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Public Works

  1. Public Works
  2. Public Works Purchasing Guidelines
  3. Agreements and Purchase Orders: Start to Finish

Agreements and Purchase Orders: Start to Finish

First, what do you need for your purchase

Type of contract Amount Bidding requirements What’s needed
1. Professional Services Any Competitive bidding not required Professional services agreement + PO
2. Public Works Projects <$5,000 Competitive bidding not required Not required*
$5,000 -$30,000 Competitive bidding not required Contractor proposal + PO
$30,000 - $175,000 Informal bidding, min. 3 bids Informal construction agreement + PO
>$175,000 Formal bidding procedures Formal construction agreement + PO
3. Services, supplies, materials and equipment (including software) <$5,000 Competitive bidding not required Not required*
$5,000-$10,000 Informal bidding, min. 3 bids Contractor proposal + PO
$10,000 - $75,000 Informal bidding, min. 3 bids Contractor proposal + PO
>$75,000 Formal bidding procedures Contractor proposal + PO

*Depending on the purchase it may make sense to have a contractor proposal and/or PO for purchases >$5,000, but not always.

Note: a PO is not always practical for work that is being executed and invoiced right away. The purpose of the PO is to encumber, or “hold” funds for when the invoices related to that agreement come in. In the case when we expect to be invoiced immediately (it’s a rush project), it may not make sense to set up a PO. Check with Admin staff.

Setting up Agreements with the City Attorney’s office

  1. Solicit bids appropriately (see table above) and select contractor
  2. Draft Professional Services Agreement, Informal Construction Agreement, or Formal Construction Agreement in Word (see table above)
  3. Go to “2018 – Agreement Tracking” spreadsheet in T:\PRESENTATIONS
  4. For a new agreement, go to the “Entry” tab and hit “New Form”
    new form
  5. Fill out all information in the blue box and date Step 1 under “Complete date” and initial under “Reviewer”
    reviewer
  6. Hit Input data at the bottom and save and close the file
    input data

Contract Routing Form Steps with detailed descriptions

(update “2018 – Agreement Tracking” spreadsheet in T:\PRESENTATIONS at each step)

STEP RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION COMPLETED DATE REVIEWER (Initials)
1 Project Manager a. Email PINS Introductory Notice to Contractor
b. Email Contract (in Word) & attachments to City Attorney c/o Laraine.Gittens@cityofsanrafael.org
2 City Attorney a. Review, revise and comment on draft agreement and return to Project Manager
b. Confirm insurance requirements, create Job on PINS, send PINS insurance notice to contractor.
3 DPW Director Send agreement to DPW Director for approval. Include funding source (14-digit Operational Budget Code or 7-digit Project #)
4 Project Manager Accept City Attorney redline changes and forward final agreement to contractor for their signature. *Note, contractor to leave date on first page blank*
5 Project Manager For contracts needing Council approval: Agendize for City Council meeting. Prepare staff report and resolution to accompany contract
For contracts within City Manager award authority: Contingency needed but not included in the agreement – prepare memo to City Manager with contingency amount to accompany contract routing. Contingency not needed or included in the agreement – no additional action required (skip this step)
PRINT (or save as PDF) CONTINUE ROUTING PROCESS WITH HARD COPY
6 Project Manager Forward signed original agreement to City Attorney with printed (or PDF’ed) copy of this routing form. OK to email unless contractor requests originals.

For contracts within City Manager award authority where contingency is needed but not included in the agreement – include memo to City Manager with contingency amount for signature routing.

Where you can find executed agreements

General agreements: W:\01 Administration\01.01 Agreements

Project agreements: In respective project folder, e.g.
W:\18 Traffic\18.01 Construction Projects\18.01.84 2nd & 3rd Street Queue Cutters\Council & Agreements

-or- All executed agreements that have been through the City Clerk’s office are on the Public Records Portal: https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/public-records/

public records portal

How to use the public records portal: https://employees.cityofsanrafael.org/weblink-guides/

Setting up a Purchase Order

  1. Provide copy of the signed agreement (or contractor proposal) to Admin. Indicate coding for the invoice(s) that are forthcoming (14-digit Operational Budget Code or 7-digit Project #)s
    • For contracts with contingency
      • Purchase order will be created for full, Council or CM authorized amount (however contingency will be its own line in the Purchase Order)
      • Provide Admin with proper backup indicating the contingency authorized (e.g. City Council resolution/staff report or City Manager signed memo for projects <$175,000)
  2. Admin will create a “Requisition” in Eden. Once the “Requisition” is approved by Finance it turns into a “Purchase Order” with a unique purchase order number
    purchase order 2
  3. All purchase orders saved in W:\01 Administration\01.14 Purchasing\01.14.01 Purchase Orders
  4. All future invoices related to that agreement will be coded to the Purchase Order numbe
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