State Route 140 at CR309 Univeter Road Intersection Improvement Project 0017804

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 1 of 21
Cherokee County Board of Commissioners
Purchasing Department
1130 Bluffs Parkway, Canton, GA 30114
Phone: (678) 493-6000
Fax: (678) 493-6035
STANDARD SOLICITATIONS TERMS
QUALIFICATIONS, BIDS & PROPOSALS
Updated 7/11/2024
STANDARD TERMS FOR BID AND PROPOSAL SOLICITATIONS
1. Project Schedule & Addenda
1.1 The project schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the County. All official dates
and times will be posted with the solicitation documents.
1.2 Changes or clarifications to the solicitation schedule and specifications will be issued as
an addendum, posted with the solicitation documents to the Cherokee County's
designated solicitation platform, BidNet Direct1 (hereafter "Designated Website"). It is
the supplier's responsibility to monitor the solicitation for addenda and comply with any
additional proposal requirements included in the addenda. The anticipated award date is
subject to change without notice. Only changes to schedule that will impact supplier side
deadlines and due dates (i.e. questions deadlines and offer due dates and times) will
require addenda.
2. Questions/Information
2.1 All questions and requests for information shall be addressed as a "Question" from within
the Cherokee County Designated Website.
2.2 Questions received after the question submission deadline will be answered at the
County's discretion.
2.3 All answers to questions received prior to the question submission deadline will be posted
on the County's Designated Website in the form of an addendum.
3. Pre-Qualification/bid/proposal Meeting
3.1 Discussions during the pre-qualification/bid/proposal meeting are informal in nature and
will not be provided as meeting minutes or included in the solicitation documents. Only
the solicitation documents and posted addenda shall constitute the official information to
be used by the supplier in preparing a qualification/bid/proposal.
3.2 All attendees at mandatory pre-qualification conferences will be required to sign an
attendance sheet indicating their attendance at the meeting. Signatures will be collected
prior to the start of the meeting and may continue to be accepted for a period of 5
minutes once the meeting has begun. After the 5-minute grace period, it will be at the
sole discretion of the County to allow further signatures from late arrivers. It is the
responsibility of the supplier to ensure they have signed the attendance sheet in order to
1 https://www.bidnetdirect.com/georgia/cherokeecounty

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 2 of 21
receive credit for attending the meeting; the County assumes no responsibility for the
supplier's attendance or directions to the meeting.
4. No Communication with County Representatives
4.1 Suppliers shall avoid engaging in communication with County staff or elected officials
regarding this project, representatives from the Procurement Department shall be the
only authorized points of contact during this solicitation. Unauthorized contact may
disqualify the supplier from further consideration.
5. Proposal Preparation & Submission
5.1 Proposals shall be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward and
concise description of the supplier's capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the
solicitation.
5.2 The County expects qualifications/bids/proposals to be well organized according to the
instructions and organization of the solicitation, as well as address all the requirements
contained in the solicitation (including any addenda).
5.3 Proposals and all required forms must be signed by an authorized representative of the
organizations responding to the solicitation.
5.4 Information which the supplier desires to present but does not fall within any of the
requirements of the solicitation should be inserted at the end of the
qualification/bid/proposal and designated as "Additional Material". Please Note:
"Additional Material" submissions will count as part of the proposal page count and may
not be considered.
5.5 It is the supplier's responsibility to ensure that the qualification/bid/proposal is
responsive to all the County's requirements and complete in all aspects.
5.6 The County accepts most Qualifications, Proposals or Bids electronically through its
designated solicitation Designated Website:
a) Qualifications/bids/proposals and all requested documentation are to be provided
electronically in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) unless otherwise
indicated in the solicitation instructions.
i. Qualifications/bids/proposals should be uploaded in as few attachments as
possible, preferably as one PDF document per upload, unless otherwise noted
in the solicitation instructions. Documents provided in response to this
solicitation are to be named according to the following naming convention:
[Solicitation Number]_[Vendor Name]_[Document Type]
Example: "2017-111_ABC Company_Proposal"
b) Should physical copies be requested in the solicitation:
i. The original qualification/bid/proposal should be clearly marked "original" and
should be unbound, one-sided, 8 1/2" X 11" size. Copies, if applicable, may be
bound and double sided; preference is 8 1/2" X 11",
ii. Are to be mailed or delivered in a sealed envelope to the address provided
below,
iii. Should include the solicitation number on the outer most packaging and unless
otherwise noted, bids/proposals are to be addressed as follows:

