How to Submit a Winning Bid for State Goods & Services Corinna Cooper, CPPB Contracts Consultant May 22, 2014

Legal Requirements and Policies Responsiveness, Pricing, Responsibility and Specifications Two-Tier Contracting Protests and Complaint procedures State Construction Contracts Prevailing Wages Contract Finalization Performance Issues Tips for a Better Bid Discussion Points 2

RCW Goods & Services (includes IT) RCW Public Works RCW Engineering & Architectural Services RCW Instate Preference for Print Services WA State Legal Requirements 3

DES – Delegation of Authority DES – Sole Source Contracts DES – Emergency Procurements/Purchases DES – Direct Buy Procurements/Purchases DES – Complaints and Protests DES – Agency Contract Reporting WA State Procurement Policies 4

Timely Submittal Meets all Material Requirements –Price Sheet, Specifications, Bidder Profiles, Amendments Acceptance of Terms Bidder Meets Qualifications Signed Offer Responsiveness 5

Do what the solicitation says! Complete all required steps Double Check your figures Preferences & Reciprocity Price Evaluation 6

Ability, Capacity, Skill… Character, Integrity, Reputation… Performance Timeliness Past Performance and Compliance Site Visits Other Considerations Responsibility Checks 7

Check all the appropriate boxes Provide as much detail as possible Samples and Documentation Validate Compliance Performance & Equipment Testing Clarification Specification Compliance 8

Mandatory Requirements –Price Sheet, Specifications, Bidder Profiles, Amendments and Authorized Offer or other as designated Scored vs. Pass/Fail A Team may review Non-Cost requirements. –Group Score or Individual scores averaged Confidentiality of Bid Responses Evaluation Timeframe Evaluation 9

A procurement within a procurement –The first tier is similar to a typical master contract and will result in a competitively bid pre-qualified vendor pool. –The second tier involves a separate competition, conducted by a purchaser, for a specific need and only sent to the established pre-qualified vendor pool (Details). Two-Tier Solicitations 10

Two Processes Complaint… After publication of the bid Before bids are due Protest …… After apparent successful is announced After debrief has occurred Before protest deadline State Complaints & Protests 11

Consistent with RCW , all competitive procurements must include an announcement of the ASB(s). Consistent with RCW , following the announcement of the ASB(s), bid submissions and bid evaluations must be available for public inspection. The complaint process, including the agency response to complaints, must occur before the deadline for bid submissions. The protest process must include a protest period after the apparent successful bidder is announced but before the contract is signed. State Complaints & Protests 12

Vendors must be given an opportunity to submit a complaint to the agency based on any of the following: a) The solicitation unnecessarily restricts competition b) The evaluation or scoring process is unfair or flawed c) The solicitation requirements are inadequate or insufficient to prepare a response The complaint issue may not be raised again during the protest period. The agency complaint process does not need to include an appeal process. Complaints 13

After the announcement of the apparent successful bidder (ASB), agencies must offer a debriefing conference to any bidder upon request. Agencies must give bidders a minimum of at least 3 business days after the ASB is announced to request the debriefing conference. Agencies can require bidder participation in a debriefing conference as a prerequisite for submitting a protest. Agencies must give bidders at least 5 business days after their debriefing conference to file a protest. Protest 14

The protest process as a minimum, must allow vendors an opportunity to submit a protest based on any of the following : o A matter of bias, discrimination, or conflict of interest on the part of an evaluator o Errors in computing the scores; or o Non-compliance with procedures described in the procurement document or agency protest process or DES requirements. Agencies should assign a neutral party that had no involvement in the evaluation and award process to investigate and respond to the protest. Protest 15

Agencies must issue a written protest response no more than 10 business days from receipt of the protest, unless additional time is needed. The agency should notify the protesting bidder if additional time is needed. The agency protest decision is final and no appeal process will be required. If a protesting bidder does not accept the agency protest response, the bidder may try to seek relief from superior court. At the time that the agency protest response is issued, the agency head and the Department of Enterprise Services Director must be provided a copy of the original protest and the agency's response. Small and micro agencies that lack staff to address a protest may request assistance from DES. Protest 16

Bidders must carefully follow the Instructions to Bidders in the documents Bid Bond or Bid Security is required Bidders must have a current state of Washington contractors license. Some specialties require special licenses. A 100% Payment and Performance bond is required. An exception can be made for projects less than $35,000. For projects >$1,000,000 a level of 15% apprenticeship participation is required. The requirement is an aggregate for the overall project based on total labor hours. Exceptions can be granted for some circumstances. State Construction 17

Contractors on public works projects must pay prevailing wages es/default.asp link to State Labor & Industries webpage for prevailing wage policies and determinationshttp:// es/default.asp An “Intent to Pay Prevailing Wage” form must be submitted for all trades prior to invoicing for those trades At the end of the job, the “Affidavit of Wages Paid” form must be submitted for all trades Wages for state construction 18

What are the filing requirements? –Public works contracts require that each and every employer on the project file the Statement of Intent to Pay Prevailing Wages (Intent), and Affidavit of Wages Paid (Affidavit) Public Works contract form. The forms are filed with L&I and, once they are approved, are submitted by the employer to the agency administering the contract. Is there a minimum contract amount? –There is no minimum dollar contract amount. That is, Intent and Affidavit forms are required for every public works contract regardless of the size of the contract. Wages for state construction 19

Where do I file an intent? –The Intent form is filed immediately after the contract is awarded and before work begins, if that is possible. The agency administering the contract may not make any payments until contractors have submitted an Intent form that has been approved by the Industrial Statistician. When do I file an affidavit? –The Affidavit form is not filed until after all the work is completed. The agency administering the contract may not release final retainage until all contractors have submitted an Affidavit form that has been certified by the industrial statistician. Wages for state construction 20

Contract Execution Implementation Posting Documents Online Contract Administration Contract Performance Marketing Usage Reporting Finalize Contract 21

Maintain communication with the contract administrator. Survey the contract administrator and customers for key project milestones and request schedules, e.g. opportunities to purchase with end of year funds. Inform customers of temporary outages on key products to synchronize demand ahead of time. Inform contract administrator and customers of key staff changes (Who is my sales rep. today?). Inform contract administrator of changes to your website, catalogs, or any third party service providers that affect your customers. Submit Sales and Management Fees Performance Issue Avoidance 22

1.Do your Homework learn about plans and previous contracts 2.Monitor Washington Electronic Business Solution (WEBS) postings. 3.Contact the solicitation coordinator as soon as possible for clarification and for opportunities to influence the specifications that might exclude you. 4.Scrutinize bid specifications 5.Attend pre-bid conference or site visit 6.Double check responsiveness 7.Don’t be late 8.Use all forms provided 9.Contact your references and provide current contact information. 10.Make sure your business contact information is current in WEBS. 10 Tips for Better Results 23

Discussion/Questions Thank you! Corinna Cooper, CPPB Contracts Consultant Thank you 24