15 AAC 112.140. Competitive sealed proposals

(a) Except for 15 AAC 112.150 - 15 AAC 112.180, the board will award contracts for professional services on the basis of competitive sealed proposals as described in this section. A request for competitive sealed proposals will contain the date, time, and place for delivering proposals, a specific description of the professional services to be provided under the contract, and the terms under which the professional services are to be provided. The board will give public notice of its request for competitive sealed proposals by publishing the request for proposals in at least one of the following methods:

(1) mailings to those on the contractor's list maintained under 2 AAC 12.060;

(2) publication in a newspaper of general circulation;

(3) publication in a newspaper of local circulation in the area pertinent to the procurement; or

(4) publication through other appropriate media.

(b) A proposer may correct, modify, or withdraw a proposal before the time and date set for receipt of proposals by written request received in the office designated in the request for proposal before the time and date set for proposal opening. A request under this subsection must be delivered in a sealed envelope with the solicitation number printed on the outside of the envelope and must be accompanied by written authorization by the proposer for the correction, modification, or withdrawal. The board will include all documents relating to the correction, modification, or withdrawal of a bid in the appropriate procurement file.

(c) Upon receipt of a proposal, modification, or correction, the board will note the date and time of receipt upon the envelope and will hold the proposal, modification, or correction in a secure place. After the date set for receipt of proposals, the board will prepare a register of proposals received. The register will include

(1) the name of each offeror; and

(2) a description of the services, supplies, or items offered.

(d) Unless otherwise noted in the request for proposals, the board will not accept a proposal, correction, modification, or withdrawal received after the date set for receipt of proposals unless the board determines that the delay was an error attributable to the board.

(e) The board will, in its discretion, cancel a request for proposal, reject any or all proposals in whole or in part, or delay the date for opening proposals, or decline to accept the recommendations of the evaluation committee as set out in (i) of this section, if the board determines it to be in the best interest of the board to do so. The board will make the reasons for the cancellation, rejection, or delay a part of the procurement file.

(f) The evaluation committee will be appointed by the chairman. The evaluation committee shall evaluate the proposals, as follows:

(1) the evaluation committee shall base their evaluations only on the factors set out in the request for proposals;

(2) the evaluation committee may use a numerical or other rating system;

(3) if the evaluation committee uses a numerical system, the evaluation committee shall award the contract to the offeror receiving the highest final score;

(4) if the evaluation committee does not use a numerical system, each member of the committee shall justify or explain that member's ranking determination in writing;

(5) the weighing factor or numerical system that the evaluation committee uses must be as set out in the request for proposals; and

(6) cost may be an evaluation criteria at the discretion of the board.

(g) If the board receives only one responsive and responsible proposal in response to a request for proposal, the board will, in its discretion, accept the proposal, reject the proposal, or resolicit proposals.

(h) Offerors shall fully comply with all terms of the request for proposals and with 15 AAC 112.110 - 15 AAC 112.370. The evaluation committee shall determine nonresponsive bids and reject those proposals.

(i) If the evaluation committee determines, as part of an evaluation conducted under 15 AAC 112.140(f) , that a proposal is reasonably susceptible for award, the committee may offer the offeror of the proposal the opportunity to discuss the proposal with the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee may adjust or alter the evaluation of a proposal as a result of the discussion. During a discussion under this subsection,

(1) if there is a need for substantial clarification or change in the request for proposals, the evaluation committee shall amend the request for proposals to incorporate the changes;

(2) the evaluation committee may limit discussion to specific sections of the request for proposals; and

(3) the committee may not use auction techniques that reveal one offeror's bid price to another offeror and may not disclose any information derived from competing proposals.

(j) The evaluation committee shall present one or more offerors to the board for consideration upon a finding that such offerors may qualify as apparently successful proposals. The board will then review the evaluation committee's findings and any recommendations and may select an offeror from among those presented as the apparently successful proposals and issue a notice of intent to award the contract. The notice of intent to award the contract does not constitute a notice to proceed. The notice of intent to award the contract will contain

(1) a statement of the proposed contract amount;

(2) the name of the apparently successful offeror; and

(3) a brief description of the professional services that will be the subject of the contract.

(k) Multi-Step Sealed Proposals. If the board considers it impractical initially to prepare a definitive purchase description to support an award based on listed selection criteria, the board will, in its discretion, issue an expression of interest requesting the submission of unpriced technical offers and will later issue a request for proposals limited to the offerors whose offers are determined to be technically qualified under the criteria set out in the expression of interest.

History: Eff. 7/17/94, Register 134; am 10/13/96, Register 143

Authority: AS 37.10.240

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