Cleveland adopts new purchasing procedures and protest policy for large construction projects

The City Council adopted a resolution amending the City of Cleveland’s Purchasing Procedures Manual to create a Competitive Proposal Process for "qualified local projects" — defined in the resolution as construction projects (including renovations) with an estimated cost in excess of $5,000,000.

The resolution requires that, before issuing a request for proposals for a qualified project, the city publicly disclose evaluation criteria and the relative weight assigned to each criterion; ensure qualifications-and-experience criteria constitute a majority of the scoring; require pricing considerations to be at least 20 percent of scoring; disclose the number and occupations of selection-committee members and maintain conflict-of-interest disclosures; and publish, after selection, the evaluation scores and any notes by each selection-committee member regarding the chosen proposal. For qualified local projects, the resolution pauses contract execution until a 10-day protest period expires and any timely protest is resolved and responded to in writing.

The new Section XV (Protest Policy) sets filing windows for protests, enumerates grounds that may support a protest (material solicitation deficiencies, material scoring errors, evidence of conflict of interest, etc.), requires written protests to be addressed to the Purchasing Agent with specified content, and directs the Procurement Agent or the City Manager’s designee to review protests and issue a written response before executing a contract. The resolution states that requirements of Tennessee Code Annotated Title 12, Chapter 3, Part 12 (including any future amendments) shall apply and references Public Chapter 863 (2026) as authorizing alternative delivery methods.

Why this matters: The change gives the city explicit procedural guardrails and transparency steps when using alternative delivery methods (construction manager at-risk, design-bid-build or design-build) on large local projects. It establishes deadlines and public-record disclosures intended to reduce procurement disputes and document evaluation decisions.

What the record shows: The resolution text in the meeting packet details the threshold ($5,000,000), the required minimum weighting for experience-based criteria, pre-disclosure and post-selection publication practices, and the protest timelines and content requirements. The minutes record the resolution as part of the meeting agenda and provide the language adopted; the meeting record does not include any public speakers opposing or supporting the change.

Limitations and next steps: The resolution incorporates state statutory requirements and states it is supplemental authority for city procurement; contract execution for any qualified local project will be delayed if a timely protest is filed until the city provides a written response. Procurement staff will implement the new public disclosures and protest-adjudication steps as part of the Purchasing Procedures Manual update.

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