Selection & Appointment of Community Administrator.
Your company has been identified as a possible candidate to become the new Administrator for four of our Communities at …. As a result, we are now sending you herewith our Request for Proposals and Schedule of Services.
We believe that the attached documents will give you all the information you need to prepare and submit your Proposals, but if you have any questions or need any clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact me at the identified e-mail address.
We very much hope that you will be interested in submitting your Proposals to us and in this regard, we would be most grateful, if you could confirm whether or not you do intend to make a submission.
We look forward to hearing back from you and to receiving your Proposals in due course.
Request for Proposals
1. Introduction.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) is being sent to you, because we are interested in considering your company for the appointment as the new Administrator for ……… The current Administrator of …….. is resigning for its own business reasons and we wish to have a suitable, new Administrator appointed for each of our communities such that there is continuity of service.
We ask you to use the contents of this RFP as the basis for any proposals you wish to submit to us. In this regard, it would be appreciated if you could comply with the requirements of this RFP as closely as possible, on the understanding that there will be an opportunity to mutually agree any improvements or changes to the Schedule of Services and the terms of the Service Agreement prior to any appointment.
2. Who We Are.
As indicated earlier, this RFP is coming to you from four of the communities ….. (a development that we assume you are already familiar with). The committees
of ………… have joined forces in their search for a new Administrator, on the understanding that this will offer a better business opportunity for the new
Administrator, as well as allowing for increased efficiencies in the service provision.
Our …… communities are comprised of the following:
– 60 apartments
– 36 apartments
– 20 apartments
– 15 apartments
As such, our communities are … communities with a joint inventory of 131 privately owned apartments, within a total development of eight communities consisting of 298 apartments. All of the apartments have been designed as high quality, luxury properties in exclusive, low density residential blocks possessing
basement carparks. Each community has its own secure access and swimming pool(s) and is surrounded by landscaped gardens. The 131 apartments are used
variously as primary residences, holiday homes and rental properties, with a significant proportion of the properties being occupied at any given time.
Each of our communities exists as a distinct entity within the development and shares with all the other communities a variety of additional facilities including a
clubhouse, health club, gym and spa, a tennis court, a gatehouse complex, co-working areas, farmers’ market (yet to be developed), etc.. These shared facilities constitute a macro-community, which is administered by a separate Administrator under the management of a committee appointed from among the presidents of the eight individual communities.
…… falls within the jurisdiction of Marbella Town Hall, with whom we interact on such matters as waste collection and road management.
3. What We Are Seeking
Our four communities are each seeking to appoint an Administrator, who will work closely with our committees to deliver to the best possible standards the services described in Section 5 of this RFP. In this regard, we are seeking to find a well qualified and experienced community administration company, with which we can establish a good and effective relationship in the optimized administration of our four communities.
We are keen to maximize the advantages of sharing the same administration team across our four communities, but the chosen company will be separately appointed as the Administrator for each of our four communities.
The resignation of the current Administrator of our communities will be effective as at 31 December 2023. Our objective is to confirm the appointments for the chosen new Administrator before the end of 2023, in order to facilitate an effective hand-over from our existing Administrator, ready for 2024. Thereafter, it is our desire to establish a mutually beneficial long term relationship with the newly appointed Administrator.
4. Our Basic Requirements.
Based upon the past experience of our owners and the particular circumstances of our communities within the …… development, the following are some of the basic requirements that we expect the chosen company to fulfill :
a) The Administrator must be a member of the Professional Association of Estate Managers and belong to the College of Administrators.
b) The company must possess at least five years of relevant experience in the administration of communities on the Costa del Sol and we ask you to provide
references evidencing the company’s successful performance to date.
c) The administration team must possess multilingual capability in at least Spanish and English.
d) The company must possess and efficiently use state of the art software, including an appropriate service App.
e) The company must provide a 24/7 contact service in the event of urgent or emergency requirements.
f) The personnel proposed for the service provision must be the same people, who will actually be deployed and available for the duration of the service
provision (subject only to unavoidable terminations).
g) The company must provide all of the administration and secretarial services using its own personnel and without subcontracting any service to any third
party (each Community will separately contract directly with companies engaged in all such services as gardening, cleaning and maintenance).
h) The company must hold all necessary professional insurances and must be compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.
5. The Scope of Services.
The scope of services that we wish to be performed by our Administrator is described in the attached Schedule of Services. In this regard, we would particularly ask you to give consideration to comments made in the preamble to the Schedule of Services.
