HomeMy Public PortalAboutMSD Purchasing Policy 2-18-2020 (Approved 11-2023)wastewater + stormwater
APPROVED BY:
Purchasing Policy
Finance Department
APPROVED
November 2023
SUPERSEDES POLICY
ISSUED:
02/18/2020
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
PURPOSE
In accordance with current Charter, Ordinances and Resolutions adopted by the Board of Trustees,
this policy establishes requirements for how supplies, materials, and all services, except those
governed by State Statute, are to be procured. This policy also establishes who is to review, sign,
and distribute various documents associated with the procurement process.
SCOPE
It is the policy of The District that all procurement is accomplished in accordance with State Law,
Charter and Ordinance. Current Purchasing Ordinance is 15310.
PROCEDURES
To the extent possible, competition is required on purchases of $10,000.00 or more. Purchases of
$10,000.00 or more must be accomplished through the Purchasing Division. Where applicable,
supplies, materials or services less than $10,000.00 may be procured by the MSD department
creating the requisition but in no case will a purchase for supplies, materials or services be split to
avoid the requirement for competition.
This Policy covers thresholds for obtaining competition and requirements by which purchases are
to be accomplished. The District's various procedures establish the methods by which supplies,
materials or services are to be purchased.
I. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-CAPITAL PURCHASING ARE AS
FOLLOWS:
A. Purchases less than $10,000.00, competition is not required but is encouraged.
B. Purchases between $10,000.00 and less than $50,000.00, at least 3 competitive
quotes must be solicited.
C. Purchases of $50,000.00 or greater require formal bidding.
D. Professional services procurements of $50,000.00 or greater must be approved by
the Board of Trustees prior to the contract being executed.
E. Single source procurements must be documented and approved prior to purchase.
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F. Payments to utilities, regulatory or government agencies, memberships and licenses are not
subject to competition and do not require three quotes or Single Source Form. These
expenditures are required payments, not purchases.
G. Co-operative purchases with other agencies may be permissible.
H. Multi-year contracts are permissible under certain circumstances as set forth in
Ordinance 15310 and Charter.
I. MSD will provide opportunities for meaningful participation of Minority and
Women Owned Business Enterprises in the procurement of supplies, materials,
services, and construction. Specific goals and requirements can be found in the
District's MWBE procedures included in each procurement. Bid requirements for
MWBE participation will be in accordance with the guidelines included in the bid.
J. Purchasing Cards and Credit Cards: The District will consider the use of purchasing
cards. Credit applications will be processed on a case-by-case basis. In no case shall
a credit application be submitted to a supplier before the terms are reviewed by
General Counsel and approved by the Director of Finance or his/her designee.
K. The Purchasing Manager may transfer surplus stock to other agencies and/or sell or
dispose of all surplus supplies as prescribed by Ordinance and policy.
L. Emergency and Immediate Need procurements are authorized only under specific
circumstances as outlined in Ordinance and the District's Emergency Declaration
Policy. Every effort will be made to meet the requirements of the MWBE guidelines
in place at the time of an Emergency or Immediate Need but guidelines may be
waived if circumstances dictate.
M. In no case may a purchase be subdivided to avoid the requirement for competition.
N. Purchase orders are required for all purchases prior to delivery, to the extent
possible. This includes emergencies and documented single source procurements.
Purchases made with a credit card may be exempt from this requirement but must
comply with the Purchasing Card Policy. Purchase orders are not required for items
listed in 1 f) above.
O. Contracts for supplies, materials and services must be generated by the Purchasing
Division and reviewed for form by General Counsel prior to being executed. Any
non-MSD contracts must also be reviewed by Purchasing for adherence to MSD
requirements and by General Counsel for form prior to being executed.
P. Requests for bids and proposals shall be made in general terms and by general
specifications and not by brand, trade name or other individual mark whenever
possible.
Q. Mistakes in Bids: If a mistake is attributable to an error in judgment, the bid may
not be corrected or withdrawn. Bid correction or withdrawal by reason of a
nonjudgmental mistake is permissible but only to the extent it is not contrary to the
interest of the District or the fair treatment of other bidders.
R. Rejection of Bids: All bids may be rejected. Bids may also be rejected and projects
re-bid when the lowest bid is deemed non-responsive. Except for such rejections,
the District shall let the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
S. The prospective contractor or supplier must provide satisfactory Certificates of
Insurance to the District as required by the bid documents and shall carry and
maintain for the life of the contract adequate insurance with a company satisfactory
to the District.
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T. Protests: A supplier or contractor may protest a Purchasing action taken by the
District. All activities undertaken by the Purchasing Manager on protests will be
first reviewed and approved by General Counsel. No verbal protests will be
accepted, all protests must be in writing. A bid or proposal award protest must be
submitted in writing and must be received by the District within ten (10) business
days after the date of issuance of the notice of award. A protest submitted after the
ten (10) business day period shall not be considered.
II. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASES UNDER THE CAPITAL
IMPROVEMENT REPLACEMENT PLAN ARE AS FOLLOWS:
A. All contracts for capital improvements shall be purchased, at a minimum, in
accordance with the requirements set forth in the MSD Charter and Missouri State
law when not in conflict with Charter.
B. Capital Improvements of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) or greater shall be
purchased by formal written contract.
C. The District will advertise bid opportunities in accordance with Ordinance 15310
unless the project is an IMMEDIATE NEED or an EMERGENCY.
D. Sealed bids shall be opened in public at the time specified in the bid documents.
Bid summaries will be available within five (5) days after the bid opening.
E. Sealed bids are required to have bid security when bid is submitted. The amount of
bid security will not be less than five percent (5%) of the bid, less allowances
specified in the bid documents.
F. Mistakes in Bids: If a mistake is attributable to an error in judgment, the bid may
not be corrected or withdrawn. Bid correction or withdrawal by reason of a
nonjudgmental mistake is permissible but only to the extent it is not contrary to the
interest of the District or the fair treatment of other bidders.
G. Rejection of Bids: All bids may be rejected. Bids may also be rejected and projects
re-bid when the lowest bid is deemed non-responsive. Except for such rejections,
the District shall let the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
H. All contracts for improvements which involve labor shall contain provisions that
the prevailing rates of pay shall be paid to skilled and unskilled labor and that there
be no discrimination in the selection or employment of labor.
I. The District may use design-build and other alternative delivery methods to make
any improvements as permitted by Missouri law, Charter, and ordinance.
J. Prior to the execution of the contract documents, the apparent successful bidder will
file with the District sufficient bond(s) and insurance as required by Ordinance and
State Law. For projects less than $50,000 the requirement for payment and
performance bonds is waived unless specifically required in the bid documents.
K. If any bidder awarded a contract fails to enter into a binding contract or furnish
required performance security or insurance within the time specified in the bid
documents, the bidder will forfeit bidder's bid security to the District.
L. As soon as a contract for capital improvements has been awarded, the District will
return to each unsuccessful bidder the bid security accompanying each respective
bid. The bid security of the next lowest responsive and responsible bidder will be
retained until the contract documents with the apparent low bidder have been
signed, delivered and accepted by the District. Once the contract has been executed
the District will return bid security to the next lowest responsive bidder.
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M. The District may require prequalification of prospective bidders. In order to
prequalify for a project, a prospective bidder must provide all information requested
on forms approved by the District and must comply with all reasonable
requirements designated by the District.
N. Contracts for capital improvements must specify method and timing of payment.
All contracts for capital improvements must specify that the District and the
contractor shall comply with the prompt payment requirements of Missouri law.
O. In the event any low bid for a District capital construction proj ect is rej ected as non-
responsive, and all other responsive bids do not conform to the guidelines that
follow, all bids for said project will be rejected and said project will be re-bid,
except that if any other responsive bid does not conform to the following guidelines,
but the District staff can demonstrate a compelling reason that the contract for the
project should be awarded to said responsive bidder, a written explanation shall be
furnished to the Board of Trustees prior to the project being placed on a Board
Agenda for introduction, and Board authorization shall be required to proceed.
This process shall be implemented when the lowest bid is deemed non-responsive,
and the next lowest bid is more than the following dollar amount or percentage
higher than the rejected bid as listed below.
