities must be posted on the Province of Nova Scotia Procurement Web Portal. Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may wish where appropriate to also advertise in local, provincial, or national media; however, there is no obligation to do so. In addition, a notice of tender opportunity may be sent to selected suppliers where required to ensure an adequate degree of competition.
## 5.0 Alternative Procurement Practices
In order to balance the need for open, competitive process with the demands of urgent or specialized circumstances, Alternative Procurement Circumstances have been developed. These circumstances must be used only for the purposes intended and not to avoid competition or used to discriminate against specific suppliers. To ensure appropriate use, each circumstance must be documented by Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel stating the rationale permitting the Alternative Procurement Circumstance, and signed by the CAO. All documents must be filed and maintained for audit purposes. See Appendix 1 for a list of the Alternative Procurement circumstances, as well as further requirements on documentation.
## 6.0 Bid Opening, Evaluation, and Award
6.1 Bid Opening Bids are accepted in accordance with the closing time, date, and place stipulated in the bid request documents. Members of the public may receive the list of bidders electronically after bid opening.
6.2 Bid Evaluation All bids are subject to evaluation after opening and before award of contract. The bid request documents must clearly identify the requirements of the procurement, the evaluation method, evaluation criteria based on the purpose and objectives of this policy, and the weights assigned to each criterion.
6.3 Award The winning bidder and contract award amount for all high value procurement activity must be posted on the Province of Nova Scotia's Procurement Web Portal. After contracts have been awarded, routine access to information at the vendors request shall be provided in the following areas:
- Bidders list
- Name of winning bidder
- Award price excluding taxes of the winning bidder
Access to tender documents or other proprietary information is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
## 6.4 Supplier Debriefing
At the request of a supplier who submitted a bid, Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel will conduct a supplier debriefing session to provide feedback on the evaluation of the public tender. Suppliers can find out how their proposal scored against published criteria, obtain comments on their bid, and gather information on how future bids may be improved. Supplier's bids are not compared to other bids, nor will information on other bids be provided.
## 6.5 Supplier Complaint Process (SCP)
When a supplier is not satisfied with the information provided in a supplier debriefing, the supplier may file a complaint in accordance with the Supplier Complaint Process as defined in the Public Procurement Act. The SCP is not a dispute resolution process, but rather is intended to handle supplier complaints and to improve faulty or misleading procurement processes. The SCP is an integral part of a fair and open procurement policy.
## 7.0 Fair Treatment for Nova Scotia Suppliers
Based on the principle of best value for the Municipality of the County of Victoria and when deemed to be in their best interest, Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may apply a preference for goods valued up to and including $25,000 that are manufactured or produced in Nova Scotia. The final decision to apply a preference to a Nova Scotia supplier shall be approved by the CAO.
Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may also choose to apply a Nova Scotia preference or restrict the receipt of quotations at or below the low value procurement thresholds to Nova Scotia Suppliers. Any decision made by Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel should be based on budget considerations, and shall be approved by the
## 8.0 Other Considerations
## 8.1 Cooperative Procurement
Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are encouraged to look for opportunities to collaborate with government agencies when the arrangement may result in overall cost savings or other substantial advantages. For example, joint procurement may be appropriate to procure commonly used goods, services, fuel oil, natural gas, telecommunications, etc.
## 8.2 Standing Offers
Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may access all Province of Nova Scotia standing offers, as well as any standing offer established through the Procurement Advisory Group for the Province should Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel wish to make use of the savings opportunities. Standing offers can be used up to $25,000 per project for goods, or $100,000 per project for services. For consulting services, Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel should prepare a Statement of Work and obtain 3 quotes from vendors on the standing offer.
## 9.0 Obligations under the Public Procurement Act
In addition to the areas already covered by this Policy, the following are additional obligations of the Public Procurement Act that the Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel are required to adhere to with their Procurement practices.
9.1 Terms and Conditions Every public tender notice must include or have attached the terms and conditions that govern the purchase of goods, services, construction, or facilities. The terms and conditions of every public tender notice must be consistent with the Atlantic Standard Terms and Conditions for the procurement of goods, services, or facilities and the Construction Contract Guidelines developed in collaboration with the Construction Association of Nova Scotia for the procurement of construction.
## 9.2 Posting Tender Notices and Awards
All opportunities subject to a public tender must be advertised on the Province of Nova Scotia Procurement Web Portal. Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel must also post on the Procurement Web Portal the name of the successful bidder for the public tender and the contract amount awarded.
9.3 Code of Ethics Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel and board members must ensure their conduct in relation to procurement activity is consistent with the "Duties of public sector entity employees" in the Public Procurement Act. This includes a request for removal from a procurement activity when a personal conflict of interest is perceived.
## 9.4 Other
Policy Posting Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel will ensure this policy is posted on the Municipality of the County of Victoria web site.
## Supplier Development Activities
Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel will make every attempt where appropriate to participate in vendor outreach activities as requested by the Procurement Governance Secretariat
Regulations Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel will make sure that procurement practices remain consistent with any regulations that are adopted under the Public Procurement Act.
## 10.0 Amendments
This policy may be amended from time to time with the approval of the TBD. Such amendments will be communicated to the public on the Municipality of the County of Victoria website.
## Appendix 1
Only those holding the appropriate role/position within the CONTRACTING AUTHORITY may delegate signing authority.
Alternative Procurement Approval, Consultation, and Reporting Process
Low Value: The CAO may delegate signing authority for low value alternative procurement transactions to the Director of a given business area. No further approvals will be necessary. The CAO will ensure persons with delegated signing authority will be held accountable for their actions and that all procurement activities by Municipality of the county of Victoria personnel are properly documented and filed for follow up and audit. The CAO shall remain accountable for the proper use of alternative procurement transactions.
