Amending Title 17 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Contracts and Procurement," by revising and improving the City's contracting and procurement processes, including by providing for a vendor registry for improved vendor management and information processes, and for certain vendor registration requirements, all under certain terms and conditions.

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:

SECTION 1. Title 17 of The Philadelphia Code is hereby amended to read as follows:

TITLE 17. CONTRACTS AND PROCUREMENT.

CHAPTER 17-100. PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS.

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§ 17-112. Vendor Registry.

(1) As expeditiously as practicable, the Procurement Commissioner shall create a vendor registry that will consolidate existing vendor records and existing vendor management systems into a single and consistent registry of all vendors seeking City contracts for the purchase of goods and services, including contracts subject to the lowest responsible bidder requirements of Section 8-200 of the Home Rule Charter and non-competitively bid contracts subject to Chapter 17-1400 of this Code.

(a) The vendor registry shall be composed of a publicly accessible database or digital information storage system through which applicants, contractors, vendors and interested parties are able to create a descriptive profile of themselves that they are responsible for keeping current and complete regarding information that is requested by the City as part of its contracting processes. To the extent practicable, the registry:

(.1) Shall have information uploading capabilities via the internet and shall be maintained on the City’s official website.

(.2) Will provide, or will facilitate the provision of, electronic notification about City contracting opportunities and contracting-related communications to vendors and interested parties regarding matters of relevance to such vendors and interested parties.

(b) Upon certification by the Procurement Commissioner that the vendor registry is operative, the vendor registry shall enable vendors and applicants for City contracts to submit necessary information for various City contracts through one central portal, to be used by the Procurement Commissioner and other City Agencies to assess compliance with various City contracting requirements, including but not limited as follows:

(.1) Applications to be certified as a Local Business Entity pursuant to Section 17-109, including all information required to be submitted or updated pursuant to Section 17-109(3) and (4), and including any requests for tax clearance certificates, pursuant to Section 17-109(3)(a)(i), shall be submitted, retained and processed through the vendor registry.

(.2) Tax clearance certificates, pursuant to Section 17-109(3)(a)(i), shall be submitted through the vendor registry.

(.3) Any certifications relating to participation of disadvantaged business entities in City contracts shall be reflected in the vendor registry.

(2) Applicants, contractors, vendors and interested parties will be responsible for entering and maintaining their information in the vendor registry.

(3) The vendor registry shall be free to use for registrants.

(4) The Procurement Commissioner shall work towards including in the vendor registry any of the following procedural devices:

(a) Profile pages and contact information for vendors for the purposes of push notification of new opportunities from the City, communicating with the City, and communicating with other vendors.

(b) The ability for vendors to select the types of contract opportunities with respect to which they are interested in receiving notifications.

(c) An annual reminder to vendors to update their records.

(d) An annual vendor survey to help improve the City contracting process, the results of which shall be published and posted on the vendor registry.

(e) An annual report of the activities of businesses that have registered as disadvantaged business enterprises regarding their success in receiving City contracts or subcontracts.

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CHAPTER 17-1400. NON-COMPETITIVELY BID CONTRACTS; FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

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§ 17-1404. Eligibility for Non-Competitively Bid Contracts and Financial Assistance

(1) Determining Eligibility

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(e) An applicant, business or contractor must be registered on the vendor registry, when operative, as provided in Section 17-112, in order to be (1) eligible to apply for or to enter into any Non-Competitively Bid Contract or (2) to be a subcontractor (at any tier) on any such contract.

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Explanation:

Italics

indicate new matter added.

End