Site work for a water / sewer project in Chicago, Illinois. Completed plans call for site work for a water / sewer project.

Tenders are invited for the work consisting of furnishing all materials, labor, and equipment required to rehabilitate 70 feet of 108-inch Dia. Inlet sewer and 100 feet of 108-inch Dia. Exit Conduit by cured-in-place pipe lining, 100 feet of 9-feet Dia. Dropshaft No. 5 by form and pour lining and slip lining, installing a louver system, replacement of deteriorated metal appurtenances, performing an inspection of 2,000 feet of 108-inch Dia. tunnel, installation of a suppression weir near Dropshaft 1 & 1A, replacement of a timber backflow gate, and modification of hangers on timber backflow gates in Calumet Dropshaft 34. The construction is located in the Villages of Mount Prospect and the City of Des Plaines and Chicago on District-Owned and privately owned properties, listed in Appendix A, all located in the County of Cook, State of Illinois. The Contract 23-378-3S consists of 17 items. The work shall be completed within 550 calendar days after approval of the contractor's bond. The Bidder must bid on all items for a bid to be considered responsive. The District intends to issue one Contract to one bidder for all the work to be performed. The estimated cost of the work under Contract 23-378-3S is between $6,175,000.00 and $7,475,000.00 THE BID DEPOSIT FOR THE PROPOSAL IS TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($299,000.00). The purpose of the Voluntary Technical Pre-Bid meeting is to review the scope of work, to provide for identification and discussion of potential problems that might arise during the administration of this Contract and seek clarification of technical or procedural aspects of this Contract. There will be a Q&A session at the end of the meeting. Also, suppliers must give their contact information to register prior to entering the Zoom Pre-Bid meeting. Bidders are reminded that no questions will be taken during any site inspections. The District's website will be used for addressing any questions, as indicated in the Invitation to Bid documents for this Contract. As a courtesy, Contractors wishing to attend should contact Amy Eum via email at EumA@mwrd.org by Friday, October 4, 2024. Further, the District assumes no liability or responsibility for the failure or inability of any Bidder to successfully download any and all contract documents, including but not limited to specifications, proposal forms and/or plans, as a result of any type of technological computer and/or software system failure or breakdown that restricts, prohibits or prevents successful downloading of any and all District contract documents by the Bidder, whether caused by the District or other parties, directly or indirectly. If any potential Bidder contemplating to submit a proposal is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the specifications or other contract documents, such inquiry should be submitted online at the District's website. The District will provide an online response to such inquiries, as the District deems appropriate. Strings of appropriate questions and answers regarding the bidding documents will be available online on the District's website until the bid opening date of the bidding documents. No questions will be accepted by telephone, fax, email, mail, or any other such form of delivery. The District will only respond to questions received online up to ONE WEEK prior to the bid opening date of the bidding documents. The District will not respond to questions received after this date. The District does not guarantee the timeliness of responses provided online, nor does the District guarantee that such responses will be provided in adequate time to affect the submission of bids. The District shall provide responses online ONLY if the responses do not interpret or otherwise change the bidding documents. The District's responses online are NOT official responses and, therefore, are not binding to the bidding documents. Any official interpretation or change to the bidding documents will be made only by addenda duly issued to all plan holders on record by the Director of Procurement and Materials Management. Bidding documents are only available online, and all addenda issued for this contract will be available online at the District's website. A copy of such addenda will also be emailed/faxed to each person which downloads a set of such contract documents. Failure on the part of the prospective bidder to receive a written interpretation prior to the time of the opening of bids will not be grounds for withdrawal of proposal. Each proposal must be accompanied by a bid deposit in the form of a bid bond in the amount of TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($299,000.00). Each bid bond must be underwritten by a surety licensed to do business in the State of Illinois, listed in the latest copy of the Federal Register and approved by the Director of Procurement and Materials Management. The bid bond must contain signatures from the Bidder and Surety Company. Failure to provide signatures on the bid bond will result in the rejection of the bid. Photographic and/or stamped signatures are acceptable. Any proposal submitted without being accompanied by the required bid deposit, in the aforesaid form, will not be considered and will not be read after it is publicly opened. The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible, responsive Bidder, unless all bids are rejected. Prior to award of the contract, the lowest responsible bidder must demonstrate compliance with the District's Multi-Project Labor Agreement (Cook County) by submitting to the Director of Procurement and Materials Management a signed Certification of Compliance with the Multi-Project Labor Agreement (MPLA). The Agreement and Certificate of Compliance are contained in the Contract Documents. Bidders on contracts in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) will be required to comply with the President's Executive Order No. 11246 as amended to date regarding NONDISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT. The requirements for Bidders and Contractors under this Order are explained in Appendix C of the Contract Documents. The provisions of Appendix C also apply to each Subcontractor on the Contract in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). 1. Each Bidder must submit with their proposals a signed and completed MBE/WBE Utilization Plan which lists each business intended to be used as a MBE and WBE on pages UP-2 and UP-3 and supplemental pages as necessary. The Bidder must sign the Signature Section page on UP-4. Failure to submit a signed MBE/WBE Utilization Plan will result in a bid being deemed non-responsive and the bid will be rejected. Also, if a Waiver is sought, the Bidder is required to sign pages UP-4 and UP-5, the Waiver Request Form; failure to do so will be viewed as non-responsive and the bid will be rejected. 