High Value: Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel wishing to make use of a high value alternative procurement practice (with the exception of an emergency) must consult with the CAO to obtain his or her approval and identify the most appropriate means by which to proceed with the satisfaction of the requirement. If in agreement, the CAO may direct Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel to proceed with the procurement. The CAO may wish to confer with provincial government procurement officials for discussion, validation, and or alternative options.
The CAO may delegate signing authority for high value alternative procurement transactions to an Acting CAO in his or her absence. All appropriate documentation will be maintained on file for audit purposes. The CAO will ensure persons with delegated signing authority will be held accountable for their actions. The CAO shall remain accountable for the proper use of alternative procurement transactions.
## Alternative Procurement Circumstances
ALTP circumstances are currently under development and will be converted into regulations in early 2012/13. Once approved, it is these regulations that will need to be incorporated into individual policies. Until then, these are the circumstances currently in use by the province:
## A. No Threshold Restrictions
- Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may use the following Alternative Procurement practices as described below for the procurement of goods, services, construction or facilities, with no threshold restrictions:
1. Where an unforeseeable situation of urgency exists and the goods, services, or construction cannot be obtained in time by means of open procurement procedures. Entities must ensure inadequate planning does not lead to inappropriate use of this exemption.
2. Where goods or consulting services regarding matters of a confidential or privileged nature are to be purchased and the disclosure of those matters through an open tendering process could reasonably be expected to
- compromise government confidentiality, cause economic disruption, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest.
3. Where compliance with the open tendering provisions set out in this Chapter would interfere with a Party's ability to maintain security or order, or to protect human, animal, or plant life or health.
4. In the absence of tenders in response to an open or selective tender, or when the tenders submitted have been collusive, or not in conformity with the essential requirements in the tender.
5. To ensure compatibility with existing products, to recognize exclusive rights, such as exclusive licenses, copyright, and patent rights, or to maintain specialized products that must be maintained by the manufacturer or its representative.
6. Where there is an absence of competition for technical reasons and the goods or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no alternative or substitute exists.
7. For the procurement of goods or services the supply of which is controlled by a supplier that is a statutory monopoly.
8. For the purchase of goods on a commodity market.
9. For work to be performed on or about a leased building or portions thereof that may be performed only by the lessor.
10. For work to be performed on property by a contractor according to provisions of a warranty or guarantee held in respect of the property or the original work.
11. For the procurement of a prototype or a first good or service to be developed in the course of and for a particular contract for research, experiment, study or original development, but not for any subsequent purchases.
12. For the purchase of goods under exceptionally advantageous circumstances such as bankruptcy or receivership, but not for routine purchases.
13. For the procurement of original works of art.
14. For the procurement of subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, or other periodicals.
15. For the procurement of real property.
16. For the procurement of goods intended for resale to the public.
17. For the procurement from philanthropic institutions, prison labour, persons with disabilities, sheltered workshop programs, or through employment equity programs.
18. For the procurement from a public body or a non-profit organization.
19. For the procurement of services of expert witnesses, specifically in anticipation of litigation or for the purpose of conducting litigation
## B. Threshold Restrictions
- Municipality of the County of Victoria personnel may use the following Alternative Procurement practices as described below, up to the high value thresholds of this Policy:
1. For the procurement of goods or services for the purpose of evaluating or piloting new or innovative technology with demonstrated environmental, economic, or social benefits when compared to conventional technology, but not for any subsequent purchases.
2. For procurement that fosters the development of minority businesses.
## Appendix 2
tender: Below is an outline of some of the various tools available for use when issuing a public
## Request for Proposal (RFP)
Used when a supplier is invited to propose a solution to a problem, requirement, or objective. Suppliers are requested to submit detailed proposals (bids) in accordance with predefined evaluation criteria. The selection of the successful proposal is basec on the effectiveness, value, and price of the proposed solution. Negotiations with suppliers may be required to finalize any aspect of the requirement.
## Request for Construction (RFC)
Used to publicly tender for a construction, reconstruction, demolition, remediation, repair, or renovation of a building, structure, road, bridge, or other engineering or architectural work. When a supplier is invited to bid on a construction project the tender documents usually contain a set of terms and conditions and separate bic form that apply to that specific project. Suppliers are requested to submit a response (bid) in accordance with predefined criteria. The selection of the successful proposal is based on a number of factors as described in the tender documents. A request for construction usually does not include professional consulting services related to the construction contract, unless they are included in the specifications.
## Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A request for quotation on goods or products with a minimum specification. Award is usually made based on the lowest price meeting the specification. An RFQ does not normally but may sometimes include evaluation criteria.
## Request for Standing Offer (RSO)
A public tender to provide commonly used goods or services. The term of the standing offer can vary in duration but will be clearly defined in the tender documents. RSO's may include evaluation criteria depending on the requirement.
## Request for Expression of Interest (REI)
The Request for the Expression of Interest is similar to the Request for Proposal and is sometimes referred to as a Pre-Qualification, where suppliers are invited to propose a solution to a problem. The REI, however, is only the first stage in the procurement process. Bidders responding to the REI will be short listed according to their scoring in the evaluation process. The short listed firms will then be invited t respond to a subsequent Request for Proposal. A REI does not normally include pricing as price is a key evaluation criteria used in the second stage RFP process.
This is to certify that the foregoing resolution was passed at a duly held meeting of the Council of the Municipality of the County of Victoria, held on the
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//th
day of February, ,A.D., 2013.
stud
A. W. (Sandy) Hudson Chief Administrative Officer