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 3 of 21
Solicitation #
Attn: Procurement - Upper Level Admin Building
Cherokee County Board of Commissioners
1130 Bluffs Pkwy, Canton GA 30114
iv. It is the responsibility of the organizations responding to the solicitation to
ensure the timely delivery of the bid or proposal. Please note; (1) improperly
addressed qualifications/bids/proposals risk not being delivered to the
Procurement Agent by the submission deadline resulting in a non-responsive
determination and (2) electronic submissions should be performed at a
reasonable amount of time before the due date and time to allow for technical
considerations, last minute technical failures are likely to result in a rejected
submission.
5.7 The qualification/bid/proposal, at a minimum, should contain all of the County's standard
forms and appendices identified as required in the solicitation and any additional
information as listed in the Submittal Instructions; lack of such required submittals may
be reason to deem a qualification/bid/proposal "non-responsive". Such a determination
by the County shall not be a cause of action by the bidder/proposer against Cherokee
County.
5.8 Suppliers should use the forms / appendices requested in the solicitation and either
attached thereto or as otherwise identified and provided; alternate forms may not be
acceptable.
6. Subcontractors
6.1 Suppliers whose qualification/bid/proposal will include the use of subcontractors are
required to identify the scope of the project that they intend to subcontract and the
subcontractor proposed to perform the work.
7. County Specifications and Supplier Performance
7.1 Suppliers are expected to have the professional expertise to offer the products/services
that are consistent with the County's solicitation objectives and that are in the best
interest of the County. Errors or omissions in the specifications or scope of work that
would lead to a lower quality of service or deliverable are to be communicated to the
Purchasing Agent as soon as possible to avoid an inferior work product.
7.2 Acceptance of designs, plans, and specifications by the County is limited to the function
of determining whether there has been compliance with what is required to be produced
under this Agreement. The proposing or bidding organization represents, by the
submission it provides, that they possess the requisite expertise and experience to
perform in accordance with the requirements within this solicitation. The County will not,
and need not, inquire into adequacy, fitness, suitability or correctness of supplier's
performance. No approval of designs, plans, or specifications by any person, body or
agency shall relieve supplier of the responsibility for adequacy, fitness, suitability, and
correctness of suppliers' work under professional and industry standards, or for
performing services in accordance with sound and accepted professional and industry
principals.

