At
tachment C
Response to Protest (Western State Builders Inc.)
10-16
10-17
10-18
10-19
10-20
10-21
WESTERN STATE BUILDERS INC.
2141 ORANGE A VE ESCONDIDO CA
Se
ptember 10, 2025
City of Newport Beach
Purchasing Department
James M. Houlihan
To Whom this may Concern
Re: Bid NO. 2024-2025 Playground improvements Contract No: C-9753-1 Please accept this letter from Western State Builders Inc. as a bid RFI for the project referenced ab
ove.
Question — We ask that the city of Newport Beach to lift the Manufacture Certified Installer pr
eference from bid Specs. We ask the city to allow other higher requirement standards for playground installers to be allowed and excepted.
8+ years in the industry installing playground equipment. - NPSI Certification
- CPSI Certification
C61-D34 License
A License
Reasoning —
Item No.1 — Western State Builders Inc carries multiple certification companywide; these ce
rtificates include NPSI, better known as the National Playground Safety Institute. Several mem
bers of our organization are also certified as CPSl’s, better known as Certified Pl ayground Safety Inspectors. These members in our organization that hold these Certificates are not only our upper management but our field installation members, “Boots on the ground” also hold these certificates among other Certificates.
Per ASTM f1487-21 being certified by a manufacturer is not addressed to be lawfully allowed and required to construct playground equipment for public use. Please see excerpt from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for Public Playground Safety. 10-22
2.6 Assembly and Installation • Strictly follow all instructions from the manufacturer when assembling and installing equipment. • After assembly and before its first use, equipment should be thoroughly ins
pected by a person qualified to inspect playgrounds for safety. • The manufacturer’s assembly and installation instructions, and all other materials collected concerning the equipment, should be kept in a permanent file. • Secure anchoring is a key factor to stable installation, and the anchoring process should be completed in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.
Per California Health and Safety Code Section 115725; being certified by a m anufacturer is not add
ressed to be lawfully allowed and able to construct playground equipment for public use.
Please see excerpt.
(a) All new p laygrounds open to the public built by a public agency, or any other entity shall con
form to the playground-related standards set forth by the American Society for Tes
ting and Materials and the playground-related guidelines set forth by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Per
California Contractors State License Board, Installation of Publicly used playground equipment shall be installed by a licensed C61-D34 Licensed contractor which Western State Builders Inc holds and has held for many years.
California Code of Regulations
Title 16, Division 8, Article 3. Classifications
A prefabricated products/equipment contractor performs installations of prefabricated products/equipment, including but not limited to the following:
•(a) Theater Stage equipment, school classroom equipment, playground equipment, bleacher bench/seat component parts (no installation or renovation of any supporting or s
tructural member); store fixtures, and display cases (either prefabricated or modular fo
rm); all forms and types of toilet/shower room partitions/acces5ories; and prefabricated closet systems.
• (b) Laboratory and medical equipment, dust collecting systems; factory-built fireplaces and accessories (no masonry facing); major appliance installations and ventilating hoods in connection with existing fuel and energy lines which are installed by others. • (c) Bus stop shelters, prefabricated phone booths; prefabricated soundproof env
ironmental clean rooms; panelized refrigerated walk-in boxes (not to include the wor
k of refrigeration contractor); all types of modular office, institutional or home imp
rovement systems including, but not limited to all types of pre-finished and/or UL listed pre-wired wall panels.
Western State Builders Inc. is properly licensed A, B, C-61 D-34, We are NPSI and CPSI certified and possess direct related experience of this scope of work and project scope as a whole for many years. The requirement to be specifically certified with a manufacture for a scop e of work we believe is a preference of the city and should not constitute De-qu alification per Spec Section 11 68 13, 1.03 Part B:
10-23
My understanding is that being manufacturer certified is not a request from specific manufacturers, however a preference from an agency. I do understand the reservations of an agency to have competent and qualified workmanship be used, I believe Federal and State Certifications should bear the same if not more weighted value, than a specific Manufacture Certification. Not being manufact ure certified
also should have limited or no effect on product warranties in our opinion per excerpt below, pulled from the manufacturer’s website Specified for this project. 100-year warranty o n post, 3-year limited warranty on swings The environment near a saltwater coast can be extremely corrosive. Some corrosion and/or deterioration is considered “normal wear” in this environment. Product installed within 500 yards (457 meters) of a saltwater shoreline will only be covered for half the period of the standard product warranty, up to a maximum of five year5, for defects caused by corrosion. Products installed in direct contact with saltwater or that are subjected to salt spray are not covered by the standard warranty for any defects caused by corrosion.
