(A) In some cases, it may be impossible or impractical to set forth and/or create all necessary specifications to allow competitive bidding or invitation of quotes. Pursuant to state law, if a purchasing agent makes a written determination that the use of competitive sealed bidding (or in the case of smaller purchases, the use of invitation or solicitation of quotes) is either not practicable or not advantageous to the governmental body, the purchasing agent may award a contract using requests for proposals (RFP) as set forth within this section.
(B) Specifically, interested vendors of goods or services shall be invited to submit a proposal which shall be evaluated competitively by the standards set out in the RFP, and as set out below.
(1) Evaluation of requests for proposals (RFP) shall be based upon technical expertise, experience, performance history and other criteria from firms that provide the required services. Proof of when and to whom all RFPs were distributed or mailed must be retained.
(2) An RFP must include:
(a) The factors or criteria that will be used to evaluate the proposals;
(b) A statement concerning the relative importance of price and the other evaluation factors;
(c) A statement concerning whether the proposal must be accompanied by evidence of financial responsibility such as a bond or certified check, which may be imposed in accordance with rules adopted by the governing body; and
(d) A statement about whether discussions may be conducted for clarification only with responsible offerors concerning their proposal after proposals have been opened.
(3) Public notice of an RFP must be given in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1.
(4) Proposals not subject to the formal contract procedure must be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing offerors during the process of negotiations. Negotiation with vendors after the bid documents have been opened to public review shall be strictly prohibited. To the extent permitted by state law, all proposals shall become public record after an award is made.
(5) A register of proposals must be prepared and open for public inspection after the contract award containing the following:
(a) A copy of the request for proposals;
(b) A list of all persons to whom copies of the request for proposals were given;
(c) A list of all proposals received including the names and addresses of all offerors, the dollar amount of each offer, the name of the successful offeror and the dollar amount of the offeror’s offer;
(d) The basis on which the award was made; and
(e) The entire contents of the contract file except for proprietary information such as trade secrets or financial information not required to be made available for public inspection under the terms of the proposal.
(6) An award may be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the governmental body, taking into consideration price and the other evaluation factors set forth in the RFP.
(Prior Code, § 41.14)