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 4 of 21
8. Use of Brand Names and Substitutions
8.1 Unless defined in the solicitation as a specific brand and/or part number, brand names or
specifications specific to one or multiple manufacturers have been called out or listed as
part of the desired item's description in order to establish an expected level of quality and
performance and not to limit competition. Different brands with comparable models or
options that meet the same level of quality and performance with those items referenced
within the specification are encouraged to submit these items for consideration. In order
to allow the County to effectively evaluate all offerings against the actual performance
needs, the party proposing alternative brands shall provide a comparison of the features
and performance areas as defined in the specification. Such comparison shall clearly
indicate the bidder's conformance to the specifications as follows; (a) meets, (b) exceeds,
(c) does not meet or (d) meets intent (through alternative design, technology, etc.).
Commentary and documentation that clearly demonstrates the level of functionality and
quality is required for each comparison point. The County will be solely responsible for
making the determination of acceptability of proposed products/items and scoring each
item's fitness for the intended purpose.
8.2 It is the responsibility of those proposing any product or service to clearly identify what
has been proposed on the Bid Form, including the quantity, manufacturer's name, model
number, year of manufacturer, as well as a defining any options or upgrades required to
meet the specification. Pricing shall reflect what is required to meet the specification. Any
options that the bidder believes important for the County to consider shall be clearly
identified as an option, indicate the performance change/benefit as well as corresponding
pricing adjustments.
8.3 See Statement of Work or Solicitation Document regarding the applicability of proposing
alternate items.
9. Open Records and Confidential Information
9.1 Bids/Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation may be subject to public
inspection under the Georgia Open Records Act (O.C.G.A. 50-18-70-77). Any information
that is required by the County to be included in the supplier's qualification/bid/proposal
that constitutes a trade secret, as defined by the Georgia code, must include an affidavit
affirmatively declaring that the information constitutes a trade secret. A general
indication that the entire contents (or a major portion of the contents) of the
qualification/bid/proposal is proprietary will not be honored.
10. No Cost or Contractual Obligation
10.1 Any and all costs associated with participating in this solicitation will be solely borne by
the organizations responding to the solicitation.
10.2 The County assumes no contractual obligation associated with this solicitation until final
award has been approved by the Board of Commissioners and/or County Manager and a
fully executed Agreement and/or Purchase Order is provided to the selected supplier.
Suppliers or subcontractors performing work prior to the execution of a contract or
delivery of a purchase order do so at their own risk.
10.3 The County reserves the right to cancel this solicitation at its discretion, in whole or in

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 5 of 21
part, at any time prior to award. The issuing of this solicitation by the County is no
guarantee that an award will be made.
11. Solicitation Responder's Responsibility
11.1 The supplier is responsible for furnishing and delivery of all Property included in this
solicitation, whether or not the supplier is the manufacturer or producer of such Property.
Further, the supplier will be the sole point of contact on contractual matters, including
payment of charges resulting from the use or purchase of Property.
12. Suppliers Submission Creates an Offer
12.1 Submission of a response (completed, signed and returned) shall constitute an offer to
provide the goods and/or services specified by the Supplier, at the prices stated in the
qualification/bid/proposal, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the County's
Contract and the terms and conditions of this solicitation.
12.2 If any exceptions are taken to any part of the solicitation or proposed contract, each
exception must be stated in detail and submitted as part of the proposal document. If no
exceptions are stated, it is assumed that the supplier fully agrees to the County's Standard
Agreement in its entirety. The County reserves the right to reject all exceptions and award
the work to a supplier who agrees to the County's terms and conditions without
exceptions.
13. Tax Exemption
14. Classifying Proposals as Responsive and Responsible
14.1 The Procurement Agent or designee will determine whether a supplier has met the
standards of the solicitation and is responsive as well as responsible or able to meet the
statement of work and/or specifications. Such determinations may be made at any time
during the evaluation process and through negotiation if information surfaces that would
result in a determination of non-responsibility.
14.2 Proposals found nonresponsive will not be considered further. The County may make
such investigations as it deems necessary to determine the ability of each supplier to
perform, and the supplier shall furnish to the County all such information and data for
this purpose as the County may request.
15. Proposal Withdrawal
15.1 Unless otherwise disallowed in the solicitation or on the bid pricing form, suppliers may
withdraw their bids/proposals due to unintentional errors. Proposals received prior to the
due date and time may be withdrawn through formal request to the Procurement
Department and signed by an authorized individual of the bidder/proposer. Once the
bids/proposals have been opened, the supplier shall give notice in writing of his claim of
right to withdraw his qualification/bid/proposal due to an error within two (2) business
days after the date of final submission to the County. Bids/proposals may be withdrawn
from consideration solely due to a clerical mistake as opposed to a judgment mistake

