Part IV – Affirmative Procurement Initiatives

Subject to applicable federal and state law, as well as <cite data-doc="City of Baltimore, Md., Charter">the City Charter</cite>, and applicable regulations, policies, and procedures, the Board of Estimates, on the recommendation of the contracting agency, may waive or reduce the bonding or insurance requirements for public works contracts, depending on the type of contract and whether the contracting agency determines that the bonding or insurance requirements would deny an SLBE, or Emerging SLBE, an opportunity to perform a contract that the SLBE or Emerging SLBE has shown itself otherwise capable of performing.

From time to time the Chief shall make written suggestions to a contracting agency relating to concerns about bidding restrictions caused by bonding or insurance requirements on solicitations issued by that agency.

Subject to applicable federal and state law, as well as <cite data-doc="City of Baltimore, Md., Charter">the City Charter</cite>, and applicable regulations, policies, and procedures, the Board of Estimates, on the recommendation of the Department of Finance, may waive or reduce the bonding or insurance requirements, depending on the type of contract and whether the Department determines that the bonding or insurance requirements would deny an SLBE or Emerging SLBE an opportunity to perform a contract that the SLBE or Emerging SLBE has shown itself otherwise capable of performing.

From time to time the Chief shall make written suggestions to the Director of Finance relating to concerns about bidding restrictions caused by bonding or insurance requirements on solicitations issued by the Department of Finance.

the award to the SLBE would result in a total contract cost that is, on an annual basis, more than $25,000 higher than the low bid;

if the total contract cost would exceed the City’s budgeted funding for the contract; or

the total contract cost is determined by the contracting agency, with concurrence from the agency receiving the primary benefit of the contract, to be so high in price as to be not reasonable.

would exceed the City’s budgeted funding for the contract; or

is determined by the contracting agency, with concurrence from the agency receiving the primary benefit of the contract, to be so high in price as to be not reasonable.

If the contractor is a certified SLBE or certified Emerging SLBE, then the contractor is entitled to count the dollar value of the work performed by its own forces towards satisfaction of the mandatory subcontracting goal for that contract.

An SLBE or Emerging SLBE contractor may not subcontract more than 49% of the contract value.

An SLBE or Emerging SLBE subcontractor may not further subcontract more than 10% of its portion of the contract value to a vendor who is not an SLBE or Emerging SLBE.

For a contract bid out under this section, a prospective bidder must submit, at the time of bidding, a form providing the name of the SLBE or Emerging SLBE subcontractor or subcontractors and describing both the percentage of subcontracting by the SLBE or Emerging SLBE and the work to be performed by the SLBE or Emerging SLBE.

At the time of bidding, a bidder may request a full or partial waiver of this mandatory subcontracting requirement from the Chief for good cause, by submitting an SLBE unavailability certification to the Chief along with adequate documentation of good faith efforts to obtain SLBE participation, in the form required by the Office.

whether the requestor of the waiver has made good faith efforts to subcontract with qualified and available SLBEs or Emerging SLBEs;

whether subcontracting would be inappropriate or not provide a commercially useful function under the circumstances of the contract; and

whether there are no certified SLBE or certified Emerging SLBE firms that are qualified and available to provide the goods or services required.

In the absence of a waiver, failure of a contractor’s bid or proposal to satisfy the mandatory SLBE subcontracting goal renders its bid or proposal non-responsive.

In the absence of a waiver, failure of a contractor, in the performance of the contract, to attain a mandatory subcontracting goal for SLBE participation is grounds for termination of existing contracts with the City, debarment from performing future City contracts, or any other remedies available under the terms of its contract with the City or under the law.

A Contractor commits a material breach of contract if it fails to notify and obtain written approval from the Chief in advance of any negative change in usage of a designated SLBE or Emerging SLBE subcontractor, including any:

The Chief and a contracting agency may select certain contracts that have a contract value of $250,000 or less for award to a certified SLBE, or a joint venture with a certified SLBE, through the Sheltered Market Program.

The Chief and a contracting agency may select certain contracts that have a value of $50,000 or less for award to a certified Emerging SLBE firm through the Sheltered Market Program.

whether there are at least 3 certified SLBEs or certified Emerging SLBEs that are available and capable to participate in the Sheltered Market Program for that contract;

the degree of underutilization of the SLBE and Emerging SLBE contractors in the specific industry categories; and

the extent to which the City’s SLBE and Emerging SLBE contractor utilization goals are being achieved.

a responsive and responsible bid or response is not received for the contract; or

the apparent low bid is determined by the contracting agency, with concurrence from the agency receiving the primary benefit of the contract, to be so high in price as to be not reasonable or not within the City’s budgeted funding for the contract.

A finding made regarding the number of available certified SLBE’s or Emerging SLBE’s in determining whether a contract should be bid through the Sheltered Market Program for purposes of subsection (b) of this section does not create a presumption that any bidder is a responsible bidder for purposes of subsection (c) of this section.

The determination of a contracting agency, or the City’s prequalification process, that a bidder is not a responsible bidder for purposes of subsection (c) of this section is final and conclusive.

Contracts reserved for Competitive Business Development Demonstration Projects are subject to a Request for Proposals process open only to joint ventures between an established firm, or experts in the relevant industry, and a certified SLBE firm.

The scope of work for the selected joint venture must include teaching a hands-on curriculum to SLBE firms that have expressed an interest in diversifying into the relevant industry, in addition to performing the customary functions of the contract.

The curriculum required by paragraph (2) of this subsection must teach skills required to qualify for future City contracts and to successfully compete in the industry, including both: