Demand Services for Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals

Request for Cost Proposals

RFP #44-031

For the provision of

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Demand Services for Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals

Hall County, Georgia, Board of Commissioners (Herein “County”) is soliciting bid responses from qualified companies specializing in Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals (Herein “Services’) according to the Scope of Work as specified herein.

Schedule of Events:

Bid Post Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____February 29, 2024______

Bidders Questions Due Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___March 14, 2024_______

Answers to Questions Due Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____March 21, 2024______

Bid Due Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____March 28, 2024_______

Bidding Process: The County is now accepting sealed bid proposals from qualified companies specializing in Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals (Herein ‘Services’). The County will accept Bids in the Purchasing Division located on the fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County Government Center, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, before March 28, 2024 at 2:00pm EST.

Public Reading: The Issuing Officer named herein will open and publicly read all proposer’s company names on the date, time and address above. Cost will not be read at this time, but published after the County has evaluated the bids of each company.

Addendums: If needed and in the best interest of the County, Purchasing may make any extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted on the County website. All addendums must be signed by the bidder and returned with the bid packet.

Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s Website located under Related Documents at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx ,then click the Demand Services for Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals link and download the bid packet containing all required documents.

1. General Qualifications:

The vendor shall be responsible for all work performed in support of this contract. Neither vendors nor Subcontractors shall perform work unless pre-approved in writing by the County. Vendors must disclose any intended Subcontractors within the bid at the time of bid submissions.

2. The County may refuse to pay for any work done outside of the Scope of Work or before the issuance of a Notice to Proceed.

3. Vendors shall provide copies of the following Licensing with their bid response:

1. Valid Business License
2. Required licenses and certifications

Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted and to request additional information of one or more applicants. The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, good for a period of one hundred and twenty (120) days from submission.

Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the selected vendor shall enter into a formal agreement; substantially in the form of the attached EXHIBIT B - CONTRACT FOR SERVICE by counter signing the contract with an execution date. Contracts are only valid if they are countersigned. If there are no written objections, then the County will take this as an affirmative acceptance of the Scope of Work as it is presented.

The County reserves the right to reject all proposals, in full or partial, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the respondent submitting the overall best scored proposal.

Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing materials.

All quantitative material should include complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules evidencing all calculations and results.

Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein.

Validation: Bidders must sign and notarize their submittals. Digital signatures are not acceptable. Hall County requires that bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality. Please submit one (1) hard paper proposal marked “Original” with signature, along with three (3) additional copies, and also provide the proposals on a USB drive.

The County reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of contract award or not. The County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation in any bid received.

Bidders must complete and return all forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ with the bid or the proposal. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive and the County may not evaluate it for award.

Award Process: The County reserves the option to reject any or all bids, in whole-or-in-part, or to select any bidder to complete the described Service. The County will not make an award of contract solely based on lowest bid, but also on approach, references, qualifications and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at its sole discretion.

Questions: Bidder’s must present all questions in writing and directed solely to the issuing officer at mhawkins@hallcounty.org For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. .

Non-Collusion: Bidders must have no contact of any nature with any other bidders, County staff members, its elected officials, nor Commissioners, during the evaluation process. The County may deem such as collusion, and thus render the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County and thus the County may render the proposal as non-responsive and not evaluate the proposal for an award.

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Statement of Need

3.0 General Business Requirements

4.0 Scope of Services

5.0 Submission of Proposals

6.0 RFP Response Preparation

7.0 Selection Process

8.0 Exhibits and Attachments

1.0. INTRODUCTION

Hall County, Georgia, desires Demand Services for Tool & Heavy Equipment Rentals and is soliciting submissions for this Request for Cost Proposal (herein ‘RFP’) for the service.

2.0. STATEMENT OF NEED

The County seeks to award numerous companies for the service. The County expects the awarded companies to be prompt, attentive, and able to provide the services in a timely and scheduled manner and with personnel, including subcontractors, to be professional in approach and uniform in production.

3.0 GENERAL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Insurance Requirements. If awarded, The Contractor must maintain insurance policies at the Contractor's own expense and must furnish the County with a Certificate of Insurance (COI) providing evidence of coverage at least in the amounts indicated in EXHIBIT B – CONTRACT FOR SERVICES. The insurance certificate must list County as the certificate holder and as an additional insured under the commercial general, automobile and umbrella liability policies as follows: “Hall County, Georgia, its Board of Commissioners, officers, employees, servants and agents, 2875 Browns Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504”.

3.2 Priority Service. In the event of an emergency (declared, perceived, or force majeure), the vendors must make tools and heavy equipment available to the County on a priority basis for the good and orderly welfare of public assistance, disaster relief, or other needs of the Hall County public. The fees for priority basis shall not exceed those fees stated in Exhibit C – Cost Proposal (incorporated as part of the contract), regardless of scarcity or any other events beyond the control of the vendors or the County.

4.0 SCOPE OF WORK

4.1 Vendors shall provide all equipment necessary to perform the Services. This Contract shall have a one (1) year initial term, with four (4) additional one (1) year renewals, based on the approval of both parties. Hall County reserves the right to reject all proposals.

4.2 Hall County, Georgia desires to contract with qualified vendors for the purpose of renting heavy construction equipment and tools for the Hall County Public Works Division, Building Maintenance Division, and other County Departments/Agencies.

The vendors will need to be able to provide, to the County, on an as needed basis, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly rental of heavy construction equipment including, but not limited to, backhoes, dump trucks, tandem dump trucks, and other equipment and tools as needed. Also, the Vendor shall provide to the County, on an as needed basis, any additional smaller equipment (tools, etc.) that may be available for rent through the vendor’s inventory of items.

4.3 Requirements:

4.3.1. Delivery and Pick-Up:

1. The County will pick up and return small tools and equipment from Vendor, unless arranged otherwise. If Vendor is to deliver equipment to the County, the vendor shall deliver the requested equipment with two (2) calendar days of notification.
2. All deliveries shall be made between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:30 pm, Monday-Friday, excluding County recognized holidays, or unless special arrangements have been made prior.
   
   

4.3.2. Equipment and Tools in Poor Working Condition:

1. The Vendor is required to keep all equipment and tools available for rent in proper and safe working condition. If a replacement is needed, then Replacement shall occur within twenty-four (24) hours of notification at the vendor’s expense.
   
   

4.3.3 Equipment and Tool Requirements:

1. All vehicles and equipment, including backhoes and excavators, shall have closed cabs or ROPS enclosures.
2. All equipment delivered to the County shall have a full tank of fuel, and all manufacturers’ required maintenance shall be up to date.
3. All conventional cab tandem dump vehicles shall have a set-back front axle. The cab and chassis shall be equipped with all standard equipment as specified by the manufacturer for this model and shall comply with all EPA Emission Standards and all Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as established by the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding the manufacture of motor vehicles.
   
   

4.3.4 Preventive Maintenance and Repairs:

1. The Vendor shall provide for all necessary preventative maintenance, required testing and inspection, calibration, repairs and other work necessary to maintain equipment in complete operational condition during the rental period.
2. The County shall not remove, alter, disfigure, or cover up any numbering, lettering or insignia displayed on the equipment, and shall ensure that the equipment is not subjected to careless or needlessly rough usage, and shall maintain and ultimately return to the Vendor the equipment and its appurtenances in good repair and operating condition.

1. The Contractor shall maintain complete inspection records and make them available to the County upon request.

4. The Contractor shall provide to the County, upon request, a copy of the most recent services performed on all leased equipment.

4.3.5 Inspection of Equipment and Tools:

1. The Vendor shall maintain an adequate inspection system and perform such as will ensure all equipment conforms to contract requirements.
2. The Vendor shall, without charge, replace or correct equipment found not to conform to contract requirements, unless the County determines that it is in the best interest of the County to accept the equipment.
3. Before the County accepts any equipment or tools, a County employee or agent shall perform a damage and function inspection on each piece of equipment or tool that is provided to the County at the time of delivery. The inspection and findings shall be confirmed in writing, signed and dated by the County employee or agent. The inspection report shall document any visible or new damage, and any equipment malfunctions discovered on the equipment during the inspection. The County reserves the right to request replacement equipment at its sole discretion.
4. No claim for damages shall be paid by the County unless inspection documentation is acknowledged, signed, and dated.
5. The Vendor shall provide the County with a copy of the inspection when a vehicle is rented.
   
   

4.3.6 Rubber Tired Machinery:

1. The County shall not be invoiced for tire repairs during normal operations of the rented equipment.
2. Tire wear and the cost of repairs due to cuts and punctures is the responsibility of the Vendor and shall be repaired immediately.
3. The Vendor shall provide to the County a copy of maintenance records indicating rotation and replacement dates of all vehicle tires, if requested.
   
   

4.3.7 Bucket Wear and Bucket Repairs:

1. The County shall not be responsible for bucket wear, or the cost of repairs to return the bucket to its original condition at the beginning of the rental period.

