Housing Services Corporation 30 Duncan Street, Suite 500 Toronto, ON Canada M5V 2C3 t. 416 594 9325 tf. 1 866 268 4451 f. 416 594 9422 www.hscorp.ca Request for Proposal #18-242-21 Housing Services Corporation Web and Graphic Design Services Date Issued: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 Closing Date: Friday, June 8, 2018 2:00 p.m. EDT (Toronto time)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION... 5 2. SCOPE OF SERVICES... 5 3. CONFIDENTIALITY... 7 4. EXECUTION OF THE CONSULTING AGREEMENT AND NOTIFICATION... 7 5. PROPONENT INSTRUCTIONS... 8 6. GENERAL CONDITIONS...11 APPENDIX A...13 APPENDIX B...15 May 16, 2018 Page 3 of 15
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1. INTRODUCTION Housing Services Corporation (HSC) is inviting qualified proponents to submit proposals to provide web and graphic design services for HSC s Regeneration Forum being held on March 25 and 26, 2019. This RFP is not a formal tender call and does not create any binding legal obligations on HSC. The purpose of this RFP is to select a qualified company with whom HSC shall negotiate and enter into a consulting agreement (the Consulting Agreement ) to deliver the scope of services identified in section 2 of this RFP (the Services ). 1.1 Background HSC HSC was established by the Province of Ontario under the provisions of the Housing Services Act (Ontario). The Act established HSC as an independent not-for-profit corporation to represent the interests of its members consisting of municipal service managers, local housing corporations and the non-profit and co-operative housing providers previously administered by the provincial government. There are approximately 1,500 housing providers in Ontario being administered by HSC. HSC fulfills the need for consistent quality and facilitates value-added services to housing providers across Ontario while taking advantage of economies of scale. These services empower housing providers to develop safe and affordable homes and vibrant communities. We manage mandated group insurance, natural gas and capital reserves management programs for the Sector. We also use our expertise to offer regeneration, project management, training, research and technical services. See www.hscorp.ca for more details. Regeneration Forum The Regeneration Forum is an event held once every few years to promote large scale change of the social and affordable housing sector. The selected designer will be asked to use existing brand standards to develop and lay out conference marketing and communications materials. 2. SCOPE OF SERVICES The Successful Proponent who enters in the Consulting Agreement with HSC (Successful Proponent) shall deliver the Services to HSC as listed below: May 16, 2018 Page 5 of 15
Deliver quality graphic design services for HSC s Regeneration Forum being held on March 25 and 26, 2019 with approximately 350 attendees. General brand standards have already been developed but conference materials will require a refresh; products/templates needed starting in summer of 2018 through to March 2019. A project plan with a clear timeline and detailed deliverables will be required at project start. Services required include: o Refreshing overall look and feel of marketing materials, staying consistent with existing corporate branding. Specific components include: 2.1 Requirements Print - Promotional brochure (1-2 pages for release summer 2018) - Full conference guide (Roughly 40 page booklet) - Conference Signage (20-25 signs, many using same design template) - Conference badge Digital - Conference website development (updating an existing WordPress Site - for launch in summer 2018 with components/more information added throughout fall 2018; possibility of adding conference schedule customization feature) - Conference map design o Other design services as needed HSC requests Proponents to review the Services and provide HSC with the information as indicated in the Form of Response, attached as Appendix A. 2.2 Contracting Approach It is the present intention of HSC to enter into a Consulting Agreement with the Successful Proponent on terms mutually acceptable to the parties to deliver the Services. The term of the Consulting Agreement will be until May 2019. The Consulting Agreement to be signed by the Successful Proponent(s) shall be in the form required by HSC and shall include the following terms: The Successful Proponent shall perform the Services. May 16, 2018 Page 6 of 15
At the sole discretion of HSC, the Successful Proponent can be used for additional related skills or services to those identified under section 2 - Scope of Services. Pricing is fixed for the period of the Consulting Agreement. The Consulting Agreement to be signed by the Successful Proponent(s) is substantially in the form attached as Appendix B. Any comments to this form of Consulting Agreement must be included in the Form of Response, attached as Appendix A. 3. CONFIDENTIALITY All information provided by or obtained from HSC in any form in connection with this RFP either before or after the issuance of this RFP: a) is the sole property of HSC and must be treated as confidential; b) is not to be used for any purpose other than replying to this RFP and the performance of any subsequent Consulting Agreement; c) must not be disclosed without prior written authorization from HSC; and d) shall be returned by the Proponents to HSC immediately upon the request of HSC. Confidential Information shall not include: a) information generally available to the public other than as a result of a breach of these confidentiality obligations; b) information that becomes available to either party through no breach of any contract or law; c) information that either party develops independent of the information provided to it by the other party; or d) information that is required to be disclosed by applicable laws or regulation including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Ontario) which is binding on HSC. 4. EXECUTION OF THE CONSULTING AGREEMENT AND NOTIFICATION HSC reserves the right in its sole discretion and for any reason whatsoever: a) to accept or to reject any or all Proponent responses in whole or in part, b) not to proceed with all or any part of the services under this RFP, or c) issue a second RFP. Once the Consulting Agreement is signed with the Successful Proponent, HSC shall notify the other Proponents that they have been unsuccessful in this RFP. May 16, 2018 Page 7 of 15
5. PROPONENT INSTRUCTIONS 5.1 Questions Any questions on this Request for Proposals should be directed in writing via e-mail to Rosabelle Gonzales at rfp@hscorp.ca no later than Friday, May 25 by 2:00 p.m., EDT (Toronto time). 5.2 Responses to this RFP Proponents must include all information requested and provide it in the order in which it is requested on the Form of Response, attached as Appendix B. Proponents that fail to provide all information requested may be disqualified. Proponents must complete each section of the attached Form of Response document. Proponents shall submit their response to this RFQ via HSC s Bonfire portal. Please follow these instructions to submit via our Public Portal. Prepare your response materials: Requested Information Name Type # Files Requirement Form of Response File Type: Any (.*) Multiple Required Requested Documents: Please note the type and number of files allowed. The maximum upload file size is 100 MB. Please do not embed any documents within your uploaded files, as they will not be accessible or evaluated. Upload your response at: https://hscorp.bonfirehub.ca/opportunities/15072 Your response must be uploaded prior to the Closing Date of Friday, June 8, 2018 by 2:00 p.m. EDT. We strongly recommend that you give yourself sufficient time and at May 16, 2018 Page 8 of 15
least ONE (1) hour before the Closing Date to begin the uploading process and to finalize your response. Important Notes: Each item of Requested Information is instantly sealed and will only be visible after the Closing Date. Uploading large documents may take significant time, depending on the size of the file(s) and your Internet connection speed. You will receive an email confirmation receipt with a unique confirmation number once you finalize your response. Minimum system requirements: Internet Explorer 8/9/10+, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. Javascript must be enabled. Need Help? Housing Services Corporation uses a Bonfire portal for accepting and evaluating proposals digitally. Please contact Bonfire at Support@GoBonfire.com for technical questions related to your response. You can also visit their help forum at https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc. Proponents are strongly encouraged to limit their responses to a maximum of 10 pages in total. The Evaluation Committee reserves the right to review only the first 10 pages of your proposal and no more. 5.3 Participation Instructions Information directing prospective Proponents to the RFP documentation will be made available on the following electronic tendering services: MERX - website: www.merx.com, e-mail: merx@merx.com; telephone number: 1-800-964-6379; Biddingo.com - website: www.biddingo.com, e-mail: info@biddingo.com; telephone number: 1-888-891-8314; and on HSC s website www.hscorp.ca. 5.4 Amending or Withdrawing Proposals Prior to Proposal Submission Deadline At any time prior to the Proposal Submission Deadline, a Proponent may amend or withdraw a submitted proposal. Any amendment should clearly indicate what part of the proposal the amendment is intending to replace. A notice of amendment or withdrawal must be sent to the address of HSC s Manager of Procurement and Compliance. May 16, 2018 Page 9 of 15
