TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Request For Quote
Customer Name:
Customer Address:
Customer E-mail Address:
I. Introduction
1.0 Objective
The Customer (hereinafter referred to as “The Customer”) intends to acquire a complete information transport system (ITS) for its facility located at Street Address, City, State, Zip Code. The Customer here-within requests proposals for the installation, testing, and acceptance of the ITS described in the attached specifications and drawings by interested persons (hereinafter known as “The Vendor”). Prices quoted shall be all-inclusive and represent complete installation at the sites shown on the attached drawings and in the attached specifications. The Vendor shall be responsible for all parts, labor, and all other associated apparatus necessary to completely install, test, and turnover for acceptance to The Customer the ITS detailed herein.
1.1 Schedule of Events
The following is the required schedule of events for this project. The schedule may change depending on the results of the responses and a final schedule will be established prior to contracting with the successful Vendor.
Event Date
1. Release of RFQ to Bidders
2. Bidders’ Conference
3. Site Survey
4. Response from Bidders
5. Evaluation of Responses
6. Contract Award
7. Installation Start
8. Installation Complete
9. End-to-End Testing
10. Review of Testing
11. Final Punch List
12. Acceptance by The Customer
II. Terms and Conditions of Request for Quote (RFQ)
2.0 Response Submission
Responses to this RFQ must be submitted in sealed packages and delivered by either USPS, express delivery, or personally on or before Date, at Time, to The Customer, Purchasing Office, Street Address, City, State, Zip Code. The response packages will be opened at Time on Date. It is the sole responsibility of the respondents to ensure that their responses arrive in a timely manner. The Customer reserves the right to reject all late arrivals. The Vendor must submit four (4) copies of the response along with sample installation and maintenance contracts.
2.1 Costs Associated with Preparation of the Vendor’s Response
The Customer will not be liable for any cost incurred by the respondents in preparing responses to this RFQ or negotiations associated with award of a contract.
2.2 Bidders’ Conference
A Bidders’ Conference will be held on Date at Time, Location, Street Address, City, State, Zip Code for the purpose of reviewing the RFQ and receiving questions from The Vendors that intend to respond to this RFQ. Attendance at this conference is mandatory. If The Vendor does not attend the Bidders’ Conference, then The Vendor will not be allowed to attend the Site Survey or respond to the RFQ. Drawings reflecting the proposed work will be provided to the companies attending. Only one set of drawings will be allocated per company. Because of space allocations, only two representatives from each Vendor will be allowed to attend. The Vendors will be required to sign in to verify attendance. Subcontractors will not be allowed to represent The Vendor. An employee of The Vendor firm planning to respond must attend. The second person can be a subcontractor.
2.3 Site Survey
A Site Survey will be conducted at 1:00 PM EDT on the same day as the Bidders’ Conference. Attendance at the Site Survey is mandatory. If a Vendor does not attend the Site Survey, then that Vendor will not be allowed to respond to the RFQ.
2.4 Subcontractors
Should a contractor attend the Bidders’ Conference and represent his or her respective company, that company will be prohibited from acting as a subcontractor to a Vendor responding should that Vendor be awarded the contract. Should The Vendor use subcontractors for portions of the work, the Customer reserves the right to reject any subcontractor without explanation or recourse by The Vendor or subcontractor.
2.5 Interpretation and Additional Information
2.5.1 Interpretations, Corrections, and/or Changes
Any interpretation, correction, or change of the RFQ will be made by an ADDENDUM. Interpretations, corrections, or changes to the RFQ made in any other manner will not be binding, and The Vendors shall not rely upon such interpretations, corrections, or changes. Interpretations, changes, or corrections will be issued by The Customer. Addenda will be mailed or delivered to all who are known to have attended the Bidders’ Conference. Addenda will be issued as expeditiously as possible (if necessary by FAX, followed up by original documents). It is the responsibility of The Vendors to determine whether all addenda have been received.
2.5.2 Addenda
It will be the responsibility of all respondents to contact The Customer prior to submitting a response to the RFQ to ascertain if any addenda have been issued, and to obtain any and all addenda, execute them, and return addenda with the response to the RFQ.
