DATE: October 21, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Raymond T. Hunter, Director, General Services Department
SUBJECT: Annual Agreements for Job Order Contracting Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Job Order Contracting Agreements with Ardent General, Inc., Aztec Consultants, Inc., Better Enterprises, Inc., Heritage General, and Newton Construction and Management, Inc. for repair, remodeling, or other repetitive work to be done according to unit prices, effective upon execution, for a term of one year, with each Agreement total not to exceed $5,000,000 (4/5 vote); and
2. Approve and authorize the Director of the General Services Department, or their designee, to use annual Job Order Contracting Agreements for the implementation of the proposed projects described in Attachment A, or projects of a similar scope, with no increase to the maximum compensation.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the first recommended action will allow the County to enter into Job Order Contracting (JOC) Agreements with Ardent General, Inc. (Ardent), Aztec Consultants, Inc. (Aztec), Better Enterprises, Inc. (Better Enterprises), Heritage General, and Newton Construction and Management, Inc. (Newton) for the benefit of user departments, as needed. If approved by your Board, these projects will include repairs, remodeling and other repetitive work, such as general contracting, facility upgrades, plumbing, roofing, electrical and/or flooring for County-owned buildings and properties. If approved by your Board, the recommended JOC Agreements will expire one year from execution or when the maximum compensation under each Agreement is exhausted, whichever occurs first.
Approval of the second recommended action allows the Director of the General Services Department (GSD), or their designee, to, at their discretion, use the recommended JOC Agreements to accomplish the known projects described in Attachment A, as well as any additional projects that may arise that are of a similar scope, with no change to the term or increase to the maximum compensation. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the first recommended action is not approved, the County would undergo the competitive bid process on a per-job basis, as prescribed by the Public Contract Code, and as requested by departments, which could lead to delayed project completion. Additionally, your Board could remove one or more projects on Attachment A and instead require competitive bids for those projects.
If the second recommended action is not approved, GSD would return to your Board for approval to undergo any additional projects that arise during the Agreement term that are not listed on Attachment A, leading to potential delays in project completion.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. GSD-Facility Services recovers all costs associated with these services through chargebacks to user departments. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the GSD-Facility Services Org 8935 FY 2025-26 Adopted Budget and will be included in the FY 2026-27 Recommended Budget request.
DISCUSSION:
Public Contract Code section 20128.5 authorizes your Board to award annual JOC agreements for repair, remodeling, and other repetitive work. On September 10, 2024, the Board approved five JOC agreements with Ardent, Better Enterprises, Durham Construction, Inc., Heritage General, and Newton from September 10, 2024 through September 9, 2025 with a total maximum compensation of $5,000,000 per agreement.
On April 22, 2025, the GSD-Purchasing Division released Request for Quotation (RFQ) No. 25-062 to award annual JOC contracts to up to the five lowest bidders. The RFQ closed on May 15, 2025 with six quotations from Ardent, Aztec, Better Enterprises, Heritage General, Newton and GCB1(dba GC Builders). On May 23, 2025, tentative awards were offered to the five lowest bidders.
If approved by your Board, the recommended JOC Agreements will be used on a per-job basis as requested by user departments for repairs, remodeling, and other repetitive work such as general contracting, upgrades, roofing, electrical, and flooring. This approach provides fixed pricing and expedites the procurement process, enabling a broad range of County facility needs to be addressed in a timely and efficient manner. By eliminating the need for separate project development and formal competitive bidding for each individual project, this method reduces administrative burden and results in significant savings of staff time and resources.
Contractors are selected based on competitive bids to perform various job orders during the life of the recommended JOC Agreements. When submitting bids, each contractor will apply the various bid Adjustment Factors to the tasks in the Gordian Group, Inc.’s proprietary Construction Task Catalog, which lists pre-priced construction tasks based on local labor prevailing wage, materials, and equipment costs.
The first recommended action will approve the recommended JOC Agreements with Ardent, Aztec, Better Enterprises, Heritage General, and Newton, each for a one-year term and with a maximum compensation of $5,000,000. Compensation for each recommended JOC Agreement may be increased up to the sum authorized by Public Contract Code section 20128.5, which allows for an adjusted annual increase based on the California Consumer Price Index (currently approximately $5,955,353). Any increase in the maximum compensation would be accomplished by amending the respective agreements, which would come before your Board for approval.
Approval of the second recommended action authorizes the Director of GSD, or their designee, to utilize the recommended JOC Agreements, at their discretion, to accomplish the projects described in Attachment A and additional projects that arise of a similar scope. This will allow GSD-Facility Services to meet current departmental needs and demands for repairs, remodeling and other similar for County-owned buildings and property. The projects include, but aren’t limited to, American with Disabilities Act compliance projects, new and ongoing American Rescue Plan Act - State Local Fiscal Recovery Fund projects, as well as any unanticipated projects, repairs, and upgrades that may arise during term of the recommended JOC Agreements.
Per County Charter Section 13, approval of the recommended JOC Agreements requires four affirmative votes of the Board of Supervisors as some of the contracted services can be, and are currently being, performed by County employees. While there is some overlap in services, Ardent, Aztec, Better Enterprises, Heritage General and Newton will be contracted to complete projects that are of a larger scale, or are otherwise outside of the expertise of County employees. Internal County procedures are in place to ensure that services of County staff are prioritized and the recommended JOC Agreements are only utilized when the County is unable to appropriately respond to user department requests. Should there be a greater need in the future, staff will present their findings and recommendations to the Board, as appropriate.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #40, September 10, 2024
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Ardent
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Aztec
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Better Enterprises
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Heritage General
On file with Clerk - Agreement with Newton
Attachment A - Projects
CAO ANALYST:
Amy Ryals