5.5 HSC May Seek Clarification and Incorporate Response into Proposal HSC reserves the right to seek clarification and supplementary information relating to the clarification from Proponents after the Proposal Submission Deadline. The response received by HSC from a Proponent shall, if accepted by HSC, form an integral part of that Proponent's proposal. HSC reserves the right to interview any or all Proponents to obtain information about or clarification of their proposals. In the event that HSC receives information at any stage of the evaluation process which results in earlier information provided by the Proponent being deemed by HSC to be inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, HSC reserves the right to revisit the Proponent s compliance with the mandatory requirements and/or adjust the scoring of rated criteria. 5.6 Evaluation Process HSC will conduct the evaluation of proposals in the following two (2) stages, if required: Stage I Stage I will consist, in part, of a review to determine which proposals have complied with the mandatory requirements outlined below. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS YES / NO 1. Proposal received on time - 2. Form of Response submitted and signed by authorized representative(s) - Qualified proposals that meet all mandatory requirements will be scored based on the following criteria: EVALUATION CRITERIA MAXIMUM POINTS 1. Knowledge of Ontario social housing sector 10 2. Qualifications and experience in providing event communications including sample work 3. Project Plan 30 4. Pricing 30 TOTAL SCORING 100 30 May 16, 2018 Page 10 of 15
Stage II The purpose of Stage II, if required, is to provide HSC an opportunity to meet with and negotiate the Consulting Agreement with the highest evaluated proponent(s). In this final Stage II, the Consulting Agreement will be negotiated and finalized for execution. The final signed Consulting Agreement may contain terms different or supplementary to those contained in the Successful Proponent s proposal. No Proponent shall have any rights against HSC arising from such negotiations or the failure to execute the Consulting Agreement. If HSC is unable to negotiate and sign the Consulting Agreement with the highest evaluated proponent, then HSC shall have the right to either commence negotiations with the next highest evaluated proponent or terminate this RFP. 5.7 Tentative Schedule The following dates are tentative and are subject to change without notice: Task Target Date Issuing of this RFP Wednesday, May 16, 2018 Deadline for questions Friday, May 25, 2018 By 2:00 p.m. EDT Distribution of addenda to RFP, as required Friday, June 1, 2018 Closing date for submission of proposals Friday, June 8, 2018 By 2:00 p.m. EDT Evaluation of proposals Week of June 11, 2018 Proponent meetings, if required Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Consulting Agreement with HSC to take effect June 2018 6. GENERAL CONDITIONS 6.1 HSC reserves the right to accelerate and postpone the schedule for this RFP. 6.2 Each Proponent shall prepare at its sole cost and expense its response to this RFP. HSC shall not reimburse any Proponent for its rejected response. 6.3 HSC reserves the following rights: 6.3.1. HSC can request that any Proponent clarify or make changes to its response. 6.3.2. HSC can, in its sole discretion, choose to meet with none, some or all of the Proponents to discuss their response. May 16, 2018 Page 11 of 15
6.3.3. Responses that are improperly signed, illegible, contain omissions or irregularities may, in HSC s sole discretion, be rejected. HSC may also waive any informality or irregularity. 6.3.4. HSC may verify with any Proponent or third party any information set out in the response. HSC may check references other than those provided by any Proponent. 6.3.5. HSC may disqualify any response that contains material misrepresentations or any other materially inaccurate or misleading information. 6.3.6 If deemed necessary to ensure deliverables can be met within the established time schedule for completion of the energy audits and in consideration of the capacity demonstrated by prospective proponents - HSC reserves the right to select and enter into a contractual agreement with more than one proponent to undertake and complete the energy audits. 6.3.7 HSC, this RFP and all responses to it are governed by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Ontario. These reserved rights are in addition to any other express rights or any other rights which may be implied and HSC shall not be liable for any expenses, costs, losses or direct or indirect damages suffered by a Proponent resulting from HSC exercising any of its express or implied rights under this RFP. May 16, 2018 Page 12 of 15
APPENDIX A FORM OF RESPONSE Attached as a separate file. May 16, 2018 Page 13 of 15
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APPENDIX B CONSULTING AGREEMENT Attached as a separate file. May 16, 2018 Page 15 of 15