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 6 of 21
provided that the unintentional arithmetic error or unintentional omission can be clearly
shown by objective evidence drawn from inspection of original work papers, documents
and material used in the preparation of the bid sought to be withdrawn. The supplier's
original work papers shall be the sole acceptable evidence of error and mistake if they
elect to withdraw their qualification/bid/proposal. If a qualification/bid/proposal is
withdrawn under the authority of this provision, the lowest remaining responsive
qualification/bid/proposal may be deemed to be low qualification/bid/proposal.
15.2 No bidder/proposer who is permitted to withdraw a bid shall, for compensation, supply
any material or labor or perform any subcontract or other work agreement for the person
or firm to whom the contract is awarded or otherwise benefit, directly or indirectly, from
the performance of the project for which the withdrawn bid was submitted.
16. Interviews and Discussions
16.1 Suppliers may also be requested to make an oral presentation and/or product
demonstration to clarify their qualification/bid/proposal or to further define their offer.
In either case, Suppliers should be prepared to send qualified personnel to the County to
discuss technical and contractual aspects of the proposal. Oral presentations and product
demonstrations, if requested, shall be at the supplier's expense.
17. Reserved
17.1 Reserved
18. County's Right to Reject Bids/Proposals
18.1 The County reserves the right to reject any or all bids/proposals based upon its interest
or investigation or information submitted and to waive irregularities, informalities, or
technicalities. The County further reserves the right to make a selection and final award
as deemed to be in the best interest of the County.
19. Proposal Scoring
19.1 The County reserves the right to establish minimum soring requirements for either or
both pricing and non-pricing evaluation criteria in order to determine responsible
proposing organizations.
19.2 Proposals pricing evaluations will be determined based upon County standard
approaches as applied to the unique circumstances associated with each procurement.
19.3 The County reserves the right to do business with other than the highest scoring
organization should a lower scored organization be qualified and more cost effective.
19.4 Based on the nature of the requirements, the County the reserves the right to only
formally evaluate proposals that represent the lowest three priced proposals that are
determined to be acceptable based on the criteria identified in the solicitation should that
result in the winning proposal's score mathematically eliminating the possibility of the
unevaluated higher priced proposals being susceptible for consideration of award.

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 7 of 21
20. Proposals Become County Property
20.1 All submitted bids/proposals and supporting materials as well as correspondence relating
to this solicitation become property of the County when received. Any proprietary
information contained in the proposal must be so indicated.
21. Suspension, Debarment and Litigation
21.1 Suppliers are expected to notify the County of any suspension or debarment from
performing work for a government entity or any current or pending litigation with a
government organization. Suppliers should provide the County with a list of current or
past suspensions or debarments along with a description of the facts surrounding the
suspension and/or debarment as well as a list of current or pending mediation, arbitration
or litigation and the facts surrounding those actions. Please use the form included in this
solicitation.
21.2 Suppliers are accountable for selecting and managing appropriate subcontractors.
Suppliers presenting qualifications, bids or proposals that include subcontractors that
have been suspended, debarred or are in pending litigation, suspension or debarment or
from any governmental entity (local, state and/or federal) may cause the supplier
submission to be considered non-responsive and/or non-responsible unless the primary
supplier as a part of their bid or proposal:
a) notifies the County that as a part of its bid or proposal it has selected a
subcontractor or subcontractor(s) that have been suspended, debarred or are
pending litigation from a government entity, or suspension or debarment, and
b) have included the jurisdiction(s) where the subcontractor has suspended or
debarred or is being considered for suspension or debarment or litigation and has
included the nature of the circumstances resulting in the suspension or debarment
or litigation, and states a compelling reason for including the subcontractor(s) in
their bid or proposal, and
c) includes measures that the bidding or proposing contractor will take to ensure
that the subcontractor(s) will complete the work in a timely manner and within
the professional standards of quality and workmanship that are expected in the
performance of the work bid or proposed, and
d) in the sole judgement of the County it considers the situation to be so compelling
that it determined to be in the best interest of the County to allow the one- time
use of the sub-contractor without prejudice for further consideration on future
procurements.
22. Insurance
22.1 If insurance is required under the terms of the contract for this project, the County shall
be listed as an "additional insured" on the Certificate of Insurance. The "Certificate
Holder" shall be listed as:

