Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Application
1) The provisions of this Section apply to
every procurement of professional and artistic services except those subject to
the Architectural, Engineering and Land Surveying Qualifications Based
Selection Act [ 30 ILCS 535 ] and except as provided in subsection
(e).
2) "Professional and
artistic services" means those services provided under
contract to a university by a person or business, acting as an
independent contractor, qualified by education, experience and technical
ability [
30 ILCS
500/1-15.60] .
b) Professional and artistic services are
further defined as follows:
1) "Qualified by
education" means the individual who would perform the services must have the
level of experience appropriate to the task, as specified in the Request for
Proposals.
2) "Qualified by
experience" means the individual who would perform the services must have the
level of general experience specified in the Request for Proposals.
3) "Qualified by technical ability" means the
individual who would perform the services demonstrates a high degree of skill
or ability in performing services that are the same, similar or closely related
in nature to those specified in the Request for Proposals.
4) An essential element distinguishing
professional services from other services is confidence, trust and belief in
not only the ability, but the talent, of the individual performing the
service.
5) Professional and
artistic services are primarily for intellectual or creative skills. Contracts
for services primarily involving manual skills or labor are not professional
and artistic services contracts.
6)
If the professional or artistic contract is with a firm or other business
entity, the individuals whose education, experience and technical ability
provided the basis on which the firm or other business entity was selected must
meet the qualifications.
7) When a
university requires services that meet the requirements of this subsection (b),
the competitive selection procedures described in this Section must be
followed. Services that do not meet the requirements of this Section must be
procured in accordance with the other methods of source selection authorized by
the Code and this Part.
c) The categories of services enumerated in
this subsection (c) shall be considered and procured as professional and
artistic services. With regard to other services, the SPO may determine whether
the factors identified in subsection (b), when applied to particular services
to be procured, require the services to be procured as professional and
artistic under these competitive selection procedures, or as services that are
subject to one of the other methods of source selection authorized by the Code
and this Part. The following categories are examples of disciplines that would
always be professional and artistic services:
1) law;
2) accounting;
3) medicine;
4) dentistry;
5) clinical psychology; and
6) custom-produced art.
d) Architect, engineering and land surveying
services shall be procured in accordance with the source selection procedures
of the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based
Selection Act [ 30 ILCS 535 ] and are subject to the procedures for all other
professional services established in the Code or this Part. For professional
services with an estimated basic professional service fee of $25,000 or more,
the SPO shall publish notice of award or notice of intent to award to the
Bulletin for a minimum of 14 days prior to execution of the contract.
e) Conditions for Use of Competitive
Selection Procedures.
Except as authorized under Section 20-25 (Sole Economically
Feasible Source Procurement) or Section 20-30 (Emergency Procurements) of the
Code, these competitive selection procedures shall be used for all procurements
of professional and artistic services of more than $100,000.
1) Services of $100,000 or less and for a
nonrenewable term of one year or less may be procured in accordance with
Section
4.2020 (Small
Purchases) of this Part, except notice of the contract must be published as
provided in accordance with Section 35-35(b) of the Code and include the name
of the CPO-HE or SPO and a brief explanation of the reason for the
exception.
2) Dividing or planning
procurements to avoid use of competitive procedures (stringing) is prohibited.
If there is a repetitive need for small professional and artistic procurements
of the same type that may be evidenced by a pattern of small purchases, as
determined by the university or the SPO, the university shall consult with the
SPO to consider whether issuing a competitive sealed proposal for those needs
is in the best interests of the State.
f) Request for Proposals
Professional and artistic services shall be procured using an
RFP.
1) Contents. The RFP shall be in
the form specified by the CPO-HE and shall contain at least the following
information:
A) the type of services
required;
B) a description of the
work involved;
C) an estimate of
when and for how long the services will be required;
D) the type of contract to be used;
E) a date by which proposals for the
performance of the services shall be submitted;
F) a statement of the minimum information
that the proposal shall contain, which may, by way of example, include:
i) the name of the offeror, the location of
the offeror's principal place of business and, if different, the place of
performance of the proposed contract;
ii) if deemed relevant, the age of the
offeror's business and average number of employees over a previous period of
time, as specified in the RFP;
iii)
the abilities, qualifications and experience of all persons who would be
assigned to provide the required services;
iv) a listing of other contracts under which
services similar in scope, size or discipline to the required services were
performed or undertaken within a previous period of time, as specified in the
RFP;
v) a plan giving as much
detail as is practical explaining how the services will be
performed;
G) price (to
be submitted in a separate envelope in the proposal package and not mentioned
elsewhere in the proposal package);
H) the factors to be used in the evaluation
and selection process and their relative importance; and
I) a plan for post-performance review to be
conducted by the university after completion of services and before final
payment and made part of the procurement file.
2) Evaluation. Proposals shall be evaluated
on the basis of evaluation factors stated in the RFP. The relative importance
of the evaluation factors will vary according to the type of services being
procured. The minimum evaluation factors are:
A) the plan for performing the required
services;
B) ability to perform the
services as reflected by technical training and education, general experience,
specific experience in providing the required services and the qualifications
and abilities of personnel proposed to be assigned to perform the
services;
C) the personnel,
equipment and facilities to perform the services currently available or
demonstrated to be made available at the time of contracting; and
D) a record of past performance of similar
work.
g)
Receipt and Handling of Proposals
Proposals shall be submitted to and opened by the university
unless otherwise directed by the CPO-HE or SPO.
