Contract Formulation and Administration MODULE III

Management of Pre-Proposal Communications and Evaluation of Proposals Chapter 5 Management of Pre-Proposal Communications and Evaluation of Proposals

Introduction to management of pre-proposal communications To ensure proper management of pre-proposal communication and equal treatment: Prospective contractors should be prohibited from contacting 'non-designated' contracting agency personnel to avoid conflict of interest. It is recommended to limit the agency’s point of contact to one person (such as the project manager). All prospective contractors should be treated identically to avoid protests.

Alternative methods for managing pre-proposal communications Pre-proposal conference. Questions posed verbally. Letter, overnight courier, and e-mail. Providing a website for posing questions and posting agency responses. Submitting questions via e-mail and posting questions and responses to the website.

Pre-proposal conference Advantages: All prospective contractors are given equal treatment to hear all questions and responses. Disadvantages: Prospective contractors have the opportunity to assess their competition. Prospective contractors might feel restricted on posing questions regarding the proprietary elements of their proposal. Does not eliminate other means of pre-proposal communication.

Questions posed verbally Advantages: One on one communication. Disadvantages: Not all information discussed can be communicated to all other prospective contractors. Risk of informal questions arising. Questions may be inadvertently transcribed incorrectly. Risk of misunderstanding and delay.

Letter, overnight courier, and e-mail Advantages: Simplifies task of communication with all prospective contractors. E-mails are recommended due to speed, lack of expense, and controllability. Disadvantages: Letters might result in delays. Overnight courier may be costly.

Providing a website for posing questions and posting agency responses Advantages: Less time consuming making delays avoidable. Decreases the opportunity to gain insight into competitive environment. Non-discrimination and minimizes the probability of protest. Disadvantages: Undesirable postings can be posted by non-agency individuals.

Submitting questions via e-mail and posting questions and responses to the website Highly recommended method of communication. (Some agencies use on-line proposal services for soliciting proposals. When this is used, there are normally provisions for posing questions that can be posted, along with agency responses, to all prospective contractors). Advantages: Contracting agency has more control. Minimizes misunderstanding. Non-agency individuals have no authority to post on agency website (secure). Disadvantages: Delay might arise when transferring and posting all questions and responses to the website.

Introduction to evaluation of proposals All proposals must be evaluated on the basis of the evaluation criteria to: Ensure equal and fair treatment. Minimize the possibility of protest. Comply with agency policies and procedures.

Six scoring techniques to evaluate proposals 1. Rating on scale of 1-10 or 1-100: Advantage: easily understood. Disadvantage: tied scores or nearly tied scores and "inordinate influence." 2. Specific adjectival scales: Advantage: simple to use. 3. Color code scales: Disadvantage: tied scores or nearly tied scores.

Six scoring techniques to evaluate proposals 4. Narrative description: Advantage: breaks tied scores. Disadvantage: inordinate influence. 5. Total weighed score (TWS): Advantage: decrease the probability of tied scores and exerting undue influence. Disadvantage: difficult to apply technique with large number of proposals. 6. Total weighed score (TWS) combined with oral presentations: Advantage: same as for TWS plus prospective contractors are given the opportunity to clarify or amplify the material presented in their proposals.

Evaluating proposals with weighted criteria TWS combined with oral presentation scores is highly recommended for final selection of contractor. Evaluators should evaluate the following criteria to calculate total scores: Past performance. Historical record. Reference check. Financial stability. Risk assessment. Project plan. Outsourcing. Contract price. Other criteria applicable to the project.

Chapter 6 Protests

Introduction to protests A “protest” is a challenge to the solicitation, procedure for selecting a contractor, recommendation to award a contract, or actual contract award. A protest is intended to: Have contracting agency determine if contract should have been awarded to protesting company. Terminate the contract. Award the contract to the aggrieved company.

Preventing protests Measures that contracting agencies should take when crafting a proposal to prevent the possibility of protest: Ensure that all essential and paramount features are considered. Ensure that the evaluation of proposals is based solely on the criteria contained on the RFP (using an evaluation template). Strive to build structure and objectivity into the evaluation process.

Policies and procedures for dealing with protests Policies and procedures should separately address the reaction to protests received prior to award and protests received following contract award. Policies and procedures should include: Maximum time periods permitted for filing protest. Denying or upholding protests. Making appeals in response to denied protests. Denying or upholding appeals.

The inclusion of protest procedures in solicitations Including protest procedures in solicitations: Helps discourage unconventional protests. Prevents agencies from being blindsided. Helps agencies deal with protest more conventionally. Gives agencies an opportunity to include a debriefing option and to require a debriefing before filing a protest.

Coordination with legal counsel The need to initiate coordination with legal counsels should be included in polices and procedures. This actions helps to ensure continuation of this practice in perpetuity. Legal counsels should be inform of potential protest because unsuccessful protest can be elevated to litigation.

Requests for public records in conjunction with protest Potential protestors are permitted to request documentation (public records) regarding the evaluation of prospective contractors. (“Proprietary" information is not released to competitors based on protests or under any other circumstances). Original protest may be withdrawn or amended if new information has been found after reviewing pubic records. If modifications have been made, the timeline to respond to the protest can be extended.

Unconventional protests There are two types of unconventional protests that may occur during a public meeting: Blindsiding. This occurs when the aggrieved contractors takes their protest directly to the governing body during an open public session. Protest from firm that was not solicited. This occurs if protesting firm was not given the opportunity to compete.

Conventional protests Most initial protest are made by telephone or in person; however, it is recommended to require written protests. Contracting agencies should advise potential protestors to submit a written protest and follow protest procedures described in the solicitation.

Making a determination on the merits of the protest Steps to making a determination: Read the protest. Read the solicitation. Read the proposal evaluation team instructions. Review the policy and procedures. Review the proposal evaluation record. Finalize the questions for proposal evaluation team members. Interview proposal evaluation team members. Synthesize the information to make a determination.

Document the determination Once a decision has been made: A memorandum should be prepared stating the merits of the protests. A letter should be written to the aggrieved contractor stating the rationale for the determination. The letter should include instructions for filing an appeal.