2006 Utah Code - 63-56-408 — Use of competitive sealed proposals in lieu of bids -- Procedure.

     63-56-408.   Use of competitive sealed proposals in lieu of bids -- Procedure.
     (1) (a) When, according to rules established by the Procurement Policy Board, the chief procurement officer, the head of a purchasing agency, or a designee of either officer above the level of procurement officer determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the state, a contract may be entered into by competitive sealed proposals.
     (b) (i) Competitive sealed proposals may be used for the procurement of services of consultants, professionals, and providers as defined by the policy board by rule, whether or not the determination described in this subsection has been made.
     (ii) The policy board shall make rules establishing guidelines to assure maximum practicable competition in those procurements, including the relative importance, if any, of the fee to be charged by an offeror.
     (iii) The rules may provide that it is either not practicable or not advantageous to the state to procure certain types of supplies, services, or construction by competitive sealed bidding or competitive sealed proposals.
     (2) (a) Proposals shall be solicited through a request for proposals.
     (b) Public notice of the request for proposals shall be given in accordance with policy board rules.
     (3) (a) Proposals shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing offerors during the process of negotiation.
     (b) A register of proposals shall be prepared in accordance with policy board rules and shall be open for public inspection after the contract is awarded.
     (4) The request for proposals shall state the relative importance of price and other evaluating factors.
     (5) (a) As provided in the request for proposals and under policy board rules, discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposals for the purpose of assuring full understanding of, and responsiveness to, solicitation requirements.
     (b) Offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and revisions may be permitted after submissions and before the contract is awarded for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers.
     (c) In conducting discussions, there shall be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.
     (6) (a) Award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the state, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals.
     (b) No other factors or criteria shall be used in the evaluation.
     (c) The contract file shall contain the basis on which the award is made.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 25, 2005 General Session