2.6 Questions
Questions regarding this RFQ must be submitted in writing or e-mail prior to the Bidders’ Conference. Questions arising out of the Site Survey must be received by The Customer not later than 12:00 noon of the next day or the questions will be considered null and void. Responses to all questions received in proper time frames will be made in writing and distributed to all Vendors in attendance.
2.7 Proposal Binding Period
Prices quoted in The Vendor’s response for all labor and materials will remain in effect for a period of at least ninety (90) business days from the issuance date of The Vendor’s response.
2.8 Omissions
Omission in the proposal of any provision herein described shall not be construed as to relieve The Vendor of any responsibility or obligation requisite to the complete and satisfactory delivery, operation, and support of any and all equipment or services.
2.9 Financing
The Customer desires to purchase the ITS. Alternate financing methods by which The Customer would acquire ownership in the proposed ITS will be considered but not necessarily accepted. The Customer reserves the right to purchase the system outright.
2.9.1 Payment Conditions
Payment shall be made upon acceptance of the job by The Customer. The ITS will be deemed acceptable when The Vendor delivers to The Customer:
• Cables which are 99.9% free of defective pairs of copper or fiber strands.
• Transmission test results on the horizontal cabling.
• Transmission test results on the backbone cables.
• Other.
Acceptance shall be further defined as beneficial use by The Customer. Acceptance will be deemed “in full” upon receipt by The Vendor of a Notice of Acceptance issued by The Customer upon beneficial use and full implementation of the Terms and Conditions and Technical Specifications of the Contract. Upon receipt of the Notice of Acceptance, The Vendor shall notify The Customer in writing of a release of all liens for all materials and services associated with this project.
2.10 Warranty
Materials and workmanship hereinafter specified and furnished shall be fully guaranteed by The Vendor for twenty five years from transfer of title against any defects. Defects which may occur as the result of faulty materials or workmanship within twenty five years after installation and acceptance by The Customer shall be corrected by The Vendor at no additional cost to The Customer. The Vendor shall promptly, at no cost to The Customer, correct or re-perform (including modifications or additions as necessary) any nonconforming or defective work within twenty five years after completion of the project of which the work is a part. The period of The Vendor’s warranty(ies) for any items herein are not exclusive remedies, and The Customer has recourse to any warranties of additional scope given by The Vendor to The Customer and all other remedies available at law or in equity. The Vendor’s warranties shall commence with acceptance of/or payment for the work in full.
If The Vendor procures equipment or materials under the Contract, The Vendor shall obtain for the benefit of The Customer equipment and materials warranties against defects in materials and workmanship to the extent such warranties are reasonably obtainable.
The Vendor shall pass along to The Customer any additional warranties offered by the manufacturers, at no additional costs to The Customer, should said warranties extend beyond the one-year period specified herein.
This warranty shall in no manner cover equipment that has been damaged or rendered unserviceable due to negligence, misuse, acts of vandalism, or tampering by The Customer or anyone other than employees or agents of The Vendor. The Vendor’s obligation under its warranty is limited to the cost of repair of the warranted item or replacement thereof, at The Vendor’s option. Insurance covering said equipment from damage or loss is to be borne by The Vendor until full acceptance of equipment and services.
2.11 Inspection, Acceptance, and Title
Inspection and Acceptance will be at destination and upon successful installation unless otherwise provided. Title to/or risk of loss or damage to all items shall be the responsibility of the successful Vendor until acceptance by The Customer, unless loss or damage results from negligence by The Customer. If the materials or services supplied to The Customer are found to be defective or do not conform to the specifications, The Customer reserves the right to cancel the contract upon written notice to The Vendor and return products at The Vendor’s expense, based upon the terms of the Contract.
The Customer shall at all times have access to the work wherever it is in preparation or progress, and The Vendor shall provide proper facilities for such access and for inspection.
The Vendor shall not close up any work until The Customer has inspected the work. Should The Vendor close up the work prior to inspection by The Customer, The Vendor shall uncover the work for inspection by The Customer at no cost to The Customer, and then recover the work according to the specification contained herein.