2. Each Bidder must submit with their bid package an original or facsimile copy of the MBE/WBE Subcontractor's Letter of Intent, page UP-6 for each subcontractor listed on their MBE/WBE Utilization Plan. The submitted MBE/WBE Subcontractor's Letter of Intent must be completed and signed by the subcontractor and accompanied with a copy of the subcontractor's current Letter of Certification from a state, local government or agency or documentation demonstrating that the subcontractor is a MBE or WBE within the meaning of the Affirmative Action Ordinance, Revised Appendix D. Failure to submit the MBE/WBE Utilization Plan signed by the Bidder at the time of the bid opening and the MBE/WBE Subcontractor's Letter of Intent signed by each MBE and WBE will be viewed as nonresponsive and the bid will be rejected. 3. If the Bidder exceeds the allowable Supplier Utilization amount which is stated in the bid documents, the bid will be viewed as non-responsive. Therefore, the Bidder may not exceed the use of a MBE or WBE supplier for more than 50% of each respective MBE or WBE, goal, unless the Administrator has authorized a Supplier's Exception notated on page AU-1. 4. Each Bidder must submit with their proposal a completed VBE Commitment Form which lists each business intended to be used as a VBE. The Bidder must make a "Good Faith Effort" to identify eligible Veteran Owner-Businesses by completing the VBE Commitment Form. If the Bidder is unable to identify qualified VBE subcontractors capable of providing goods or services required by the Contract, the Bidder must write "no participation" on the VBE Commitment Form. Where a Bidder has failed to meet the VBE participation goal, the Administrator shall require the Contractor to submit a Veteran's Business Enterprise Good Faith Efforts Documentation Request Form and provide additional documentation of its good faith efforts in attempting to fulfill the VBE goal. 5. The Contractor must use the District's online compliance monitoring system administered by the Diversity Section for payment and reporting purposes, in order to fulfill the Affirmative Action Program requirements. The bid money value of all materials purchased directly by the Contractor, together with the bid money value of all work performed by personnel and facilities provided directly by the Contractor, shall be not less than 35% of the money value of all work performed under this Contract. Any bid money value of work performed by the Subcontractors, for work on the job site utilizing the Subcontractors' materials, labor and facilities cannot be included in the percent of work to be completed by the Contractor. The Bidder agrees to fulfill the Special Training for Apprentices as specified in the Appendix K and to provide training opportunities throughout the life of the contract. The requirements of the Special Training for Apprentices are 390 Minority and 140 Female Hours for the purpose of this contract. The MBE, WBE Utilization Plan MUST be signed by the Bidder, even if the Bidder requests a waiver and/or offers itself to meet any of the Appendix D goals. If the bidder offer itself to satisfy any of the Appendix D goals, then its name shall be shown in the appropriate space(s) on the MBE, WBE Utilization Plan. Where a Bidder is a business owned and controlled by a minority women (M/WBE) or where the Bidder utilized an M/WBE in a joint venture or as a subcontractor, the Bidder may count the M/WBE participation toward the achievement of either its MBE or WBE goal, but not both. Subsequent to the bid opening, and if it is determined by the Affirmative Action Administrator that a Contractor's Information form is required from the apparent low bidder, the bidder must complete and submit the form within (3) days of receiving the written request. The work under this contract is classified "General Construction" for the Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals utilization goals contained in the Affirmative Action Ordinance, Revised Appendix D. The associated goals are 12% Minority-owned Business Enterprises(MBE) and/or Women owned Business Enterprises (WBE), and 3% Veteran-owned Businesses (VBE). The MBE and WBE Utilization goals do not apply to the portions of work identified in the contract as Allowance Items, Contingency Items, and Unit Price Items. Should you have any questions, please contact the Diversity Office at 312-751-4035. It is required that the prospective bidder indicates participation by signing each applicable MBE/WBE Utilization Plan contained with the Contract Document. The Bidder to whom the Contract is awarded must be prepared to comply with the requirements of the Affirmative Action Ordinance during the life of the Contract. The Contractor must use the District's online compliance monitoring system administered by the Diversity Section for payment and reporting purposes, in order to fulfill the Affirmative Action Program requirements. Bidders should read the bidding requirements set forth on pages R-1 through R-6, and in particular page R-2, Paragraph 6, in regards to questions on this Contract. The Project Manager for this contract is Amy Eum. This Project Manager will provide online responses to online inquiries. All Contracts for the Construction of Public Works are subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130/1-12). Any contract or contracts awarded under this invitation for bids are expected to be funded in part by a loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Neither the State of Illinois nor any of its departments, agencies, or employees is or will be a party to this invitation for bids or any resulting contract. The procurement will be subject to regulations contained in the Procedures for Issuing Loans from the Water Pollution Control Loan Program (35 IAC Part 365), the Davis-Bacon Act (40 USC 276a through 276a-5) as defined by the United States Department of Labor, the Employment of Illinois Workers on Public Works Act (30 ILCS 570), Illinois Works Jobs Program Act (30 ILCS 559/20-1), and the federal "Build America, Buy America Act" requirements contained in the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act, Pub. L. No. 117-58. This procurement is also subject to the loan recipient's policy regarding the increased use of disadvantaged business enterprises. The loan recipient's policy requires all bidders to undertake specified affirmative efforts at least sixteen (16) days prior to bid opening. The policy is contained in the specifications. Bidders are also required to comply with the President's Executive Order No. 11246, as amended. The requirements for bidders and contractors under this order are explained in 41 CFR 60-4. Federal Regulations regarding labor standards, the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, equal employment opportunity and access to work shall be in effect. These regulations appear in Appendices B and I in the Contract Documents and form a part thereof. The Bidder must execute Grant Forms Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the appropriate place in Appendix B as part of the Proposal. Any Proposal submitted without being accompanied by the executed Grant Forms Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be rejected as non-responsive. The Bidder shall specifically take note of Section 7, "Certification," of Appendix I regarding non-collusion requirements, and shall comply with same. The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible, responsive bidder, unless all bids are rejected. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals.