River Valley Health

Standard Terms and Conditions

For Goods and Services TendersEffective 1999 November 1
(Revised 2000 Dec 11; 2002 Aug 19)NOTE: The following Standard Terms and Conditions apply to all tender invitations for Goods and Services issued by the Regional Health Authority 3 (River Valley Health) subsequent to the effective date given above, unless otherwise specified in the tender documents. Specific terms and conditions in the tender documents shall take precedence over the Standard Terms and Conditions. River Valley Health will be the sole judge as to whether a bid complies with these terms and conditions, and a decision to reject a bid for non-compliance will be final.

1. General

1.1 Headings are used for convenience only, and they shall not affect the meaning or the interpretation of the clauses, terms or conditions.

1.2 Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa.

1.3 References to Purchaser, the Hospital, the Authority and the Regional Health Authority 3 or River Valley Health mean the Regional Health Authority 3 (known by the working title “River valley Health”), a Corporation of the Province of New Brunswick.

1.4 The word “may” denotes the permissive.

1.5 The words “shall” or “will” denote the imperative.
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2. Definitions

2.1 “Bid” means a submission by a vendor in response to a tender or Request for
Proposals.

2.2 “Bidder” means a person, firm or organization that submits a bid or proposal in
response to a tender invitation.

2.3 “Contract” means all types of agreements, regardless of what they might be called, for the procurement of goods and services.

2.4 “Preference” means an advantage in the solicitation of tenders or advantage for
award granted to a bidder by reason of the bidder’s business location or origin of
the goods or services being procured.

2.5 “Request for Proposal” means an invitation by the Authority to receive proposals
from suppliers that will be evaluated on the basis of other factors in addition to price.

2.6 “Tender” means an invitation by the Authority to receive bids from suppliers that
will be evaluated primarily on the basis of price.

2.7 “Tender documents” are those documents issued by the Authority in the tender or
Request for Proposals and include any addenda subsequently issued prior to the
Tender closing.

2.8 “Tender invitation” means an invitation by the Authority to submit a bid or
proposal.

3. Legislation

3.1 This tender is being conducted under the provisions of the NB Public Purchasing Act and regulations as of the date of the issuance of the tender. Bidders may obtain a copy of these documents from The Queen’s Printer, Province of NB, PO Box 6000, Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1.

4. Bid Submission

4.1 Bids must be received no later than the local time and date indicated in the tender documents, in the Purchasing Department, Room 2253, Chalmers Regional Hospital, PO Box 9000, 700 Priestman St., Fredericton, NB E3B 5N5 (postal) E3B 3B7 (courier).

4.2 Bids submitted by facsimile will be accepted, except where a bid security, plans or samples must accompany the bid submission. River Valley Health cannot ensure the confidentiality of bids submitted by facsimile and will accept no responsibility for ensuring that such bids are received and deposited in the tender box prior to the closing time. A bid submitted by facsimile must be fully transmitted and received prior to the closing time. A vendor submitting a bid by facsimile does so at its own risk.

4.3 Except when submitted electronically or by facsimile, the bid should be in a sealed package with the tender number and closing date clearly visible.

4.4 An appropriate official of the firm submitting the bid must sign the bid. Unsigned bids will not be accepted.

4.5 Bidders are responsible for ensuring that the bid is legible and complete, and submitted on the appropriate bid form when applicable. Any incomplete or illegible bids will be rejected.

4.6 The name and address of the bidder must appear on the tender form and all information requested in the tender documents must be supplied.

4.7 Bids or proposals submitted by vendors are irrevocable and shall remain open for acceptance by River Valley Health for the number of days indicated by the bidder from the time and date specified for the closing of the tender or Request for Proposals. If no such number of days is indicated, the offer will remain open until any subsequent order is issued.

4.8 The bidder acknowledges and agrees that the Regional Health Authority 3 will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, losses, damages or liability incurred by the bidder as a result of, or arising out of, the submission of the bid, or due to the Authority not accepting or rejecting the bid. The bidder agrees to indemnify the Chairman and members of the Authority’s Board of Trustees, the President and Chief Executive Officer, Senior Vice President, Vice Presidents, the Regional Purchasing Manager and Purchasing Officers, and other managers of the Regional Health Authority 3 of all costs, expenses, losses, damages or liability incurred by the bidder as a result of, or arising out of, the submission of a bid, or due to the Authority not accepting or rejecting a bid.

5. Pricing and Delivery

5.1 All prices must be extended and totaled. The unit price shall be the price per unit of sale as stated in the tender documents. The extended price will be established by multiplying the unit price by the quantity and, in the event of an error in calculation of the extended price, the unit price will govern in the bid evaluation and contract administration.

5.2 Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, a total of all line item prices plus all shipping and handling charges must be included in the space provided on the tender form, or the bid will be rejected.

5.3 Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, all prices are to be net prices and are to include Canadian customs duties and excise taxes.

5.4 Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, all prices are to be FOB Destination and include all delivery charges. River Valley Health will not assume responsibility for the goods or services until they are delivered to the destination specified in the tender documents. Shipping charges, if extra, must be clearly indicated and included in the total bid price.

5.5 Sales taxes (HST, GST, PST, etc.,) are not to be included in the unit, extended or total prices.

5.6 Unless otherwise indicated in the tender documents, all prices must be firm for the duration of the contract.

5.7 Delivery time will be assumed to be within the time specified in the tender invitation unless specifically stated to be otherwise in the bid. Time is of the essence and, when specified in the bid, delivery time should be specific and expressed in calendar days from the date a purchase order is issued. Failure to meet any promised completion/delivery date may result in cancellation of any resulting order.

5.8 If, from the tender closing date until the completion or termination of a long-term contract, the vendor offers to any third party the same goods or services in similar quantities at a lower price than that in the bid, the price to the Authority for these goods or services shall be lowered by the vendor to this lower price for all goods and services ordered by River Valley Health after the offer to the third party.

6. Interprovincial Agreements on Public Procurement

6.1 The provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Atlantic Procurement Agreement and the Quebec-New Brunswick Procurement Agreement will apply as stated in the tender invitation.

6.2 For procurements which are not subject to the provisions of one or more of the interprovincial procurement agreements, the Authority reserves the right to apply provincial or regional preferences, or to consider local content in the evaluation of bids, and/or to refuse to consider bids from vendors from other jurisdictions when it is considered to be in the best interest of River Valley Health. The Authority will be the sole judge of whether these conditions will apply and the extent to which they will be applied.

7. Specifications

7.1 The specifications stated in the tender invitation are the minimum acceptable. Deviations from the specifications that are considered by the Authority to be of a minor nature may be permitted at the sole discretion of River Valley Health.

7.2 Unless otherwise stated in the tender invitation, the use of a specific manufacturer, brand or trade names, and/or model or catalogue numbers in the specifications is intended to establish the design, type of construction, quality, functional capability and/or performance level required. When substitutions are bid, the make, model number, stock number and other descriptive information necessary to establish the equivalency must be provided by the bidder, accompanying the bid. The Authority reserves the right to inspect or test any product offered in order to determine equivalency and, if requested, the bidder must make the product available for inspection or testing without delay. River Valley Health will be the sole judge of equivalency. The Authority will not accept tenders for alternative products or services that is a different material, a different method of work or different approach.

7.3 Unless otherwise stated in the tender invitation, all material must be new and of first quality.

7.4 Items that are used, demonstrators, remanufactured, obsolete, seconds, or which have been discontinued are unacceptable unless the tender invitation specifically states otherwise, and the bid response indicates the status of the goods or services to be provided.

8. Acceptance and Rejection of Bids

8.1 The Regional Health Authority 3 reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids and to accept any part of any bid as deemed to be in the best interest of the Authority.

8.2 The Regional Health Authority 3 reserves the right to waive any technicality in any bid where it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Authority.

8.3 The Regional Health Authority 3 reserves the right to reject bids from any bidder who, in the reasonable opinion of the Authority, is deemed incapable of providing the necessary labour, materials, equipment, financing, or management resources to perform the work or supply the goods in a satisfactory and timely manner. The decision of the Authority is final.

8.4 Failure to comply with the Standard Terms and Conditions or any other terms or conditions contained in the tender documents may result in the rejection of the bid. River Valley Health shall be the sole judge of whether a bid is rejected or accepted, and a decision to reject a bid is final.

8.5 Any deviations from or exceptions to the terms, conditions, or specifications in the tender documents must be described fully. In the absence of such a statement, the bid shall be accepted as being in strict compliance with all terms, conditions and specifications. Any bid that contains qualifications or conditions contrary to, or inconsistent with, the tender documents may be rejected at the discretion of River Valley Health

8.6 All bids or proposals submitted become the property of the Regional Health Authority 3 and may be distributed for evaluation purposes.9. Award of Contracts9.1 No contract shall be awarded and no payment shall be made to a vendor unless authorized by the River Valley Health President and CEO or his delegates.

9.2 The President may make an award to the preferred vendor conditional on the negotiation and acceptance of a detailed contract between the Authority and the vendor. In such cases, should the detailed contract negotiations not be completed in a reasonable period of time, River Valley Health reserves the right to discontinue negotiations with the vendor and subsequently enter into negotiations with the second preferred vendor.

9.3 No right or duty, in whole or in part, of the vendor under contract issued may be assigned or delegated without the prior written consent of the Authority.

10. Cancellation of Tenders

10.1 Tender invitations or resulting contracts may be cancelled in whole or in part and/or a contract may not be awarded, without penalty, when the bid price exceeds the funds allocated for the purchase; there has been a substantial change in the requirements subsequent to the issuing of the tender invitation; or information has been received by the Authority subsequent to the issuing of the tender invitation which is deemed to substantially alter the procurement.

10.2 If no bids are received in response to a tender invitation which are compliant with the terms, conditions, and/or specifications, the Authority reserves the right to enter into negotiations with one or more vendors in order to complete the procurement.

11. Miscellaneous Terms and Conditions

11.1 The Regional Health Authority 3 is subject to the Right to Information Act and cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the contents of any bid after the final contract is awarded to the successful bidder.

11.2 The River Valley Health Purchasing Department will be the only official source of information regarding this tender and information from any other source shall be considered unofficial and may not be correct. Information, offers or commitments from any other source shall not be binding upon the Authority.

11.3 All electrical equipment must be CSA, WHPS, CUL, or ETL certified. CGA and/or UCL certification is acceptable for electrical equipment used as part of fuel burning appliances and equipment.

11.4 The bidder warrants that there are no patents, trademarks or other rights restricting the use, repair, or replacement of the goods or services furnished or any part thereof. By submitting a tender, the bidder indicates that it agrees to indemnify and save harmless the Authority from and against all claims, demands, loses, costs, damages, actions, suits, or other proceedings by whomsoever made, filed, or prosecuted in any manner by reason of such use, repair, or replacement of the goods or services being a violation of any patent, trademark or other right.

11.5 River Valley Health will seek to purchase recycled and/or environmentally sensitive products where practical and effective.

11.6 The Regional Health Authority 3 provides purchasing support to all hospital and health centre facilities and extramural services within its boundaries and to community and mental health services, and will extend access to any contract awards resulting from this tender to all regional participants. By submitting a tender response, the bidder indicates that it agrees to extend the same pricing to all facilities and services as per the terms and specifications in the tender document.

11.7 All invoices are to be submitted to:
Regional Health Authority 3,
River Valley Health
Accounts Payable
PO Box 9000
Fredericton, NB E3B 5N5

11.8 All invoices and correspondence must indicate the relevant River Valley Health Purchase Order number.

11.9 All terms and conditions in this document are considered to be incorporated into the tender documents and by submitting a tender, the bidder indicates that it agrees to accept and abide by these Terms and Conditions.