(1) A contracting agency may solicit and award a public contract for goods or services, or may award multiple public contracts for goods or services when specified in the request for proposals, by requesting and evaluating competitive sealed proposals.
(2) The request for proposals must include:
(a) A time and date by which sealed proposals must be received, and a place at which the proposals must be submitted, and may, in the sole discretion of the contracting agency, direct or permit the submission and receipt of proposals by electronic means;
(b) The name and title of the person designated for receipt of proposals and the person designated by the contracting agency as the contact person for the procurement, if different;
(c) A procurement description;
(d) A time, date and place that prequalification applications, if any, must be filed and the classes of work, if any, for which proposers must be prequalified in accordance with ORS 279B.120;
(e) A statement that the contracting agency may cancel the procurement or reject any or all proposals in accordance with ORS 279B.100;
(f) A statement that “Contractors shall use recyclable products to the maximum extent economically feasible in the performance of the contract work set forth in this document.” if the request for proposals is issued by a state contracting agency;
(g) A statement that requires the contractor or subcontractor to possess an asbestos abatement license, if required under ORS 468A.710; and
(h) All contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement. The request for proposals also may:
(A) Identify those contractual terms or conditions the contracting agency reserves, in the request for proposals, for negotiation with proposers;
(B) Request that proposers propose contractual terms and conditions that relate to subject matter reasonably identified in the request for proposals;
(C) Contain or incorporate the form and content of the contract that the contracting agency will accept, or suggested contract terms and conditions that nevertheless may be the subject of negotiations with proposers;
(D) Announce the method of contractor selection that may include, but is not limited to, negotiation with the highest ranked proposer, competitive negotiations, multiple-tiered competition designed to identify a class of proposers that fall within a competitive range or to otherwise eliminate from consideration a class of lower ranked proposers, or any combination of methods, as authorized or prescribed by rules adopted under ORS 279A.065; and
(E) Contain a description of the manner in which proposals will be evaluated, including the relative importance of price and any other evaluation factors used to rate the proposals in the first tier of competition, and if more than one tier of competitive evaluation may be used, a description of the process under which the proposals will be evaluated in the subsequent tiers.
(3)(a) The contracting agency may require proposal security in any form deemed prudent by the contracting agency. Proposal security shall serve the same function with respect to requests for proposals as bid security serves with respect to invitations to bid under ORS 279B.055.
(b) The contracting agency shall return the proposal security to all proposers upon the execution of the contract.
(c) The contracting agency shall retain the proposal security if a proposer who is awarded a contract fails to promptly and properly execute the contract. For purposes of this paragraph, prompt and proper execution of the contract includes all action by a proposer that is necessary to the formation of a contract in accordance with the request for proposals, including the posting of performance security and the submission of proof of insurance when required by the request for proposals. If contract negotiations or competitive negotiations are conducted, the failure, prior to award, of a contracting agency and a proposer to reach agreement does not constitute grounds for the retention of proposal security.
(4) Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same manner as provided for public notice of invitations to bid in ORS 279B.055 (4).
(5)(a) Notwithstanding ORS 192.410 to 192.505, proposals may be opened in a manner to avoid disclosure of contents to competing proposers during, when applicable, the process of negotiation, but the contracting agency shall record and make available the identity of all proposers as part of the contracting agency’s public records from and after the opening of the proposals. Notwithstanding ORS 192.410 to 192.505, proposals are not required to be open for public inspection until after the notice of intent to award a contract is issued. The fact that proposals are opened at a meeting, as defined in ORS 192.610, does not make their contents subject to disclosure, regardless of whether the public body opening the proposals fails to give notice of or provide for an executive session for the purpose of opening proposals.
(b) Notwithstanding any requirement to make proposals open to public inspection after the contracting agency’s issuance of notice of intent to award a contract, a contracting agency may withhold from disclosure to the public materials included in a proposal that are exempt or conditionally exempt from disclosure under ORS 192.501 or 192.502.
