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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 the contract, in Word, using the appropriate contract template (i.e. Professional Services Agreement (PSA), Informal Construction Agreement, or Formal Construction Agreement - see table above for reference). All current contract templates can be found on the City Attorney's website.
  3. Fill in the appropriate contract template with all the required information.
  4. Prior to commencing the routing process, electronically fill out the contract routing form, and send the City Attorney's office an email with the drafted contract, any attachments, and the contract routing form.
  5. After the City Attorney's office reviews the contract, they will send it back to the requester with edits and revisions (if any). Once received back from the City Attorney, send the electronic version of the contract, with the attachments and routing form, to the Department Director for review and approval.
  6. Once the Department Director has reviewed the contract, send a pdf version of the contract, along with the respective attachments, to the contractor. Request for three signed wet copies of the contract back via mail. Once received, route the contracts (with the printed routing slip) to City Hall for the City Attorney, City Manager, and City Clerk's signature.
  7. Once the contract is finalized, send a copy of the executed contract to the contractor/consultant.

Contract Routing Form Steps with detailed descriptions

Click here for the Word Document version.

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 or W:\01 Administration\Contract Tracker - IKK

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 item 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 number.
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