Section 1400.2015  Competitive Sealed Proposals

a)         Competitive sealed proposals may be used whenever permitted by this Part or when the Chief Procurement Officer determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the State.

b)         The types of procurements for which the competitive sealed proposals method of source selection may be used without a written determination of the Chief Procurement Officer include the following:

1)         electronic data processing equipment, software, and services;

2)         telecommunications equipment, software, and services;

3)         consulting services;

4)         banking services; and

5)         legal services.

c)         Generally, the Chief Procurement Officer should determine in writing that competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or advantageous to the State, and enter into a contract by competitive sealed proposals where evaluation factors involve the relative abilities of offerors to perform, including degrees of experience or expertise, where the types of supplies or services may require the use of comparative, judgmental evaluations to evaluate them adequately, or where the type of need to be satisfied involves weighing aesthetic values to the extent that price is a secondary consideration.

1)         When Competitive Sealed Bidding Is Not Practicable. Competitive sealed bidding is not practicable unless the nature of the procurement permits an award to a low bidder who agrees by its bid to perform without condition or reservation in accordance with the specification, delivery or performance schedule, and all other terms and conditions of the Invitation for Bids.

2)         When Competitive Sealed Bidding Is Not Advantageous.  A determination may be made to use competitive sealed proposals if it is determined that it is not advantageous to the State, even though practicable, to use competitive sealed bidding.

d)         Prequalification

The Chief Procurement Officer may require that vendors are prequalified in the manner described in Section 1400.2005 for competitive sealed bidding.

e)         Request for Proposals

1)         Solicitation.  Proposals must be solicited through a Request for Proposals which must be prepared in accordance with the requirements for an Invitation for Bids for competitive sealed bidding in Section 1400.2005 and contain the following additional information:

A)        A requirement that proposals are submitted in two parts.  The first part should cover all items except price and the second part should cover price.

B)        A statement that discussions may be conducted with offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably capable of being selected for award, but that proposals may be accepted without a discussion.

C)        A statement of when and how price should be submitted.

2)         Publication and Documentation of the Request for Proposals.  The Request for Proposals must be published as provided in Section 1400.1505 and made part of the procurement file.

f)          Receipt, Opening and Recording of Proposals

Proposals and modifications must be time-stamped upon receipt but not opened and held in a secure place until the established due date.  Proposals must be opened publicly in the presence of at least one witness at the time and place designated in the Request for Proposals, but proposals must be opened in a manner to avoid disclosure of their contents to competing offerors.  A record of proposals must be prepared and must be open for inspection after contract is awarded.  The register of proposals must include for all proposals the name of each offeror, the number of modifications received, if any, and a description sufficient to identify the supply or service item offered.  The register of proposals must be made part of the procurement file and be open to public inspection after award of the contract.  Proposals and modifications may be shown only to personnel having a legitimate interest in them.

g)         Evaluation of Proposals

1)         Evaluation Factors in the Request for Proposals.  The Request for Proposals must state all of the evaluation factors, including price, and their relative importance.

2)         Evaluation.  The evaluation must be based on the evaluation factors in the Request for Proposals.  Factors not specified in the Request for Proposals must not be considered.   Numerical rating systems may be used but are not required. The first part of all proposals covering items other than price must be evaluated and ranked independently of the second part of all proposals.

3)         Classifying Proposals.  For the purpose of conducting discussions, proposals must be initially classified as:

A)        acceptable;

B)        potentially acceptable; or

C)        unacceptable, in which case the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer shall record in writing the basis for finding an offer unacceptable and make it part of the procurement file.

h)         Proposal Discussions with Individual Offerors

1)         Offerors that are classified as acceptable or potentially acceptable must be given a fair and equal opportunity to discuss their proposals.

2)         Purposes of Discussions.  Discussions are held to:

A)        promote understanding of the Treasurer's office requirements and the offerors' proposals; and

B)        facilitate arriving at a contract that is most advantageous to the State taking into consideration price and the other evaluation factors in the Request for Proposals.

3)         Clarification of the Request for Proposals.  If during discussions there is a need for any substantial clarification of, or change in, the Request for Proposals, the Request for Proposals must be amended to incorporate the clarification or change.  Any substantial oral clarification of a proposal must be reduced to writing by the offeror.

4)         Best and Final Offers.  The Chief Procurement Officer may request best and final offers with a common date and time for submission of the offers.  The Chief Procurement Officer, or his or her designee, may conduct additional discussions or change the Treasurer's office requirements and require another submission of best and final offers.  If an offeror does not submit either a notice of withdrawal or another best and final offer, that offeror's immediately previous offer will be construed as its best and final offer.

5)         Disclosure of Information.  In conducting discussions there must be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.  Any other information that is disclosed to any offeror must be provided to all competing offerors.

i)          Award

1)         Determination.  The award must be made by the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer in accordance with a written determination showing the basis on which the award was found to be the most advantageous to the State, based on the Request for Proposals.

2)         Notification, Publication and Documentation of the Award.  The successful offeror will be promptly notified of the award.  The notification of the award and the written determination must be published as provided in Section 1400.1505 and made part of the procurement file.