(c) If a request for proposals is canceled under ORS 279B.100 after proposals are received, the contracting agency may return a proposal to the proposer that made the proposal. The contracting agency shall keep a list of returned proposals in the file for the solicitation.
(6)(a) As provided in the request for proposals or in written addenda issued thereunder, the contracting agency may conduct site tours, demonstrations, individual or group discussions and other informational activities with proposers before or after the opening of proposals for the purpose of clarification to ensure full understanding of, and responsiveness to, the solicitation requirements or to consider and respond to requests for modifications of the proposal requirements. The contracting agency shall use procedures designed to accord proposers fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals.
(b) For purposes of evaluation, when provided for in the request for proposals, the contracting agency may employ methods of contractor selection that include, but are not limited to:
(A) An award or awards based solely on the ranking of proposals;
(B) Discussions leading to best and final offers, in which the contracting agency may not disclose private discussions leading to best and final offers;
(C) Discussions leading to best and final offers, in which the contracting agency may not disclose information derived from proposals submitted by competing proposers;
(D) Serial negotiations, beginning with the highest ranked proposer;
(E) Competitive simultaneous negotiations;
(F) Multiple-tiered competition designed to identify, at each level, a class of proposers that fall within a competitive range or to otherwise eliminate from consideration a class of lower ranked proposers;
(G) A multistep request for proposals requesting the submission of unpriced technical submittals, and then later issuing a request for proposals limited to the proposers whose technical submittals the contracting agency had determined to be qualified under the criteria set forth in the initial request for proposals; or
(H) Any combination of methods described in this paragraph, as authorized or prescribed by rules adopted under ORS 279A.065.
(c) Revisions of proposals may be permitted after the submission of proposals and before award for the purpose of obtaining best offers or best and final offers.
(d) After the opening of proposals, a contracting agency may issue or electronically post an addendum to the request for proposals that modifies the criteria, rating process and procedure for any tier of competition before the start of the tier to which the addendum applies. The contracting agency shall send an addendum that is issued by a method other than electronic posting to all proposers who are eligible to compete under the addendum. The contracting agency shall issue or post the addendum at least five days before the start of the subject tier of competition or as otherwise determined by the contracting agency to be adequate to allow eligible proposers to prepare for the competition in accordance with rules adopted under ORS 279A.065.
(7) The cancellation of requests for proposals and the rejection of proposals must be in accordance with ORS 279B.100.
(8) In the request for proposals, the contracting agency shall describe the methods by which the agency will make the results of each tier of competitive evaluation available to the proposers who competed in the tier. The contracting agency shall include a description of the manner in which the proposers who are eliminated from further competition may protest or otherwise object to the contracting agency’s decision.
(9) The contracting agency shall issue or electronically post the notice of intent to award described in ORS 279B.135 to each proposer who was evaluated in the final competitive tier.
(10) If a contract is awarded, the contracting agency shall award the contract to the responsible proposer whose proposal the contracting agency determines in writing to be the most advantageous to the contracting agency based on the evaluation process and evaluation factors described in the request for proposals, any applicable preferences described in ORS 279A.120 and 279A.125 and, when applicable, the outcome of any negotiations authorized by the request for proposals. Other factors may not be used in the evaluation. When the request for proposals specifies or authorizes the award of multiple public contracts, the contracting agency shall award public contracts to the responsible proposers who qualify for the award of a contract under the terms of the request for proposals.
(11) The contracting agency may issue a request for information, a request for interest, a request for qualifications or other preliminary documents to obtain information useful in the preparation of a request for proposals. [2003 c.794 §52]
Section: Previous 279B.005 279B.010 279B.015 279B.020 279B.025 279B.050 279B.055 279B.060 279B.065 279B.070 279B.075 279B.080 279B.085 279B.100 279B.110 NextLast modified: August 7, 2008