Page 12 - NJ Cooperator Spring 2020

12 THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR —SPRING 2020 NJCOOPERATOR.COM BOARD OPERATIONS Bidding Basics RFPs, Outsourcing, and Avoiding Confl icts BY DARCEY GERSTEIN Co-op, condo, and HOA boards across will be involved with all selections of third- the country are made up of volunteers who party suppliers from the very beginning of are committed to the governance of their the process. community. Among their most important duties is selecting vendors to provide goods or services—everything from lawn care to comes a needs assessment. Whether the roof repair; surveillance to extermination. gym needs new equipment, or the boiler Oft en these volunteers have little to no di- rect expertise in the industries and occupa- tions related to their properties, so the task relevant advisors to determine the param- of even fi nding qualifi ed vendors—let alone eters or expectations of the deliverable; do evaluating and choosing the best one for they want to totally overhaul and upgrade the job—can be daunting. By understand- ing the process and keeping a few caveats tionary bikes? Do they want to purchase in mind, however, boards can make solid the equipment, or lease it? Have residents choices for their communities while steer- ing clear of confl icts. Let Your Manager Manage Your fi rst and likely best resource in SOW. Using this as a guide, the manager navigating the bidding process is, of course, will produce a request for proposal (RFP) your property manager, says Steven R. Wag- ner, principal at law fi rm Wagner Berkow in New York and also president of his own on the nature of the work. For some jobs, Manhattan co-op. “You need somebody there might be only a couple of vendors who’s familiar with building systems to be who provide a particular service, while for able to help you cover what needs to be other categories like painters or insurance done,” he advises. A competent manager is providers, there could be hundreds. Either a professional who knows the ins and outs way, it’s a good idea to solicit more bids of the industry, has contacts and relation- ships with a broad range of companies, and vendors may turn out to not meet require- is experienced in contract negotiations and ments, some may not be available in the procurement. He or she also acts as an in- termediary between the board and the third spond to the RFP at all. parties they engage. Ideally, your manager The Process And just what is that process? First needs repair, or the windows need replac- ing, the fi rst step is for the board and its the gym, or just install a couple of new sta- who use the gym been requesting specifi c features or items? All of this might go into what’s called a statement/scope of work, or and distribute it to a list of qualifi ed bidders. How many bidders get the RFP depends than might seem necessary, because some time-frame needed, and others may not re-