Developing the Open Competition Solicitation - 1403.1

Solicitations Should be Clear, Concise and Consistent

All solicitations regardless of format (phone quote, RFQ, IFB, RFP) must clearly state the needs or business requirements of the department in order for a supplier to weigh the risks and price the purchase.

Concise, logical wording in precise terms, stating the supplier’s obligations as well as those of the department should be used. Use clear, simple English as much as possible.

The words “shall” and “must” identify mandatory requirements within a solicitation. The words “should” and “may” identify optional or desired requirements sometimes referred to as desirable requirements.

Avoid Writing Restrictive Requirements

Requirements restricting the bidding to a single supplier may not be included in competitive acquisitions. Avoid restrictive requirements by:

• Including only essential requirements
• Avoiding restrictive or impractical requirements such as those that are nonessential or obsolete
• Carefully checking delivery requirements to ensure the turnaround time from supplier’s receipt of order to delivery is not too restrictive or limiting
• Defining requirements to promote and encourage bidders to bid standard items or standard service where possible
• Not specifying a particular brand name, product or a feature of a product that is peculiar restrictive to one manufacturer, except for reference purposes. Try to use words like equal and comparable when a brand, model, or style is specified.
• Not dictating detailed design solutions prematurely
  • Try using Performance vs. Designed based requirements.
  • Allowing sufficient time from the solicitation mail release date to the bid due date or the first key action date to provide suppliers time to review and consider the requirements, prepare a response, and mail the response back

Common Elements of Written Solicitations

All written solicitations must contain the following elements:

• The date and time suppliers’ responses are due
• Space for the signature of an authorized supplier representative that can bind the company contractually
• Information on how the bid responses are to be submitted (i.e., sealed envelope with the solicitation number and due date and time on the outside of the sealed package)
• Any attachments which are included and are required to be returned by bidders such as:
  • Preference program forms (i.e., Target Area Contract Preference Act (TACPA)
  • DVBE participation program and DVBE utilization reporting forms
  • Post-Consumer Content Form
• Statement of Work:
  • Administrative requirements, as applicable
  • Technical requirements, as applicable
• Cost forms or clear indication of cost placement in the solicitation
• Evaluation information (basis for award)

Preference Programs

The TACPA business participation program requirement must be included in competitive acquisition with an estimated dollar value of $100,000 and over.

It is strongly recommended that the solicitation language and preference forms be included in all competitive acquisitions valued at $85,000 and greater.  If the low responsive bid received from a responsible supplier is $100,000 or more, and the preference requirements were not included in the solicitation, the solicitation must be canceled and re-issued. 

DVBE Participation Program Requirement for Competitive Solicitations

Unless a solicitation is exempt, state departments must include DVBE participation language in solicitations pursuant to the DVBE Participation Program requirements.

Whenever the DVBE Participation Program language is not included in a solicitation pursuant to an approved DVBE Exemption Request (STD. 816), the department must note within the solicitation that the DVBE Participation Program requirement has been exempted.

California Code of Regulations (CCR), Section 1896.70 exempts the DVBE Participation Program language requirement from applying to solicitations when the SB/DVBE Option Acquisition Method is used.

DVBE Incentive

Unless a solicitation is exempt, the DVBE incentive applies to all competitive acquisitions, regardless of format (RFQ, IFB, RFP or phone quotes), delivery method or dollar threshold.

SB Participation

Every effort must be made to seek out and include certified small businesses in procurement efforts and to include the 5% SB preference and non-SB subcontractor preference in all solicitations, except when soliciting California certified SBs and DVBEs under the informal SB/DVBE Option acquisition method.

EPP Consideration

Departments are required to purchase goods and services meeting Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Policy.  If the purchase is within the category specified then departments are to apply the EPP criteria within the solicitation and identify these items individually within the cost worksheets. Reports can be generated for those purchases identified as EPP or SABRC within the FI$Cal system.

Obtaining Samples

The practice of obtaining samples from suppliers prior to contract award is not recommended, unless it is a requirement of the solicitation process. If items are needed for review prior to award for demonstration or pre-purchase testing, the solicitation must so state and be noted with the information that the State is not obligated for the cost of the items or for their return. Extreme caution should be taken to ensure that the solicitation response does not contain terms or conditions that would result in the automatic purchase of the item(s) being tested.

Clarifications or Changes to a Solicitation (Addenda)

Clarifications or changes to a solicitation must be transmitted to all participating bidders by an addendum.  An addendum documents all changes or revisions to the solicitation and shall include at a minimum the following information:

• Addendum number, (must be numbered consecutively), solicitation title and solicitation number
• Indication of where the revision or change is occurring in the solicitation. This may include deleting and inserting changed solicitation pages.
• Revised or unchanged quote/bid opening date;

A solicitation may be modified prior to quote/bid response due date. The addendum may be accomplished verbally (for phone quotes only) or written to coincide with the original solicitation format.

Example:

If a RFQ solicitation is conducted by phone then the modification may also be conducted by phone. The addenda information must be documented as part of a phone script and must become part of the procurement file.

Incorrect example:

An addendum to a written solicitation cannot be conducted by phone. If the solicitation was released in written format then any addendum to the solicitation must be in writing.

An addendum to a solicitation shall be issued a minimum of five days prior to the final bid due date to allow prospective bidders sufficient time to prepare their bids. Otherwise the due date must be extended in the addendum.  If the addendum is significant and bidders will need more time to submit a responsive bid, then the date and time for the bid opening must also be extended in the addendum.

In addition to communicating in writing to all suppliers that have expressed an intent to bid, addenda for formal RFPs must be posted in a public location.

Cloud Computing Considerations

Additional considerations must be addressed when acquiring Cloud Computing services. Guidance has been developed to assist with identifying the special requirements and service level expectations.

Go to Cloud Computing Contract Checklist for (SaaS) and helpful tools.