5.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

5.1 The County request that Bidders submit proposals addressing all items listed below. Failure to include any of these mandatory documents may result in disqualification. All responses must be in writing. Bidders should submit one (1) copy marked “Original” and three (3) copies marked “Copy” and all documents loaded onto one (1) USB flash drive in MS Word, Excel and PDF formats depending on the document with the cost proposal separated into two different file folders on the USB flash Drive.

5.2 Bidder’s must submit their sealed bid response packages with clearly marked with RFP#: 44-031.

5.3 Follow these instructions carefully. Include in your bid response package two (2) separate, sealed envelopes. Mark one envelope with “Technical Qualifications Response”, and enclose these completed Exhibits:

Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet (Signed)

Exhibit B – Contract for Services (SAMPLE – READ ONLY)

Exhibit D – Mandatory Completed W-9 Form (Signed)

Exhibit E - Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit (Signed)

Exhibit F – Mandatory Ethics Affidavit (Signed)

Copy of Business License

Certificate of Insurance

Copy of Professional Licenses or Certifications

• In the second envelope, please mark it as “Exhibit C - Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet” and place an all-inclusive list of equipment. Include makes, models, list price, percentage discount factor, and the net cost for hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly rentals.

5.4 The County will make all proposals submitted publicly available by a written Open Records Request. \

Bidders may submit to the following address by the deadline date and time. All deliveries must be date and timed stamped. The County is not responsible for late bids due to mailing delays.

5.4.1 Hand Delivery/FedEx/UPS/USPS/Courier to:

Hall County Government Center

Mike Hawkins, Issuing Officer

Purchasing Division - 4th Floor,

2875 Browns Bridge Road

Gainesville, Georgia 30504

6.0. RFP RESPONSE PREPARATION

6.1 The Vendor bears all responsibility for all expenses incurred in responding to this RFP such expenses to be borne exclusively by the proposer.

6.2 Cover Letter: Prepare and submit a cover letter for transmittal addressing General Qualifications. Provide the following information: Name of Proposer, Name and title of the persons who will manage the engagement, mailing address, physical address, telephone numbers, and email address of Proposer.

6.3 Describe the organization of your firm, the location of offices, and your resources that are available to accomplish the work for the County.

6.4 Of the services listed in the Scope of Services, indicate which ones, if any, your firm would be unable to provide. If there is another service that your firm could provide instead, please elaborate.

6.5 The County will not accept Joint Proposals unless otherwise noted herein. An awarded Vendor may utilize subcontractors, as needed and pre-approved by the County. Bidders must submit all intended Sub-Contracts with their proposal. If plans to subcontract portions of the required services are included, please provide details on such plans.

7.0 SELECTION PROCESS

7.1 The bidders may be asked for an interview, further negotiations, demonstrations, or a Best and Final Offer.

7.2 The evaluation will include a review of each proposal with regard to demonstrated breadth of service, experience, financial stability, personnel, rates, references, lead times and other related criteria.

7.3 The successful respondents will be required to submit acceptable evidence of compliance with professional liability insurance coverage requirements as outlined in the Contract document.

7.4 Respondents are encouraged to submit clear and concise responses and excessive length, or extraneous information is discouraged. In an effort to ensure our ability to evaluate and choose successful vendors, respondents are encouraged to organize their proposal as follows:

Section 1 – Cover Letter and Executive Summary

Section 2 – Cost Proposals Submitted in a separate sealed envelope.

7.5 Bidder’s must locate and complete all Exhibits to this RFP and submit with the bid. Bidders failing to do so may result in the bid to be Non-responsive and thus not evaluated.

7.6 The County structured the evaluation process to secure highly competitive bidders who would be most effective in delivering the Services. The primary objective of the evaluation process is to select a firm that:

7.6.1 Clearly demonstrates a thorough understanding of the contract responsibilities; and,

7.6.2 That presents a compelling work plan that yields the desired contract services and deliverables; and,

7.6.3 Shows adequate resources to handle the project.

7.6.4 Presents a focused effort to allocate those resources to the project.

7.6.5 Demonstrates exceptional value for the cost of services proposed.

7.7 Steps to Award

Once awarded, the County will follow with a Notice-of-Intent-to-Award, Notice-of-Award, and finally by a Notice-to-Proceed.

Step 1: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information provided and to request additional information required to assist in the evaluation process.

Step 2: Purchasing will document the proposers on a Bid Tabulation Summary.

Step 3: The County may enter into negotiations with an apparent awardee.

8.0 Exhibits and Attachments

Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet

Exhibit B - Contract for Services (SAMPLE – READ ONLY)

Exhibit C – Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet

Exhibit D – Mandatory W-9 Form

Exhibit E - Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit

Exhibit F – Mandatory Ethics Affidavit