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 8 of 21
Cherokee County, Georgia, acting by and through its Board of Commissioners
1130 Bluffs Pkwy
Canton, GA 30114
23. Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines
23.1 Cherokee County adheres to the guidelines set forth in the Americans with Disabilities
Act. Bidders should contact the Procurement Agent if they require special arrangements
while attending meetings (if any). The County requests at least 48 hours of advance notice
prior to each meeting. The Georgia Relay Center at 1-800-255-0056 (TDD Only) or 1-800-
255-0135 (Voice) will relay messages, in strict confidence, for the speech and hearing
impaired.
24. Local Preference
24.1 In addition to the state purchasing preferences mandated by O.C.G.A. 36-84-1,
Cherokee County-based businesses may be awarded a contract as the lowest responsive
and responsible bidder as defined under the circumstances specified in the Cherokee
County Procurement Ordinance Sec. 2-121 - Cherokee County-based preference. Please
note, this only applies to a Request for Bids type solicitation when County regular budget
and SPLOST funds are used.
25. Procurement Ordinance and Current Documents and Forms:
25.1 All solicitations shall be in accordance with the County Procurement Ordinance. The
Procurement Ordinance and the most current versions of approved forms and documents
can be found on the County's web site using the link to the Procurement Department.
26. Supplier Standards and Ethics:
26.1 By participating in this solicitation, all respondents affirm that they have read, understand
and will abide by the "Supplier Standards and Ethics"2 statement as located on the
County's web site.
Appendices begin next page.
Please note: Not all appendices apply to all purchases.
Only those identified in the solicitation instructions are required for
that specific solicitation.
2 https://www.cherokeega.com/Procurement/_resources/documents/Vendor-Resources/SupplierCodeofEthicalConductApproved06082017.pdf

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 9 of 21
APPENDIX "A"
Solicitation # and Title
INFORMATION & ADDENDA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM
Name of Company
Address - City, State and Zip Code
Name & Title of Primary Contact (for proposal clarifications/questions)
Phone of Primary Contact
Email of Primary Contact
Addenda Acknowledgement: Proposer acknowledges receipt of the following addenda (as
applicable):
Addendum Number: Date:
Addendum Number: Date:
Addendum Number: Date:
Addendum Number: Date:
Addendum Number: Date:
No Addenda Issued
Proposer's Signature Date

Cherokee County Standard Solicitation Terms and Conditions, Page 10 of 21
APPENDIX "B"
Solicitation # and Title
NON-COLLUSION AFFIDAVIT
I state that I am authorized to make this AFFIDAVIT on behalf of my company, and its owners, directors
and officers and I further state that:
1. The price(s) shown in this Qualification/bid/proposal has/have been arrived at independently and without
consultation, communication or agreement with any other contractor, responder or potential responder to
the Request for Bids (RFB)/Request for Proposals (RFP); and
2. Neither the price(s) nor the amount of the Qualification/bid/proposal, and neither the approximate budgets
nor approximate amounts in this Qualification/bid/proposal, have been disclosed to any other company or
person who is a responder or potential responder to this RFP, and they will not be disclosed before the
Qualification/bid/proposal opening; and
3. No attempt has been made or will be made to induce any company or person to refrain from responding to
this RFB/RFP, or to induce them to submit a budget that is higher than the budget in this
Qualification/bid/proposal, or to submit any intentionally high or noncompetitive
Qualification/bid/proposal or other form of nonresponsive Qualification/bid/proposal; and
4. The price(s), proposal and budget prepared are made in good faith and not pursuant to any agreement,
discussion with or inducement from any agency, company or person to submit a complementary or other
noncompetitive Qualification/bid/proposal.
I state that understands and acknowledges that
(Name of Company)
the above representations are material and important and will be relied on by the Cherokee County Board of
Commissioners (CCBOC) in awarding the contract(s) for which this Qualification/bid/proposal is submitted. I
understand, and my company understands, that any misstatement in this Affidavit is and shall be treated as fraudulent
concealment from CCBOC of the true facts relating to the submission of Bids/Proposals for this contract.
Signature Date
Printed Name
Title
Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 20
(Notary Public)
[SEAL REQUIRED]
My Commission Expires: