REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BRIAN BARR, Director
General Services Department
BY: MELISSA PERALES, Purchasing Manager
General Services Department, Purchasing Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve the award of a Cooperative Purchase Agreement to Gordian Group, Inc. of Greenville, South Carolina through January 7, 2026, plus five optional one-year extensions for the continued implementation of a Job Order Contracting (JOC) program for facility repairs and maintenance, infrastructure improvements, emergency or time-sensitive work, and small and medium capital projects for Airports Department, Capital Projects Department, and the General Services Department (Bid File 9696)
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends Council approve the award of a Cooperative Purchase Agreement to The Gordian Group, Inc. of Greenville, South Carolina through January 7, 2026, plus five optional one-year extensions for the continued implementation of a Job Order Contracting program for facility repairs and maintenance, infrastructure improvements, emergency or time-sensitive work, and small and medium capital projects for Airports Department, Capital Projects Department, and the General Services Department.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since 2009, the City has utilized the Job Order Contracting (JOC) program offered by the Gordian Group to provide prompt, responsive building maintenance and construction services at competitive local market pricing. The JOC program provides competitively bid fixed-unit pricing for construction tasks from local contractors which can be quickly accessed by select City departments to perform needed building repairs, maintenance or alterations; or other installation and construction services. The City is not obligated to utilize the JOC program for any project, however when the City uses JOC program it agrees to pay a license fee of 1.95% and a development fee of 3.05% of the value of the work orders to the Gordian Group.
The Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is applicable to individual Work Orders in excess of $1,000,000, however, as the City utilizes the JOC program for small and medium projects, no individual Work Order exceeds $1,000,000. The average Work Order cost over the past three years is $160,000.
Approval of this item will allow the City to utilize the JOC program in Airports Department, Capital Projects Department, FAX, and the General Services Department by leveraging an established Cooperative Agreement. The Cooperative Agreement was competitively solicited through a cooperative procurement process administered by the Regents of the University of California (in partnership with Omnia Partners) and will remain in effect through January 7, 2026 with five optional one-year extensions.
BACKGROUND
The General Services Department, Purchasing Division, is responsible for administering the citywide agreement for JOC services.
On December 17, 2009, August 20, 2015, and September 24, 2020, Council approved a 5-year contract with Gordian Group, Inc. that allowed City departments to utilize the JOC program for facility repairs and maintenance, infrastructure improvements, emergency or time-sensitive work, and small and medium capital projects.
The JOC program employs the services of a prime contractor and a network of sub-contractors expert in various building construction tasks. The annual contracts are competitively bid based on firm fixed-unit pricing and indefinite quantities. Building repair, remodeling, and other construction projects are accomplished by issuance of individual work orders to the JOC Contractor.
The JOC program utilizes an extensive unit-price catalog of construction tasks, pricing, and associated technical specifications that contain approximately 120,000 individual items of typical construction and maintenance. The pricing is developed in accordance with local construction costs (prevailing wages, equipment rates, material prices, etc.). The technical specifications, unit-price catalog, and JOC General Conditions are competitively bid for each contract needed by the City (e.g., general building prime contract, plumbing prime contract; roof repair prime contract; etc.), and a respective JOC contract is awarded to multiple Prime Contractors. Execution of the recommended Agreement will authorize the Gordian Group to continue to implement their JOC program including preparation of the necessary documents for competitive bidding, in conjunction with the Purchasing Division, which includes technical specifications to establish local pricing.
As part of the separate procurement for the City’s JOC contracts, contractors competitively bid on two sets of adjustment factors to the prices listed in the Construction Task Catalog, one for work performed during normal business hours and one for work performed outside of normal business hours. These factors, which include overhead and profit, are applied to the unit costs in the Catalog and form the basis of each contractor’s bid. The JOC contracts are awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidders, such as those most recently awarded in 2023 and 2025, ensuring that the City receives competitively bid pricing for construction services. This process is distinct from the support services provided by Gordian under the current Cooperative Agreement request.
Thereafter, as individual building construction/maintenance projects are identified, staff and the JOC Prime Contractor develop the scope of work for each individual project. All projects must meet the performance criteria defined by the City and as included in the general conditions and specifications of the annual JOC contract.
The Cooperative Purchase Agreement with Gordian, administered by the Regents of the University of California (in partnership with Omnia Partners), covers only the administrative services needed to operate the City’s JOC program. This includes providing the Construction Task Catalog, software, and technical support that enable departments to issue job orders efficiently. In contrast, the separate JOC contracts are awarded directly to contractors through a competitive bid process and govern the actual construction work performed under the program. Approval of the Gordian agreement does not authorize construction services; those contracts are awarded through independent JOC procurements brought to Council separately.
All of Gordian’s products have been developed and are supported with in-house staff. All support services are performed with full-time Gordian employees. Gordian does not rely on third-party vendors and other service providers.
Since 1985, the Gordian Group has successfully implemented JOC Programs for over 90 federal, state, and local government agencies. Examples of public agencies that have established successful JOC Programs include the California State Universities, the Counties of Contra Costa, Sacramento, Ventura, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Santa Clara Roads and Airports, the City and County of San Francisco and the City and County of Fresno.
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the contract to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, the award of this contract does not qualify as a “project” as defined by CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable because this is a cooperative purchase.
FISCAL IMPACT
The funding has been included through appropriations for specific projects and budgeted maintenance in various Department’s line-item budgets subject to grant funding restrictions.
Attachments:
Cooperative Purchase Agreement
Gordian Group Contract #2021002786
Amendment No. 1
Amendment No. 2
Original RFP
Proof of Publication
Executive Summary