Section 500.300  General Provisions

 

a)         Late Offers, Late Withdrawals and Late Modifications

 

1)         Definition.  Any bid, proposal, modification or withdrawal received after the time and date for receipt is late.  An offer that is delivered to the wrong location but that is subsequently delivered to the correct location by the date and time specified shall be considered, but the OAG shall not be responsible for ensuring such subsequent delivery.

 

2)         Treatment.  No late offer, late modification, or late withdrawal will be considered unless the CPO, and not a designee, determines it would have been timely but for the action or inaction of OAG personnel directly serving the procurement activity (e.g., providing the wrong address).

 

3)         Records.  Records shall be made and, in accordance with OAG policy, kept for each late offer, late modification, or late withdrawal.

 

4)         Other Submissions.  Any other submission that has a time or date deadline shall be treated in the same manner as a late offer.

 

b)         Extension of Time

 

1)         The Procurement Officer may, prior to the date or time for submitting or modifying an offer, extend the date or time for the convenience of the OAG.

 

2)         After opening offers, the Procurement Officer may request offerors who submitted timely offers to extend the time during which the OAG may accept the offers, provided that, with regard to bids, no other change is permitted.  This extension does not provide an opportunity for others to submit offers.

 

c)         Electronic and Facsimile Submissions

 

1)         The solicitation may state that electronic and facsimile machine submissions will be considered if they are received at the designated office by the time and date set for receipt.  Any required attachments will be submitted as stated in the solicitation.

 

2)         Electronic submissions will be opened in accordance with OAG electronic security measures in effect at the time of opening.  Unless the electronic submission procedures provide for a secure receipt, vendor assumes risk of premature disclosure due to submission in unsealed form.

 

3)         Fax submissions will be placed in a sealed container upon receipt and opened as other submissions.  Vendor assumes risk of premature disclosure due to submission in unsealed form.

 

d)         Intent to Submit

The solicitation may require that vendors submit, by a certain time and date, a notice of their intent to submit an offer in response to the solicitation. Offers submitted without complying with the notice of intent requirement may be rejected.

 

e)         Only One Offer Received

If only one offer is received, an award may be made to the single offeror if the Procurement Officer finds that the price submitted is fair and reasonable, and that either other prospective offerors had reasonable opportunity to respond, or there is not adequate time for resolicitation.  Otherwise:

 

1)         new offers may be solicited, including under sole source (Section 500.340) or emergency (Section 500.350) procedures; or

 

2)         the procurement may be canceled.

 

f)          Alternate or Multiple Offers

 

1)         Alternate offers may be accepted if:

 

A)        permitted by the solicitation and in accordance with instructions in the solicitation; or

 

B)        only one vendor responded, in which case the alternate submission may be evaluated and treated in accordance with Section 500.340 (Sole Economically Feasible Source Procurement) of this Part; or

 

C)        the low offeror, who has met all requirements of the solicitation, has provided a lower cost alternative that meets all of the material requirements of the specifications.

 

2)         Multiple offers may be accepted if:

 

A)        permitted by the solicitation and submitted in accordance with instructions in the solicitation; or

 

B)        only one vendor responded, then, one or more of the submissions may be evaluated, provided that, in the case of bids, only the lowest cost bid meeting specifications may be considered.

 

g)         Multiple Items

A solicitation may call for pricing of multiple items of similar or related type with award based on individual line item, group total of certain items, or grand total of all items.

 

h)         "All or None" Offers

All or none offers may be accepted if the evaluation shows an all or none award to be the lowest cost or best value of those submitted.

 

i)          Conditioning Offers Upon Other Awards

Any offer that is conditioned upon receiving award of the particular contract being solicited and one or more other State contracts shall:

 

1)         be rejected unless the vendor removes the condition; or

 

2)         be evaluated and award made to that vendor if the vendor is also independently evaluated as the winner of the other solicitation provided the agency need not delay procurement actions to accommodate the vendor's all or none condition.

 

j)          Unsolicited Offers

 

1)         Processing of Unsolicited Offers.  The Procurement Officer may consider unsolicited offers.

 

2)         Conditions for Consideration.  An unsolicited offer must be in writing and must be sufficiently detailed to allow a judgment to be made concerning the potential utility of the offer to the OAG.

 

3)         Award.  An award may not be made based on an unsolicited offer in place of the notice and competition requirements of this Part except if that unsolicited offer meets the requirements for a small (Section 500.330), sole source (Section 500.340), or emergency (Section 500.350) procurement.

 

k)         Clarification of Offers

The Procurement Officer may request that a vendor clarify its offer as a part of the evaluation process.  A vendor shall not be allowed to materially change its offer in response to a request for clarification.  A clarification is not an opportunity to make changes or for submission of best and finals as authorized elsewhere in this Part.

                                                                         

l)          Assignment, Novation or Change of Name

 

1)         Assignment.  No OAG contract is transferable, or otherwise assignable, without the written consent of the Procurement Officer, provided, however, that a vendor may assign money receivable under a contract after due notice to the OAG.  Assignment may require the execution of a contract with the assignee and in such cases the assignee must meet all requirements for contracting with the OAG.

 

2)         Recognition of a Successor in Interest; Novation.  When in the best interest of the State, a successor in interest may be recognized in a novation agreement in which the transferor and the transferee agree that:

 

A)        the transferee assumes all of the transferor's obligations;

 

B)        the transferee meets all requirements for contracting with the OAG;

 

C)        the transferor waives all rights under the contract as against the OAG; and

 

D)        unless the transferor guarantees performance of the contract by the transferee, the transferee shall, if required by the OAG, furnish a satisfactory performance bond.

 

3)         Change of Name.  A vendor may submit a written request to change the name in which it holds a contract with the OAG.  The name change shall not alter any of the terms and conditions of the contract or the obligations of the vendor.

 

m)        Use of Source Selection Method that is Not Required

If a method of source selection is used that it is not, by law, required (e.g., use of a competitive sealed bid for a small purchase), strict compliance with the rules governing the method of source selection used is not required.

 

n)         Vendor Signature

An offer submitted unsigned will be evaluated if the vendor submits a written signature acceptable to the Procurement Officer within the time specified by that officer.

 

o)         Stringing

Dividing or planning procurements to avoid use of competitive procedures (stringing) is prohibited.

 

p)         Confidential Data

Vendors must clearly identify in writing any information that is exempt from the disclosure requirement of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act [5 ILCS 140] and must request special handling of that material.

 

q)         Notice of Subcontractor

            Any contract entered into under this Part shall state whether the services of a subcontractor will be used.  The contract shall include the names and addresses of all subcontractors and the expected amount of money each will receive under the contract.  If, at any time during the term of a contract, a contractor adds or changes any subcontractors, the contractor shall promptly notify, in writing, the Procurement Officer of the names and addresses and the expected amount of money each new or replaced subcontractor will receive.   The contractor shall provide the Procurement Officer with a copy of any subcontract with an annual value of more than  $25,000 within 20 days after the execution of the State contract or after execution of the subcontract, whichever is later.

 

r)          Reverse Auction

 

1)         Use.  The CPO, or his or her designee, may procure supplies or services through a competitive electronic auction bidding process if the CPO determines that the use of such a process will be in the best interest of the State. 

 

2)         Process.  An invitation for bids shall be issued and shall include a procurement description, all material contractual terms, whenever practical, and conditions applicable to the procurement, including a notice that bids will be received in an electronic auction manner.  Bids shall be accepted electronically at the time and in the manner designated in the invitation for bids.  During the auction, a bidder's price shall be disclosed to other bidders.  Bidders shall have the opportunity to reduce their bid prices during the auction.

 

3)         Notice.  Public notice of the electronic auction bidding process shall be published in the Auditor General Bulletin at least 14 days before the date set for the opening of bids.  At the conclusion of the auction, the record of the bid prices received and the name of each bidder shall be open to public inspection.

 

4)         Award.  The contract shall be awarded within 60 days after the auction by written notice to the lowest responsible bidder, or all bids shall be rejected.  Extension of the date for award may be made by mutual written consent of the Procurement Officer and the lowest responsible bidder.

 

5)         Prohibition.  This subsection (r) does not apply to procurements of professional and artistic services, telecommunications services, communication services or information services, or contracts for construction projects.

 

(Source:  Amended at 35 Ill. Reg. 5307, effective April 1, 2011)