Rejected bid amount
0 - $250,000
$250,000-$1,000,000
$1,000,000-$5,000,000
Greater than $5,000,000
Next responsive bid amount
$30,000
not to exceed 10%
not to exceed 7.5%
not to exceed 5%
III. SIGNATURES ON PROCUREMENT RELATED DOCUMENTS:
A. Contracts:
1. When an Ordinance is passed that states that the Board has authorized the
District to enter into a contract, that contract is to be signed by the following
individuals:
a. a representative of the company that is authorized to enter into a
contract for that company.
b. the District's General Counsel or his/her representative.
c. the Director of Finance or his/her representative, attesting that funds
are available for the financial obligation incurred for that fiscal year.
d. the Executive Director or his/her representative; and
e. the Secretary Treasurer or his/her representative attesting to the
validity of the document.
2. When a contract does not require prior authorization of the Board of
Trustees in order to be entered into, that contract is to be signed by the
following individuals:
a. a representative of the company that is authorized to enter into a
contract for that company.
b. the District's General Counsel or his/her representative.
c. the Purchasing Manager or his/her representative; and
d. the Director of Finance or his/her representative, attesting that funds
are available for the financial obligation incurred for that fiscal year.
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B. Contract Options:
Signatures for exercising contract option periods will follow the same signature
protocols as set forth in Section 3(A). Options under contracts that were authorized
by Ordinance are required to be approved through resolution by the Board of
Trustees.
C. Change Orders:
1. Change orders for improvement contracts and professional service contracts
for architects, engineers or engineering design services, land surveyors, and
landscape architects are generated and managed by Engineering. Change
Orders require approval of the Director of Engineering or their designee.
2. Change orders for contracts other than those specified in Section 3(C)(1)
are generated and executed by Purchasing.
D. Purchase Orders:
Purchase orders are issued by the District via Oracle and have established security
as to who as authority to approve the purchase orders. All non-CIRP purchase
orders must be created from a requisition, which is checked for funds availability
automatically by Oracle.
IV. FINAL REVIEW AND DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS:
The Purchasing Manager is responsible for final review of contracts to ensure all signatures
have been obtained as identified in this policy and that distribution of the signed contracts
is made to the following individuals listed:
A. Contractor
B. General Counsel
C. Official file held in the Purchasing Division
The Director of Engineering is responsible for final review for improvement contracts and
professional service contracts for architects, engineers or engineering design services, land
surveyors, and landscape architects to ensure the contract has all necessary signatures and
distribution of contracts is made at a minimum to the following:
A. Contractor
B. General Counsel
C. Official file held in the Engineering Division
V. DEFINITIONS:
For the purposes of this policy, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations
shall have the following meanings:
Bidders' List: shall be a list of suppliers, vendors and contractors that have requested to
participate in bidding for District work
Building Construction: The process of building, altering or improving any public
structures or buildings (vertical construction) that include multiple trades. It does not
include the routine maintenance of existing structures, buildings, or real property. If more
than one type of work is involved, the predominant percentage of work type governs.
Capital Improvement Procurement: is any procurement that is made under the
Capital Improvement and Replacement Program (CIRP) except for infrastructure repair
that does not result in an extension of the useful life of an asset, ordinary maintenance, and
items purchased using capital outlay.
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Capital Improvement Replacement Program: is a multi-year program to expand and
rehabilitate MSD's storm water and wastewater collection and treatment capabilities.
Consent Decree: is a court order memorializing an agreement between the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and MSD requiring MSD to achieve and
maintain compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, entered on April 27, 2012 and
subsequently amended.
Contractual Services: services not defined as any of the other categories. This
could include minor repairs to an existing structure such as roof patching (but not
replacement). This could also include, but not be limited to, temp services, consultant
services that do not require a certification or license, lawn maintenance, or janitorial
services.
Cooperative Procurement: is when MSD purchases supplies, materials or services
through a joint purchasing program with political subdivisions and other public
governmental bodies such as the State of Missouri.
Department: shall be construed to mean any and all Departments, Divisions, Sections,
Boards, Commissions or other units in the District using supplies or procuring contractual
services that derive their support wholly, or in part, from funds of the District.
