ALCOSAN complies with the bidding thresholds published by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Our Purchasing Department is responsible for all commercial purchasing and our Procurement Department is responsible for all professional service and construction contract policies and procedures.
Solicitation Process
Professional services, construction bids, and commercial services contracts are awarded according to a formal solicitation process.
Planned
Future business opportunities are identified with basic information while ALCOSAN staff develops the scope of work and other important details. These opportunities will likely be active within a 12 month period or as noted in planned opportunity.
Active
Professional Services contracts are advertised under a Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Construction Bids and Commercial Services are solicited by legal advertisement. Qualifications packages and bids should be submitted before the deadline, meeting all requirements.
Pre-Bid Meetings - In order to qualify for bidding on a specific contract, usually those involving complex equipment or installation work, potential bidders must attend the pre-bid meeting. Bidder qualification generally goes beyond the pre-bid meeting, depending on the contract in question, sometimes involving bench scale tests, laboratory testing or product sampling.
Evaluation
Professional Services - Upon receipt of the submittals, appointed ALCOSAN staff review the submittals and develop a shortlist of 3-4 firms who appear to be the most qualified. ALCOSAN staff present these rankings to the Professional Services Committee (PSC) for review and approval.
Upon PSC approval, the shortlisted firms receive a request for proposal (RFP) in which a more detailed scope of work is presented and the firms are expected to provide a cost proposal sealed separately from the technical proposal.
When a scope of work is particularly complex, ALCOSAN may require each firm to present their project approach and proposed staff in an interview to be included in an evaluation.
Construction Bids and Commercial Services - ALCOSAN staff review all Construction and Commercial Services proposals and recommend a firm based on the lowest responsible bidder.
Awarded
Upon completion of the evaluations, the staff meet and provide their rankings and justification for the scores. ALCOSAN staff present the recommendation to the ALCOSAN Board of Directors for approval and authorization to negotiate a contract.
Note: Under the ALCOSAN Purchasing Policy, all commercial items are awarded on the basis of lowest, responsible bidder. Construction projects are also awarded on the basis of low-bid with public bid openings for each procurement.
DBE/MBE/SDVOSB Policy
ALCOSAN has an MBE/WBE/DBE program that requires all consultants, contractors and suppliers to award 10 to 25 percent of contract dollars to certified minority, women or disadvantaged business enterprises. ALCOSAN encourages MBE/WBE/DBE firms to also
consider submitting either as a lower-tier subcontractor or as a prime.
In order to be considered by ALCOSAN as an MBE/WBE/DBE, your business must be third-party certified by an appropriate agency. ALCOSAN does not accept self-certification.
ALCOSAN also has a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOSB) program that requires all consultants, contractors and suppliers to award three percent of contract dollars to certified SDVOSB firms. Again, these firms must be third-party certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Verification and Evaluation or the Small Business Administration (SBA) as service-disabled business.
Standard Forms
Submissions to ALCOSAN often require a number of standard forms that are available online.
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