1. 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

2. (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

3. (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

4. (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

5. (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