63G-6-408 - Use of competitive sealed proposals in lieu of bids -- Procedure.
63G-6-408. Use of competitive sealed proposals in lieu of bids -- Procedure.
(1) (a) When, according to rules established by the Procurement Policy Board, the chiefprocurement officer, the head of a purchasing agency, or a designee of either officer above thelevel of procurement officer determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding iseither not practicable or not advantageous to the state, a contract may be entered into bycompetitive sealed proposals.
(b) (i) Competitive sealed proposals may be used for the procurement of services ofconsultants, professionals, and providers as defined by the policy board by rule, whether or notthe determination described in this subsection has been made.
(ii) The policy board shall make rules establishing guidelines to assure maximumpracticable competition in those procurements, including the relative importance, if any, of thefee to be charged by an offeror.
(iii) The rules may provide that it is either not practicable or not advantageous to the stateto procure certain types of supplies, services, or construction by competitive sealed bidding orcompetitive sealed proposals.
(2) (a) Proposals shall be solicited through a request for proposals.
(b) Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in accordance with policyboard rules.
(3) (a) Proposals shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competingofferors during the process of negotiation.
(b) A register of proposals shall be prepared in accordance with policy board rules andshall be open for public inspection after the contract is awarded.
(4) The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of price and otherevaluating factors.
(5) (a) As provided in the request for proposals and under policy board rules, discussionsmay be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposals for the purpose of assuringfull understanding of, and responsiveness to, solicitation requirements.
(b) Offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunityfor discussion and revision of proposals, and revisions may be permitted after submissions andbefore the contract is awarded for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.
(c) In conducting discussions, there shall be no disclosure of any information derivedfrom proposals submitted by competing offerors.
(6) (a) Award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined inwriting to be the most advantageous to the state, taking into consideration price and theevaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.
(b) No other factors or criteria shall be used in the evaluation.
(c) The contract file shall contain the basis on which the award is made.
Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 382, 2008 General Session