The Services to be provided by the Administrator to the Community are as listed in this Schedule of Services without limitation and shall remain subject to the addition of any other functions entrusted to the Administrator by a General Meeting of Owners or the approved Regulations of the Community.
The Administrator shall perform the role of Administrator and Secretary in a manner and to a standard acceptable to the Committee and in accordance with the provisions of the Community Bylaws and the Common Property Act.
In performing the Services, the Administrator is required to deliver a professional, cooperative and flexible service. At all times, the Community expects the Administrator to act with integrity, transparency and responsiveness, resulting in a close and effective working relationship between the Administrator and the Community.
All the information, communications and documentation generated by the Administrator are to be clear and unambiguous, using the most appropriate, current software. The adopted community management systems must utilize specialized property management software and the Administrator must provide information access to the Community through an approved App or portal.
The Services are:
1. Handle the management and administration of the Community, together with the supervision and management of the whole Community, property, installations and services.
2. Ensure the proper running of the Community, its elements, facilities and services, immediately reporting to the President on any irregularity or incident that might arise.
3. Supervise the performance of all the service providers and contractors engaged by the Community and advise the Committee accordingly.
4. Maintain close communication with the President and the Committee via e-mail, WhatsApp, fixed line and mobile telephone and audio-visual means as may be most appropriate.
5. Conduct weekly oversight visits to the Community and monthly meetings with the Committee to discuss aspects related to gardening, cleaning, maintenance and possible improvements in the Community, as well as other visits or meetings as may be reasonably required.
6. Regularly check the status and condition of the communal areas of the Community and report to the Committee on any necessary repair and maintenance requirements, as well as any incidents that are contrary to the Bylaws or the various community regulations.
7. Inform the Committee on any extraordinary work or action that may be required to maintain the quality and integrity of the Community and its common property and take any related action that may be directed by the President.
8. Arrange and supervise all and any repair work, maintenance work or building work that is necessary, with the prior approval of the President.
9. Give appropriate instructions to parties employed by the Community so that their work is performed to maximum advantage (including gardening, cleaning and maintenance).
10. Arrange for all the regular, planned and preventative maintenance to be carried out in a thorough and timely manner.
11. Issue monthly reports to the Committee in a standard format on primary activities and the financial status of the Community (cash flow, budget utilization, creditors and overdue debtors).
12. Maintain and operate a dedicated and secure community bank account and ensure the safekeeping of the Community’s funds. Carry out all manner of banking transactions necessary for the full functioning of the Community.
13. Take action to obtain due payments in respect of overdue debtors and keep the Committee fully informed in this regard.
14. Direct, keep and safeguard the book-keeping of the Community, keeping an updated record of the credit and debit positions of the Owners in respect of their participation in the payment of the Service Charges corresponding to each one.
15. Make and receive Community payments and forecasts of payments to be made and received, keeping the Committee informed of any possible cash shortage that might arise or might be expected to arise.
16. Implement any orders for payment given by the President or Treasurer.
17. Prepare and send out to the Owners prior to the Annual General Meeting an annual report covering events, activities and achievements over the year and the state of affairs of the Community at that time.
18. In consultation with the Committee, prepare and submit the annual income and expenditure budgets and the Community’s accounts for approval at the Annual General Meeting.
19. In consultation with the Committee, determine the amount of the Community’s annual Service Charges and issue quarterly payment notifications to all the Owners.
20. Propose to any Extraordinary General Meeting any extra Service Charges needed for covering expenses that arise, together with the manner and time periods for paying them.
21. Propose any increase to be made to the Reserve Fund, if required.
22. In conjunction with the President, prepare and send out to all Owners official notices of any
General Meetings, together with accompanying documentation as prescribed in the Community Bylaws.
23. Attend all General Meetings, draw up and send the minutes of all General Meetings to the Owners after approval by the Committee. The minutes are to include details of all the matters discussed, all the decisions made and all the actions to be taken.
24. Implement in a timely manner the resolutions adopted at any General Meeting and any instructions received from the President and keep the Committee informed accordingly.
25. Perform the functions of Secretary of the Community, keeping all the documents pertaining to the Community, the minutes book and the owners register and make these available to the Owners as prescribed in the Community Bylaws.
26. Interpret the Bylaws in case of doubt.
27. Advise on any legal matters relating to the affairs of the Community.
28. In consultation with the President, grant any powers of attorney considered appropriate, including powers of representation in court and other kinds of powers.
29. Prepare and process any necessary or approved submissions or applications before official bodies.
30. Maintain in force a competitive insurance policy for the Community on terms and with cover provisions that are approved by the Committee and handle any resulting claims. Amongst other things, the policy is to include civil responsibility cover for the Community’s officers.