The Vendor shall notify The Customer in writing when the work is ready for inspection. The Customer will inspect the work as expeditiously as possible after receipt of notification from The Vendor.
2.12 Price Quotations
Price quotations are to include the furnishing of all materials, equipment, maintenance and training manuals, tools, and the provision of all labor and services necessary or proper for the completion of the work, except as may be otherwise expressly provided in the Contract Documents. The Customer will not be liable for any costs beyond those proposed herein and awarded. Time and materials quotes will be unacceptable. The Vendor shall include all applicable sales, consumer, use, and other similar taxes in the price quotations.
In case of discrepancy in computed proposal prices, the lowest combined value of individual units costs shall prevail.
2.13 Price Stability
Contract prices and discounts shall be fixed at the time of contract approval by The Customer and The Vendor. In the event of price changes, replacement equipment shall be purchased at the lower of contract or then current market price. In no case shall a price higher than contract price be paid for equipment proposed.
In the event that The Customer desires to purchase equipment or services not contained in the contract, future purchases will be determined using The Vendor-specified discount rate in the proposal from the manufacturer’s suggested retail price as of the date of the order.
In no case shall the price exceed the favored Vendor prices.
2.14 Variation in Quantities and Configurations
Equipped and capacity requirements are the best estimates currently available. The Customer reserves the right to modify quantity and configuration requirements. The Vendor agrees to sell The Customer the revised quantity of items at the unit price as stated in the RFQ regardless of quantity changes.
2.15 Project Manager
The Vendor will provide an on-site, full-time, Project Manager who will act as a single point of contact for all activities regarding this project. The Project Manager will be required to make on-site decisions regarding the scope of the work and any changes required by the work. The Project Manager must be on the job at any time work is being performed or workers are present. The Project Manager will be totally responsible for all aspects of the work and shall have the authority to make immediate decisions regarding implementation or changes to the work. The Project Manager must be a management employee and will not be involved in personally performing craft installation work.
Note: Use this verbiage when considering a large project.
2.16 Construction Manager
The Customer shall provide a Construction Manager who shall act as a single point of contact for all activities regarding this project. The Construction Manager will be responsible for all decisions required of The Customer and shall coordinate with all departments during installation activities. The Construction Manager shall notify The Customer Inspector when inspections are scheduled and shall coordinate the inspection between The Vendor and The Customer Inspector.
2.17 The Vendor Qualifications
2.17.1 Experience
The selected Vendor shall be fully capable and experienced in the information transport system (ITS) specified. To ensure the system has continued support, The Customer will contract only with Vendors having a successful history of sales, installation, service, and support. During the evaluation process, The Customer may, with full cooperation of The Vendors, visit The Vendors’ places of business, observe operations, and inspect records. The Vendor must have a minimum of five (5) years of experience.
The Vendor must have an RCDD® (Registered Communications Distribution Designer) on staff that will be ultimately responsible for this project. The RCDD must have sufficient experience in this type project as to be able to lend adequate technical support to the field forces during installation, during the warranty period, and during any extended warranty periods or maintenance contracts. A resume of the responsible RCDD must be attached to The Vendor’s response for evaluation by The Customer. Should the RCDD assigned to this project change during the installation, the new RCDD assigned must also submit a resume for review by The Customer.
If, in the opinion of The Customer, the RCDD does not possess adequate qualifications to support the project, The Customer reserves the right to require The Vendor to assign an RCDD who, in The Customer’s opinion, possesses the necessary skills and experience required of this project.
The Vendor must also have BICSI Registered Installers and Technicians on staff and assign them to this project. The project shall be staffed at all times by Installers and Technicians who, in the role of lead crafts-persons, will be able to provide leadership and technical resources for the remaining crafts-persons on the project. A minimum of 30 percent of personnel shall be BICSI Registered Information Transport Systems Installers. Of that number 15 percent shall be registered at the Technician Level, at least 40 percent shall be registered at the Installer Level 2, Installer Level 2, Copper or Installer Level 2, Optical Fiber, and the balance shall be registered at the Installer Level 1. A copy of their registrations must be submitted in The Vendor’s response to this RFQ.