Facility Operations Contracting Support… Request for Proposals Presenter: Mike Urquhart, CFM Chief, Facility Operations Department of General Services County of San Diego September 11, 2013 11/14/2018

(Contracting Process) Request for Proposals (Contracting Process) Why We Use It…Key Elements The RFP process is a powerful/flexible technique for obtaining contracted services Allows the County to negotiate both price and performance before entering into a contract Contract is awarded on the basis of best value vs. than lowest price RFP is a carefully governed but subjective selection process Determination of best value is based on: predetermined Statement of Work predetermined set of Evaluation and Selection criteria separation of the Technical and Price evaluations Interaction/Coordination of a group of individuals within the Source Selection Committee (SSC) Purchasing Contracting Officers (PCOs) Why We Use It…Key Elements The RFP process is a powerful/flexible technique for obtaining contracted services Used when Quality is equally or more important than price Used when the “Product” is more important than the costs of services alone RFP Statement of Work is designed to be Performance or Outcome based (as opposed to a defined specification) In other words…RFP defines What We Want as opposed to How to Do it Allows the County to negotiate both price and performance before entering into a contract Negotiated Procurement as opposed to a Advertised procurement (RFB) Contract is awarded on the basis of best value rather than lowest price RFP is a carefully governed but subjective selection process Quality is always subjective Determination of best value is based on: predetermined Statement of Work predetermined set of evaluation and selection criteria separation of the technical and price evaluations Interaction/Coordination of a group of individuals within the Source Selection Committee (SSC) Additionally, County maintains a group of Procurement Contracting Officers within the Department of Purchasing and Contracting (DPC) - Referees PCOs - Highly trained and experienced individuals focused on assisting the County Departments in making best value decisions Responsible for providing guidance in what is otherwise a predominately subjective procurement process 11/14/2018

(Contracting Process) Request for Proposals (Contracting Process) Basic RFP Process…Includes – Developing an appropriate Statement of Work and proposal Evaluation Criteria Key: RFP SOW is performance/outcome based – Does not include a “Definitive Specification” Evaluation Criteria is Critical – Facilitates subjective evaluations against a fixed standard Developing, Advertising and Issuing the RFP Stipulating RFP Submittal Format is Essential RFP normally advertised/Issued via the County BuyNet system Internet based system/Tailored notification criteria Conduct Pre-proposal/Bid Meeting Normally conducted 14 days after the RFP issued Basic RFP process includes: Developing an appropriate Statement of Work and proposal Evaluation Criteria Key: RFP SOW is performance/outcome based – Does not include a “Definitive Specification” Permits interested Vendors to propose a range of options to achieve desired performance outcomes based on business requirement and budget Evaluation Criteria is Critical – Facilitates subjective evaluations against a fixed standard Provides the basis/justification for a subjective selection and determination of Best Value Published as part of RFP Adherence to Criteria (Standard) is the subjective decision of the SSC   Developing, Advertising and Issuing the RFP RFP Submittal Format is Critical – Stipulating/Standardizing the submittal format exponentially reduces time/analysis of vendor submittals Supports fair and equitable evaluation of proposals RFP normally advertised/published via the County BuyNet system Local vendors receive either BuyNet notifications or are contacted directly regarding the RFP solicitation on the BuyNet site. Addenda/Updates are published via BuyNet RFPs are normally open for consideration from 4-6 weeks Pre-proposal Meetings are normally conducted 14 days after the RFP issued Provides potential contractors time to read and evaluate the RFP and to develop questions regarding RFP prior to the proposal submission Meeting held in room large enough to hold all interested contractors Contracting procedures/Technical requirements are reviewed The meeting is opened to questions and answers (semi-formal give and take between the County and the industry) Formal/edited version of questions and answers (with any changes to the RFP which might result as a part of the meeting), are issued as an Addendum to the RFP. Note: Questions can be received and answered up until time when it is no longer possible to circulate answers in an Addendum before the responses to the RFP are due. 11/14/2018

(Contracting Process) Request for Proposals (Contracting Process) Basic RFP Process…Continued – Prior to receiving Proposals Develop of an evaluation matrix reflecting the evaluation criteria as stated in the RFP Select the members of the SSC to evaluate Technical proposals Receiving and Evaluating Proposals County DPC receives bids at designated closing time – Late proposals are not normally accepted Proposal Packages are prepared for SSC Members for evaluation Price proposals are withheld from technical portion of submissions Determining a Technically Competitive Range Upon consensus – SSC makes determination of what constitutes the Technically Acceptable Range (Competitive Range) Basic RFP process includes: Prior to Receiving Proposals Develop of an evaluation matrix reflecting the evaluation criteria as stated in the RFP Evaluation matrix will fix the relative numerical weight of each criteria prior to the evaluation of the proposals Must correlate with the evaluation criteria specified in the RFP Select the members of the SSC to evaluate technical proposals SSC Members should have technical familiarity with the industry and needs of the organization SSC Members must be free from conflicts that would suggest the appearance of impropriety in the selection process. SSC Members must sign statements attesting to the absence of any known conflicts of interest Receiving and Evaluating Proposals County DPC receives bids at designated closing time – Late proposals are not normally accepted Proposal Packages are prepared for SSC Members for evaluation Price proposals are withheld from technical portion of submissions  SSC Members individually make a preliminary evaluation (scoring) and findings of strengths and weaknesses based on RFP criteria (evaluation Matrix) Upon initial review – SSC meets as a group to discuss proposals and reach consensus in each category of evaluation matrix Determining a Technically Competitive Range Upon consensus – SSC makes determination of what constitutes the Technically Acceptable Range (Competitive Range) Competitive range represents those technical proposals deemed responsive in all areas of evaluation Technical scores sufficiently high that "cost and other factors considered," County could enter into a contract with any vendor within the qualifying group. Technically Acceptable Range can vary from a single contractor to all submitting proposals This group is sometimes referred to as the "short list” 11/14/2018

(Contracting Process) Request for Proposals (Contracting Process) Basic RFP Process…Continued – Evaluating Cost Proposals Upon completion of Technical Evaluation – Cost Proposals are provided to SSC Goal: to select the contractor whose proposal provides the best value to the County, "cost and other factors considered" Negotiating and Contractor Selection SSC, via the PCO, has the option to initiate negotiations with one or more vendors to suggest modifications in the work plans Additionally - invitation can now be made for "best and final offer" (BAFO) from each of the finalists in the selection process. Finally…SSC makes a determination as to which proposal, as modified through the "best and final offers," represents the best expenditure of County funds Basic RFP process continued: Evaluating Cost Proposals Upon completion of Technical Evaluation – Cost Proposals are provided to SSC Process goal is to select the contractor whose proposal provides the best value to the County, "cost and other factors considered." Cost will become more important as technical scores become closer Conversely, if the cost proposals are all very close to each other, then the technical score will play a larger role in the selection process At this point - the SSC, after considering the technical score and cost, makes its decision/recommendation as to best value. Negotiating and Contractor Selection SSC, via the PCO, has the option to initiate negotiations with one or more vendors to suggest modifications in the work plans Additionally - invitation can now be made for "best and final offer" (BAFO) from each of the finalists in the selection process. With this new information - SSC makes a determination as to which proposal, as modified through the "best and final offers," represents the best expenditure of County funds Ideal situation is where the highest scoring technical proposal is also the lowest cost proposal Occurs with surprising frequency: Contractors who know how best to do something often know how to do it efficiently and inexpensively as well Even Better: Technical proposals are essentially equivalent and award can be made to the Contractor with the lowest cost, or where the cost proposals are essentially equivalent and award can be made on the basis of the best technical proposal 11/14/2018