San Mateo County outlines procurement, deadlines for four $5 million job-order contracts at pre-bid meeting

San Mateo County officials and Gordian held a virtual pre-bid meeting to review the county's job order contracting (JOC) solicitation, which advertises four Class A JOC contracts each with a maximum contract value of $5,000,000.

The County of San Mateo Department of Public Works’ Engineering, Construction, Roads and Utilities (ECRU) and Gordian described the procurement as “a fixed price, indefinite quantity, competitively bid contract,” and walked prospective bidders through how to use the construction task catalog (CTC), prepare proposals in the eGordian platform and compute the irrevocable adjustment factors that determine award.

Why this matters: A JOC umbrella contract lets the county assign individual projects without rebidding, allowing faster mobilization for multiple small-to-medium construction jobs. Contractors' future work under the contract depends on performance and the bid adjustment factors they submit; those adjustment factors remain fixed for the life of each contract.

At the meeting, Sherry Perry, account manager with Gordian, said, “JOC order contracting is a fixed price, indefinite quantity, competitively bid contract.” She described the CTC as “a catalog of pre-priced construction tasks” whose unit prices cover only direct labor, material and equipment costs and do not include profit or overhead.

Key solicitation and submission details discussed included: - Four Class A JOC contracts, each with a $5,000,000 maximum value and a one-year term. Initial payment and performance bonds are $500,000 and increase in $500,000 increments up to the $5,000,000 cap as job orders are issued. - Sealed bids are due Wednesday, Feb. 26, by 2 p.m. Sealed submittals must be delivered to the County Executive’s Office at 500 County Center (the new building). A county staff member said, “We will post it on our website. And, please note that the location of the bid submittal is at 500 County Center.” - All questions (RFIs) must be submitted via email no later than Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m. The plan holders list will be posted to the county website two working days prior to bid opening.

Gordian and county staff reviewed how proposals are priced from the CTC and emphasized two elements bidders must incorporate: - Contractor license fee / eGordian access: A contractor license fee equal to 1% of each job order price provides access to the eGordian platform, the CTC, and JOC training; bidders must include that 1% in their adjustment-factor calculations. - Adjustment factors: Bidders must submit two adjustment factors — one for normal working hours (08:00–17:00, Monday–Friday) and one for other-than-normal working hours (after 17:00, before 08:00, weekends and holidays). Each factor must be submitted with four digits after the decimal and will be weighted per the proposal form to create the award-criteria figure. The lowest weighted award-criteria figure from a responsive, responsible bidder will be awarded the contract. The county reiterated that adjustment factors are binding for the life of the contract and cannot be renegotiated.

The presentation included a recommended method for calculating an adjustment factor: select representative historical projects, price the scope from the CTC, add contractor overhead and profit, and divide the contractor’s real-world total by the CTC subtotal to derive the factor. A county staff member added that project management time should be included in the adjustment factor and not listed separately on individual job-order proposals.

Other procurement rules and clarifications noted: - Unit prices in the CTC are for complete, in-place construction and include delivery to site, unloading, storage and handling. Demolition prices include loading to a truck or dumpster; work demolished as part of another task is not paid separately. - Non-prepriced items: If work or materials are not in the CTC, contractors must obtain county permission before including a non-prepriced task in a proposal. When allowed, contractors must secure three vendor or subcontractor quotes (or justify fewer) and support the subcontractor cost with documentation; allowable markup and profit rules from the front-end documents apply. - Bonds and registration: A bid bond of $25,000 is required; registration with the California Department of Industrial Relations is required for bidders performing public works in the state. Liquidated damages for job orders are set on a sliding scale by job-order value and are included in the front-end documents. - Proposal accuracy: County staff emphasized that quantities should match measured scope (for example, do not round square footage) and that inappropriate or unsupported task selections or quantities may be rejected during proposal review, causing delays or possible loss of future work.

The county and Gordian also covered administrative details: the front-end bid documents (notice to contractors, special provisions, contract requirements, proposal and agreement), the CTC, the technical specifications and the “Using the Construction Task Catalog” guidance (the “big note”), and how eGordian will be used for proposal submittal and communications.

The meeting concluded with an offer to accept questions via the formal RFI process and with Gordian and county staff noting that the presentation will be posted to the county website and that interested bidders should follow the posted submission instructions.