40E-7.215. Definitions

(1) “Contractor”: any individual or contracting entity with whom the District has entered into a legally binding agreement for performance of work at a mutually agreed upon price in accordance with agreed upon terms and conditions.

(2) “Contracting Entity”: an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, professional association, an obligor to a third party beneficiary contract, or any other legal entity doing business in the State of Florida which has entered into a contract with the District.

(3) “Cure Notice”: a letter citing the specific nature of the material breach, the corrective action required by the District and a thirty (30) day time frame for curing the breach, starting from receipt of the Cure Notice. The letter also shall state that if the contracting entity fails to cure the breach within the thirty (30) day period, the contracting entity will be found in default and may be placed on the District’s Temporary or Permanent Suspension List.

(4) “Excusable Non-performance”: a contracting entity’s failure to perform an act that is an important part of the transaction or performing an act inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the contract, due to some action or inaction by the District, making performance by the contracting entity impossible or beyond the contracting entity’s control.

(5) “Material Breach”: any substantial, unexcused non-performance. The breach is either failing to perform an act that is an important part of the transaction or performing an act inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the contract.

(6) “Statement of No Suspension”: a document that all contracting entities shall sign at the time of bid or proposal submission to the District, affirming that the contracting entities and proposed subcontractors or subconsultants are not presently on the District’s Temporary or Permanent Suspension List and that the District shall be notified of any changed circumstances prior to contract award. The “Statement of No Suspension” is Form No. 1112, “Statement of No Suspension”, 4-1-03, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This form will be attached to all District solicitations. This form can also be accessed on the District’s website at www.SFWMD.gov, Procurement and Contracts, overview.

(7) “Obligor”: an entity that has promised or is otherwise legally obligated to perform an act or deed for the benefit of a third party beneficiary. Obligors to the District include but are not limited to insurance companies and surety companies.

(8) “Principal(s)”: for purposes of this rule, a sole proprietor, partner, owner, officer or director of the contracting entity that breached a District contract.

(9) “Re-Procurement Costs”: the total amount of additional expense, over and above the contract price, which may include attorney's fees, that the District will incur in order to obtain substitute goods or services from another contracting entity to complete a requirement that can no longer be performed by the contracting entity that materially breached a District contract.

(10) “Suspension Notice”: a letter from the District to the contracting entity stating that the District will temporarily or permanently bar a contracting entity from doing business with the District because the contracting entity has materially breached its contract with the District. The letter also shall inform the contracting entity that its principals shall not attempt to do business with the District under a different name or form a new legal entity in order to do business with the District while the principals of the contracting entity remain on the Suspension List.

(11) “Suspension List”: a list of contracting entities maintained by the District that are temporarily or permanently barred from doing business with the District.

(12) “Termination for Default Notice”: a letter from the District to the contracting entity stating that the contracting entity is in default for failing to cure the material breach within the thirty (30) day timeframe referenced in the Cure Notice. The letter also shall state that the District’s Governing Board shall determine whether the contracting entity should be placed on the District’s Temporary or Permanent Suspension List.

(13) “Third Party Beneficiary”: for purposes of this rule, whenever the District is the intended beneficiary of a contract but is not a party to the contract.

Rulemaking Authority 373.610 FS. Law Implemented 373.610 FS. History–New 4-1-03.