Working with the City - Information for Vendors

City of Arvada Purchasing Ethics

The public procurement policy must be conducted professionally and ethically. It is in the best interest of the City to promote competition in the City’s solicitation process to the extent practicable.
It is in the best interest of the City and the public to provide for systematic, efficient, and effective procurement processes done in accordance with existing laws and policies.
We are dedicated to following the National Institute of Government Purchasing Code of Ethics.

Request for Bid (RFB) For goods and services
Competitive Sealed Bid (CSB) Large construction projects
Request for Proposal (RFP) Services such as consultant work – or projects without defined scope of work
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) For master service agreements, on-call or as-needed for various, but smaller projects throughout a year
Quick Quotes – For commodities or services that are standard with little variation in deliverables

It is important to review the solicitation document carefully and submit all requested signatures and requested documents.
Missing information or missing required documents may result in submission being deemed nonresponsive.
Direct contact with the requesting department may result in vendor disqualification.
In an RFP and RFQ the METHOD OF AWARD section in the solicitation document will outline the criteria used to determine the award of the contract.
In a CSB and RFB the lowest Bid that is deemed most Responsive, meets all the Minimum Requirements specified, and it is determined to be from a Responsible Contractor may be awarded the contract.
The City of Arvada is a Best Value agency. Best value means a technique in a competitive solicitation process which emphasizes value over price and permits the evaluation of criteria such as, but not limited to, qualifications, experience, and performance data to determine the best overall value to the City. It is solely incumbent on the staff of the City of Arvada to conduct due diligence to determine best value prior to award.

Evaluation criteria is listed within the RFP/RFQ in the Method of Award section.
All responsive submissions are reviewed and evaluated by an evaluation committee.
Typically, evaluation committees consist of 3-7 members based on the complexity of the solicitation.
Purchasing may reach out to vendors with clarification questions during this time.
Short-listed firms may be asked to attend interviews or presentations.
The top-rated firm should expect to enter into negotiations with the City prior to contract award.

After the evaluation process has ended, the committee will determine the awarded vendor.
An Intent to Award will be posted to Bidnet.
Awarded vendors will be contacted by the issuing department with information concerning next steps.
The City may, at its sole and absolute discretion, re-advertise a solicitation, postpone or cancel a solicitation.

The City has incorporated Vendor Performance Management into its organizational culture.
When vendors submit offers to the City in response to solicitations for services, we seek to have the vendor identify the methods and goals by which they will monitor and report their performance providing those services to the City.
At a minimum, vendor performance shall be documented as to (a) completing the agreed upon scope of work, (b) completing within the contracted price, and (c) within the contracted timeline.
The awarded vendor will be evaluated by the City per defined metrics on an annual basis. The City will review with the vendor any measures needing improvement.
The City may base renewals and future awards on Performance Measure Results as reported by the Project Manager.

In addition to its own procurement processes, the City can also utilize cooperative agreements.
Cooperative Procurement is the action taken when two or more entities combine their requirements to obtain advantages of volume purchases, including administrative savings and other benefits.
Cooperative Procurement can be a variety of arrangements, whereby two or more public procurement entities (or agencies) purchase from the same supplier or multiple suppliers using a single solicitation - Request for Bids (RFB) or Request for Proposals (RFP). Cooperative procurement efforts may result in contracts that other entities may “piggyback.”
The City allows the use of COOPs that are competitively bid.