Design Build Contracts: are contracts between MSD and a design build contractor to
furnish the engineering and related design services and the labor, materials and other
construction services required for a specific construction project.
District or MSD: is The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.
Emergency: is a situation or condition which may vitally affect the life, safety, health
and/or welfare of employees and/or citizens of the District or their property. An emergency
shall also include those situations or conditions where the supplies, materials, equipment,
property, and real property of the District are likely to be lost or severely damaged, or the
condition may result in disruption of District operations or cause the District to not be in
compliance with regulatory requirements.
Immediate Need: is a situation or condition which does not qualify as an
EMERGENCY, however, the failure to take prompt action may result in an unnecessary
delay which could cause the situation or condition to become an EMERGENCY.
Generally, this shall mean that the supplies, materials, or services are required in less than
14 days or the condition may result in disruption of District operations or cause the District
to not be in compliance with regulatory requirements.
Infrastructure Repair: is construction work funded under the CIRP and generally
related to repair, rehabilitation, replacement, or minor improvements to infrastructure.
Maintenance: the repair, but not the replacement, of existing facilities when the size, type
or extent of the existing facilities is not thereby changed or increased.
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Non-Building Construction:Construction not defined as building construction. This
could include demolition, below ground sewer construction (horizontal construction) or
major repair. If more than one type of work is involved, the predominant percentage of
work type governs.
Non-Capital Procurement: shall mean purchase of all supplies, materials, services or
capital outlay that do not fall under the CIRP Program, or services that are governed by
State Statute.
Prevailing Wage: On April 11, 2019, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s
Board of Trustees adopted Ordinance 15136 establishing a Prevailing Wage Program that
meets its Charter requirement to pay prevailing wages on improvement projects. The
district’s prevailing wage rate shall serve as the minimum rate paid to workers in each
occupational title on MSD construction projects that meet the definition of a public works
project per the Rules of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 8 CSR 30-3.020
andRSMo 290.210.
Professional Services: Non construction work rendered by an independent
consultant with a professed knowledge of some department of learning or science in a
profession or vocation that is founded on prolonged and specialized intellectual training
that enables an individual or company to provide advice, opinions and/or
recommendations. Professional services typically imply professed attainments in special
knowledge that require certification or license.
Public Works: construction, alteration, repair, or maintenance of any building,
structure, highway, bridge, viaduct, pipeline, public works, or any other works dealing with
construction.
Quote: shall mean a response from a bidder that is not required to be in sealed bid form
and may be received by the District via fax or other non-sealed means.
Responsible: shall mean the bidder has the technical expertise, purchasing &/or
manufacturing capacity, product &/or service quality, and financial ability to accomplish
the contemplated procurement. In determining a responsible bidder, the following may be
considered: The ability, capacity, or skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide
the supplies, materials or services promptly or within the time specified, without delay or
interference; the character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience, and efficiency of
the bidder; the quality of performance on previous contracts or services; the previous and
existing compliance by the bidder with laws and ordinances relating to the contract or
supplies, materials or services; the sufficiency of the financial resources and ability of the
bidder to perform the contract or provide the supplies, materials or services; the quality,
availability and adaptability of the supplies, materials or services to the particular use
required; the ability of the bidder to provide future maintenance and service for the use of
the subject of the contract; and the number and scope of conditions attached to the bid.
Responsive: shall mean the bid was received prior to the established bid opening time,
in the manner and format prescribed in the solicitation, and the bid is in full compliance
with District bid specifications and requirements.
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Sealed Bid: shall mean a bid that is required to be completely sealed when received by
the District.
Services: covered in this policy shall mean construction, consulting, professional and
other services. SERVICES covered in this policy shall not mean engineering, architecture,
surveying, or construction management as defined by State Statute. The procurement of
these services shall be per State Statute or as modified by District policy as allowed by
State Statute.
Single Source: shall mean the supplies; materials or services are only available from
a single source.
Supplies: shall mean and include supplies, materials, equipment, contractual services
and all articles and things except utility services and items specified in Section 3(C)(1).
Date of Review Changes Made (Y/N)Reviewed By Rationale
09/2023 Y - Updating Policy Marion Gee
Susan Myers
Updates to Policy
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