§ 70-461 — Contracting requirements for contracts executed by the City of New Orleans

Sec. 70-461. - Contracting requirements for contracts executed by the City of New Orleans.

(a) The CAO shall develop standards and criteria for evaluating whether a vendor has made good-faith efforts to meet applicable equity goals, which may include: (1) The extent to which the vendor has solicited potential DBEs through reasonable and available means; (2) The extent to which the vendor has identified commercially useful functions to be performed by DBEs; and (3) The extent to which the vendor has negotiated with DBEs in good-faith. (b) A vendor may count toward its contract equity goal only those DBE subcontractors/suppliers performing a commercially useful function. This shall include the entirety of any and all charges imposed by the DBE in connection with its performance of the contract. (c) Only DBEs certified as of the date that bids or proposals are opened may be considered for the purpose of determining whether a vendor is in compliance with this division. Should a DBE lose its certification before commencing its work under a contract, or otherwise become unable to perform, the prime vendor shall use best efforts to secure a replacement DBE vendor. (d) Subcontracting by DBEs shall be subject to rules promulgated by the CAO in accordance with section 70-465. Subcontracting of work allocated to DBEs shall not be allowed if it will frustrate the purposes of this division or cause an unreasonable portion of the work allocated to DBEs to be performed by non-DBEs. DBE subcontractors must perform at least 51 percent of the sub-contracted work with their own forces. (e) A DBE that is the prime vendor on a particular contract shall be deemed to have achieved 100 percent DBE utilization with respect to that contract, subject to a review of good faith efforts and equity goal achievement as determined by OSD. (f) The CAO may waive the equity goal applicable to a particular city contract upon request. A request to waive the equity goal for a particular contract must be submitted to the CAO in writing and must set forth in reasonable detail the reasons for the request. No waiver shall be granted until the OSD reviews the request and provides the CAO a written recommendation. (g) Except as otherwise provided in section 70-467 or by rule of the city council, the requirements of this section shall apply to city council professional services contracts procured in accordance with section 6-308(5)(c) of the Home Rule Charter.