ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: February 19, 1999
Author/Local: BAujla/6241
RTS No.488
CC File No 1805

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT: Award of Contract No. 9901 -

Supply and Installation of Distribution Watermain

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Contract No. 9901 for the supply and installation of distribution watermain, be awarded to the low bidder meeting thecontract requirements, J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd., for a total tender price of $1,182,080.36 (GST included); with funding available from the distribution watermain replacement program (order group C07E1A).

B. THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services, be authorized to enter into a construction services contract with J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd., for Contract No. 9901, for the supply and installation of distribution watermain.

C. THAT the bid bonds of the unsuccessful tenderers be returned upon execution of the construction services contract.

COUNCIL POLICY

Construction contracts over $200,000 must be awarded by Council.

Contracts are awarded on the basis of best value for fee.

PURPOSE

This report recommends that the contract for the construction and related work for the following distribution watermains:

· West 37th Avenue, Crown Street to Trafalgar Street;
· Puget Drive/Galiano Road, West 20th Avenue to West 23rd Avenue; and
· Quesnel Drive, West 28th Avenue to King Edward Avenue

be awarded to the low bidder - J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd.

DISCUSSION

The 1999 Waterworks Capital Budget and remaining 1998 Capital Budget funds provide approximately $11.7 Million of funding for distribution watermain replacement. The watermains are near the end of their service lives and are undersized. Their replacement will ensure an adequate and continuous supply of water for both domestic consumption and fire protection.

Detailed designs and contract documents were prepared by Engineering Services staff for the replacement of the watermains listed above. The work will be administered under a lump sum/unit price construction services contract. Lump sums for each tender item and unit prices are used to calculate interim progress payments to the contractor.

Nine contract bidders submitted complete tender packages, including bonding requirements. A summary of the bids received follows:

Contractor Bid Prices
J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd. $1,182,080.36
Pedre Contractors Ltd. $1,192,836.00
Ponte Bros. Contracting Ltd. $1,291,655.85
Sandpiper Contracting Ltd. $1,414,917.62
Targa Contracting Ltd. $1,417,441.84
Bel Construction Ltd. $1,419,997.00
Hyland Excavating Ltd. $1,604,820.24
Gemco Construction Ltd. $1,625,437.00
B. Cusano Contracting Inc. $1,649,919.00

The low bidder, J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd., appears qualified to supply and install watermain based on their satisfactory completion of similar work in other municipalities. Therefore, staff recommend that J. Cote & Son Excavating Ltd. be awarded Contract No. 9901 for the supply and installation of watermain.

FUNDING AND COST

The low bid for Contract No. 9901 is within the Engineer's preliminary contract estimate of $1,730,000. Typically the contract estimate, which is based on previous contract costs, falls within the middle of the contractors' bids. However, a slowdown in local construction has resulted in a relatively large number of contractors submitting very competitive bids for this work.

The total cost estimate for the work, which includes the contract price, contingency, overhead, and inspection costs, is $1,607,000. The final cost of the contract will vary from the bid price because the estimated quantities of work for unit price items may be different than the actual quantities of work. Funds for this project are available from the distribution watermain replacement program (order group C07E1A).

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver