Sanctions for failure to comply with article VII requirements.
Denver Revised Municipal Code § 28-229
in effectSec. 28-229. - Sanctions for failure to comply with article VII requirements.
(a) If a contractor, consultant or concessionaire is found to be in violation of the provisions of article VII, to otherwise be in breach of a contract or concession agreement, to perform as an SBE, SBEC, or EBE for a non-commercially useful function or as a conduit, to fail to achieve required minimum SBE subcontractor, subconsultant and/or supplier utilization, if applicable, to fail to submit information required in section 28-220, to submit false, misleading or materially incomplete statements, documentation or records, or to fail to cooperate in an investigation, it shall be subject to sanctions. The city may exercise any or all of its rights, including, but not limited to, withholding funds including retentions, imposition of monetary penalty, suspension or termination, contained in the contract or concession agreement terms and conditions. If the contract or concession agreement is suspended or terminated, the city reserves all its rights at law or equity, with such suspension or termination being deemed a response to a contractor, consultant or concessionaire default, as appropriate, by applicable law.
(b) If the director determines, in his or her sole discretion, that a contractor, consultant or concessionaire is in noncompliance with article VII, the contractor, consultant or concessionaire may be assessed a civil, remedial penalty of not more than one hundred fifty (150) percent of the value of the minimum SBE, SBEC, or EBE participation underutilization, or in the case of a concession agreement, of not more than the revenues accruing to the concessionaire from its concession operations over the past three-month period. In assessing such civil penalty:
(1) The director shall calculate the applicable amount of civil penalty, and may reduce or waive all or part of such penalty, in his or her sole discretion, in consideration of the following factors:
a. The length of the period of noncompliance;
b. The history of previous noncompliance with this article VII;
c. The monetary impact of the civil penalty on the contractor, consultant or concessionaire in correcting such noncompliance; or
d. The other facts and circumstances relevant to the noncompliance of the contractor, consultant or concessionaire.
(2) The director shall collect assessed and unpaid civil penalties under this subsection by action initiated in the state district court for collection of such penalty. A stay of any order of the director pending judicial review shall not relieve any contractor, consultant or concessionaire from any civil penalty obligation imposed under this subsection.
(3) Any such assessed civil penalties may also be offset against any amount, including, but not limited to, contract retainage, otherwise due and owing to the contractor, consultant or concessionaire on the contract or concession agreement.
(4) The contract or concession agreement may be suspended or terminated with the city reserving all its rights at law or equity, with such suspension or termination being deemed a response to a contractor, consultant or concessionaire default, as appropriate, by applicable law.
(5) The debarment board established under Denver Revised Municipal Code Section 20-77, upon request of the director, may suspend or debar the contractor, consultant or concessionaire from participation in city or private contracting covered hereunder for a period as may be determined by the debarment board, in its sole discretion, based upon the grounds of violating this article VII, pursuant to such suspension and debarment procedures as may be established by the city, as set forth in Denver Revised Municipal Code Section 20-77. The director in that event shall regard as nonresponsive any bid, proposal or competitive selection process proposal received during this time period that includes the contractor, consultant or concessionaire as a contractor, consultant, concessionaire, subcontractor, subconsultant, joint venturer, supplier, manufacturer, manufacturer's representative, or broker.
(6) If a contractor, consultant, concessionaire or other business enterprise knowingly receives new or additional work on a contract or concession agreement as a result of actions set out in this section, then the penalties in this section may be applied to such business enterprise.
(7) The DSBO may suspend or revoke an offending SBE's, SBEC's, or EBE's eligibility for certification, may suspend its participation from counting toward achieving defined selection pool and/or SBE minimum utilization requirements if applicable, and, subject to other city law, may refer to the debarment board to suspend or debar it from participating in future city contracts or concession agreements, based upon such SBE's, SBEC's or EBE's acting as a conduit, failing to comply with the provisions of article VII, failing to perform a commercially useful function on a project, failing to achieve required SBE minimum subcontractor, subconsultant and/or supplier utilization if applicable, failing to submit information as required by section 28-220, submitting false, misleading or materially incomplete statements, documentation or records, or failing to cooperate in investigations.
(c) The director may, in his or her sole discretion, impose any one (1) or more of the sanctions set out in this section against any contractor, consultant, concessionaire or joint venturer determined to be in violation of the section, provided that the director shall first advise the affected department head of the proposed sanction in writing. If the department head advises the director in writing that the department head believes that imposition of such sanction would not be in the best interests of the city, the director shall consult with the department head prior to making a final decision as to whether to impose such sanctions.
(d) Consistent with article VII and the rules and regulations, the DSBO may prescribe corrective actions in the case of potential violations or in lieu of potential enforcement.
(e) Suspected criminal violations shall be referred to the proper authorities for prosecution. If a conviction or a guilty plea is obtained pursuant to such prosecution, the perpetrator may be barred from contracting with the city to the extent authorized by law.
(Ord. No. 286-20, § 4, 4-13-20; Ord. No. 833-21, § 20, 8-23-21)
Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH28HURI_ARTVIIOPSMBUENEMBUENCOCOREREPRDECOSESMBUENCOCOAGTHDESEPOCOCOAG_S28-229SAFACOARVIREFetched: 10/27/2026