This warranty does not include any cosmetic issues or wear and tear from normal use of the product, or misuse or abuse of the product. It is valid only if the play structure5 and/or equipment are erected to conform with Landscape Structures’ installation instructions and maintained according to the maintenance procedures furnished by Landscape Structures Inc
The
re appears to have been no connection or discussion regarding warranty affecte d by manufacturer certified installation.
We urge the city to review the preference for the contractor to be Manufact ure Certified and allow Industry Certified and Verified contractors to perform the Scope of work. We feel Western State Builders Inc. is certainly qualified to perform the work as outlined in the plans and specs. Western State Builders Possess all the legal licenses and certificates to execute this project lawfully and skillfully from a local, state, and federal level.
Item No. 2— Western State Builders Inc. has in the past installed the same specified manufactures equipment for the City and County of San Diego with great success. A few projects to reference would be:
Gamma Street Park/41st St Mini Park - 4105 Gamma St, San Diego, CA 92113 Par
adise Creek Park Expansion — 1243 National City Blvd National City, Ca91950 Santa Clara Park — 1008 Santa Clara Place San Diego, Ca 92109 Isla
nd Avenue Mini Park - 3020 Island Ave, San Diego, CA 921029 City of Moreno Valley – Towngate Park 13051 Elsworth St, Moreno Valley, CA 92553 City of Moreno Valley –JFK Park 15111 Indian St, Moreno Valley, CA 92551 10-24
City of Westminster – 5 parks MulLple Parks addresses available if requested
City of San Diego – Jerabek Park 10150 Avenida Magnifica, San Diego, CA 92131 City of San Diego – J FK Park 4825 Ocean View Blvd, San Diego, CA 9211 In
summary, Western State Builders Inc. complies with all the legalities addressed by many different state and federal organizations for similar projects to install playground equipment for public use. Western State Builders Inc. has a demonstrated history of completing similar like public works projects throughout Southern California and for many years and possess the skill, training, licenses, certifications as well to complete this project.
Western State Builders Inc. looks forward to your review.
Julian Moen Vice President
Western State Builders Inc.
10-25
City oJSon Diego
Small Local Business Enterprise (SLBE)
Program Certification
Western State Builders, Inc.
Emerging Local Business Enterprise (ELBE)
Speciality ConsWncNon
(NAICS: 238990)
Certification Number: 1yWSlJJ6
Elective.- J/f›/£#£› - J/f›/£#£i7
C
hristian Silva
Pro
gram Manager
Equal Opportunity Contracting
10-26
May 01, 2025
EXPIRATION DATE
yjpecr«a*'onand Pary* SO.i„ ; ,
Let it be known that
JAMES MOEN
has met t he requirements of the standards set forth by the National Certification Board
and iS hgrsb y grant0cl cgrtificatign aS a
C er tified Playground Safety Inspector
CHAIRPERSON
NRPA PRESI DE NT IN D CEO
Certified
Playground
April 25, 2022
DATE CERTIFIED
CE
RTS FICAT ION NUMBER
10-27
EXPIRATION DATE
yjpecr«a*'onand Pary* SO.i„ ; ,
Let it be known that
JESUS PEREDA
has met t he requirements of the standards set forth by the National Certification Board
and iS hgrsb y grant0cl cgrtificatign aS a
C er tified Playground Safety Inspector
CHAIRPERSON
Certified
Playground
March 07, 2022
DATE CERTIFIED
NRPA PRESI D E NT IN D CEO
5afety lMsector 5 3660-425
CERTS FICAT ION NUMBER
10-28
EXPIRATION DATE
April 01, 2025
10-29
EXPIRATION DATE
yjpecr«a*'onand Pary* SO.i„ ; ,
Let it be known that
DOUG LEWIS
has met t he requirements of the standards set forth by the National Certification Board
and iS hgrsb y grant0cl cgrtificatign aS a
C er tified Playground Safety Inspector
CHAIRPERSON
NRPA PRESI DE NT IN D CEO
Certified
Playground
April 21, 2021
DATE CERTIFIED
CE
RTS FICAT ION NUMBER
May 01, 2024
10-30
10-31
DOUG LEWIS
June 11, 2025
64585-0630
June 30, 2028
10-32
JAMES MOEN
June 11, 2025
64584-0630
June 30, 2028
10-33