1) Proposals and modifications shall be
opened publicly at the time, date and place designated in the RFP in the
presence of a State witness, or through a secure electronic procurement system
approved by the CPO-HE.
2) The
person opening the proposals shall not serve as a State witness. The name of
the person opening the proposals, the name of the person serving as the State
witness, the name of each offeror, the number of modifications received (if
any), a description sufficient to identify the supply or service offered, a
notation that the package contains a price proposal, and any such information
determined by the CPO-HE or SPO shall be recorded on a form prescribed by the
CPO-HE, read aloud, and otherwise made available through an electronic
procurement system approved by the CPO-HE.
3) Proposals and modifications shall be
opened in a manner to avoid disclosing contents to competitors. Until an award
recommendation is made, no university personnel or contractual agents other
than the evaluation committee and those assigned to the procurement may review
the proposals, except with justification from the purchasing director and
approved by the SPO. The university conducting the procurement shall not
disclose any information contained in any proposal with any other offeror other
than information that was recorded, read and made publicly available at the
opening of the bids. After completion of the evaluation and award
recommendation, the university may conduct discussions with management and
board of trustees if necessary to obtain approval for award prior to publishing
the award in the Bulletin. If discussions within the university are necessary
to evaluate the proposals, the SPO shall require that confidentiality and
conflict of interest statements be executed.
h) Discussions
1) Discussions Permissible. The CPO-HE or SPO
may conduct discussions with any offeror to:
A) determine in greater detail the offeror's
qualifications; and
B) explore with
the offeror the scope and nature of the required services, the offeror's
proposed method of performance and the relative utility of alternative methods
of approach. The CPO-HE or SPO may request revisions after discussions for the
purpose of obtaining best and final offers.
2) Discussions shall not disclose any
information derived from proposals submitted by other offerors, and the
university conducting the procurement shall not disclose any information
contained in any proposals with any other offeror.
i) Selection of the Best Qualified Offerors
After conclusion of validation of qualifications, evaluation
and discussion, the SPO shall rank the acceptable offerors in the order of
their respective qualifications.
j) Evaluation of Pricing Data
Ranking by price is required for all professional and
artistic proposals with an annualized value that is more than $100,000. When
annualized value cannot be determined, ranking by price is required.
1) If the low price is submitted by the most
qualified vendor, the SPO may award to that vendor.
2) If the price of the most qualified vendor
is not low and if it is not more than $100,000 annually, the SPO but not a
designee may award to that vendor.
3) If the price of the best qualified vendor
is not low and if it is more than $100,000 annually, the SPO, but not a
designee, may award to that vendor but must state why a vendor other than the
low-priced vendor was selected and that determination shall be published in the
Bulletin.
k) Negotiation
and Award of Contract
1) General. The
university, in consultation with the SPO, shall attempt to negotiate a contract
with the best qualified offeror for the required services at fair and
reasonable compensation. The university, in consultation with the SPO, may, in
the interest of efficiency, negotiate with the next highest ranked vendor,
while negotiating with the best qualified vendor.
2) Elements of Negotiation. At a minimum,
contract negotiations shall be directed toward:
A) making certain that the offeror has a
clear understanding of the scope of the work, specifically, the essential
requirements involved in providing the required services;
B) determining that the offeror will make
available the necessary personnel and facilities to perform the services within
the required time; and
C) agreeing
upon compensation that is fair and reasonable, taking into account the
estimated value of the required services and the scope, complexity and nature
of those services.
3)
Successful Negotiation of Contract with Best Qualified Offeror
A) If compensation, contract requirements and
contract documents can be agreed upon with the best qualified offeror, the
contract shall be awarded to that offeror, unless the procurement is
canceled.
B) Compensation must be
determined in writing to be fair and reasonable. Fair and reasonable
compensation shall be determined by the university, in consultation with the
SPO, based on the circumstances of the particular procurement, including, but
not limited to, the nature of the services needed, qualifications of the
offerors, consideration of range of prices received in the course of the
procurement, other available pricing information and the university's
identified budget.
C) Contracts
entered into under this Section shall provide:
i) the duration of the contract, with a
schedule for delivery when applicable;
ii) the method for charging and measuring
cost (hourly, daily, etc.);
iii)
the rate of remuneration;
iv) the
maximum price; and
v) whether the
services of subcontractors will be used.
4) Failure to Successfully Negotiate Contract
with Best Qualified Offeror
A) If
compensation, contract requirements or contract documents cannot be agreed upon
with the best qualified offeror, a written record stating the reasons shall be
placed in the file. The university, in consultation with the SPO, shall advise
the offeror of the termination of negotiations.
B) Upon failure to successfully negotiate a
contract with the best qualified offeror, the university, in consultation with
the SPO, may enter into negotiations with the next most qualified
offeror.
l)
Multiple Awards
The SPO may authorize a solicitation for professional and
artistic services that includes an intent to make multiple awards based upon a
need demonstrated by the university to have multiple vendors under contract.
Any multiple awards shall be conducted in accordance with Section
4.2036(b).
m) Notice of Award
1) Notice of award shall be in accordance
with Section
4.1525(d) and
(e).
2) Notice of award of professional and
artistic service contracts that are nonrenewable, are one year or less in
duration, and have a value of $100,000 or less must be published in the
Bulletin in accordance with Section 35-35(b) of the Code. The notice shall
include the name of the SPO and a brief explanation of the
procurement.
n)
Prequalification
Prequalification of professional and artistic vendors shall
not be used to bar or prevent an otherwise qualified person from responding to
a request for proposal for professional and artistic services.
