More than 200 South Florida architects, engineers and contractors who attended Miami-Dade County's 2009 Industry Forum responded to a survey rating their experience in doing business with Miami-Dade County.  The greatest number of those who responded indicated that the County is moving in the right direction and more than 50 percent rated their experience good or very good. 

Nearly 100 percent of those surveyed said they visit www.miamidade.gov for business purposes and 77 percent rated the County's online tools as good or very good.

When asked how the County could improve its interface with the industry the attendees offered a broad spectrum of suggestions, but most frequently asked that the contracting process be streamlined "to get bids out on the street quicker." Here is a summary of the feedback:

1. The contracting process takes too long.  The County should look for ways to speed up the process.
   What Miami-Dade is doing to accelerate the process.
   
   
2. The building industry has been severely impacted by the recession. What is government doing to help architects, engineers and contractors weather these difficult times?
   What Miami-Dade is doing to boost economy during economic downturn.
   
   
3. Contracts vary too much among the County's capital departments.
   What Miami-Dade is doing to standardize contract language for capital projects?
   
   
4. Some companies are submitting bids unrealistically low during these difficult times. The County needs to do something about low-balling.
   Miami-Dade's policy on pricing.
   
   
5. The payment process takes too long.  It takes the County too long to process invoices.
   What Miami-Dade is doing to streamline the process.
   
   
6. The A & E solicitation process should be less subjective.
   What Miami-Dade is doing to improve the scoring system?  
   
   
7. Work experience requirements cause the same firms to repeatedly win contracts and other firms cannot compete.
   Miami-Dade's policy on qualifications for RFPs.
   
   
8. RFPs need to be simplified. They are too complex and often redundant making it difficult for many companies to respond.
   What Miami-Dade is doing to simplify the process.

See Survey Results:

• If you have competed for a County contract in the last 12 months, how would you rate the process?
• How would you rate your overall experience in competing for County contracts?
• Do you use online tools to do business with Miami-Dade County?
• If you have visited the County's website over the past six months, how would you rate your experience?
  

Responses:

1. In an effort to accelerate the contracting process for capital construction projects, the Board of County Commissioners adopted an Economic Stimulus Program (ESP) in July 2008 that expedites the bid/award process by streamlining some steps and eliminating others.The expedited process can save 60 to 90 days in the contracting process. The accelerated process is being used to move forward more than 300 County projects that will be underway over the next year. To date, approximately $500 million in projects have been process accelerated as part of the ESP. The Commission is considering legislation to extend the ESP through 2013. 
   
   
2. The County is aggressively moving forward its capital program to help cushion the impact of the national recession on the local building professions and trades.  To get work out on the street quicker, the Board of County Commissioners adopted an Economic Stimulus Program (ESP) in July 2008 that expedites the bid/award process for more than $600 million in capital projects.  Additionally, the County is working towards getting two large projects underway:  1) construction of a new baseball stadium in Little Havana for the Marlins; 2) securing state funding to improve access through the Port of Miami with construction of a tunnel under Biscayne Bay linking the seaport to the Interstate System.
    
   These projects, coupled with other large capital programs including the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program, ongoing construction at Miami International Airport and a massive upgrade to the County's water and sewer system infrastructure over the next decade, comprise one of the most ambitious public building programs in the nation.  Additionally, the County is aggressively applying for federal dollars as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
   
   
3. The Office of Capital Improvements (OCI) is working with the County's 20 Capital departments to adopt a standard contract that would apply to all County projects.  OCI expects to have the standard contract in place before the end of 2009.
   
   
4. The County, as part of its review of bids, does the following:  compares the apparent low bid with the other bids submitted; requests a schedule of values from the apparent low bidder; solicits input from the architect or engineer of record; and, in some cases, requests a statement in writing from the contractor confirming that they can perform the work for the bid price. 
   
   
5. The County is working with various capital departments to streamline their payment procedures to make sure that they comply with the Florida Prompt Payment Act.
   
   
6. The County is in the process of modifying the existing A&E rankings to an ordinal system which ranks competing firms in numerical order from most qualified to least qualified based on their individual scores on set criteria.  We expect to have the new system to be in place by the end of the year.
   
   
7. We are working with the County's capital departments to eliminate prerequisites to the extent possible.  However, due to the complexity of some projects, these prerequisites and the requirement for specific experience will continue to be required on some solicitations.
   
   
8. The County has developed a streamlined, two-page Letter of Qualification which reduces the paperwork required  as part of the proposal process.