31. Assist the Committee in the engagement and/or termination of the Community’s service providers and contractors, as well as in establishing the fair costs, terms and conditions of their work.
32. Maintain in service an emergency telephone line operating 24/7 and effectively respond to any emergency requests and action requirements.
33. Act as the key holder for all general doors and gates and for access to such areas as electric, water, telephone and IT meters, community water supply areas, television cable and IT distribution points. etc..
34. Cooperate with the Macro-Community Administrator, the Administrators of other …. communities and the ….. Operations Manager on all and any matters that affect the security, wellbeing and residential enjoyment of the Community’s Owners.
35. Participate in the control of rental activities, coordination with the Security, etc. and assist the Committee in any related matters.
36. In general, perform any other actions or measures that may be needed or reasonably requested by the President for the betterment of the Community.
37. Perform any other services, duties and obligations that are required of the Community Administrator and Secretary, in accordance with the provisions of the Common Property Act and any other applicable legislation.
6. Contractual Arrangements
As indicated earlier, the chosen company will be separately appointed for each community and will be separately answerable to the committee of each community.
The appointment is intended to be an ongoing appointment, but will be subject to renewal on an annual basis.
The terms of appointment are expected to be as set out in the Service Agreement.
An English version of the Service Agreement will be provided to you while you are preparing your Proposals.
7. Resources
We do not wish to be prescriptive in terms of the number and skills of the staff you consider to be needed to perform the community administration services, as we expect you to be the experts in this regard. We do ask, however, that you carefully consider the resources needed to fully perform all of the services described in the Schedule of Services.
Your Proposals need to include details of the staff, who will be used in the performance of the community administration services, together with details of the
organisational arrangements of your team and details of the roles and responsibilities of each team member. We also wish to be briefed in your Proposals on the
specialists, support staff and administrative resources, who will be working with your community administration staff.
In addition to your staffing resources, please confirm the other resources you expect to utilize in the performance of the community administration services, including the resources for transportation, communications, IT and office services.
Whilst we understand that it is not possible to precisely define the number of people-hours you will deploy in the performance of the community administration
services, we would ask you to provide your best advice as to the number of people-hours you are expecting to deploy.
Please confirm in your Proposals that you will not subcontract any of the required services to parties or individuals not formally employed within your company.
8. Fees and Expenses
We ask you to quote an all-inclusive monthly fee for your provision of the Services. In this regard, your fees must include without limitation all of the following :-
● All costs associated with personnel employment, including any overtime payments.
● All transportation costs associated with the performance of the Services.
● All costs associated with regulatory and fiscal compliance.
● All and any taxes relating to your service provision.
● All incidental and office expenses, IT and communications costs.
In the event of your service provision being extended beyond the first year, your fees will be escalated at an annual rate, in accordance with the officially published inflation rate.
9. The RFP Process, Scope of Submission and Timings
A period of nine days will be allowed for the preparation and submission of your Proposals. During this period, you are welcome to make a pre-arranged visit to …. Also, we will endeavor to answer any questions or clarifications you may wish to raise with us, provided they are sent by e-mail in English to ……[email protected] at least two days before the date set for the submission of Proposals.
Your Proposals must be submitted in English and signed by an authorized representative of your company.
Your Proposals must include documentation and or statements confirming the company’s compliance with all of the requirements listed in Section 4 of this RFP, as well as the following :
● General information about your company, including the date of establishment, number of communities currently served, the number of staff by department,
the location of your offices, etc..
● The names, qualifications and experience of the personnel, who will actually be deployed in the service provision to our communities.
● An organization chart showing the operational arrangements within your company and how the personnel deployed for our communities will be
supported and managed.
● Details of the operational systems, software and apps that will be used in performing the community administration services.
We encourage you to add any additional information and proposals, which you feel will enhance your submission and improve your service provision to our communities.
Equally, we would ask you to clearly state any qualifications or exclusions you wish to make.
Your proposals must be as complete as possible and in this regard, the thoroughness of your submission will be taken as a reflection of the quality we can expect in the event of your appointment.
Your response to this RFP should be submitted by e-mail no later than mid-day on 4th December 2023.
Your submission will remain confidential to our evaluation team and we request that you do not contact us or any of the evaluation team until we contact you.
Initially, we expect that our post-submission contact with you will take place during the week commencing 11th December 2023 or earlier, with clarification and negotiation meetings following immediately thereafter. It is our intention to confirm our appointment decision by 22nd December 2023.
Best regards,