A. Pricing
All pricing offered or extended to the State is considered
to be firm and fixed unless expressly provided for to the contrary in the
Purchase Order or Purchase Agreement.
B. Cost of Preparation
All costs associated with the preparation, development and
submission of bids or proposals and/or protests arising therefrom, in response
to solicitations issued on behalf of the State, shall be the Vendor's sole
responsibility. The State will not reimburse any Vendor for such
costs.
C. Selection
1. Vendor bids and proposals shall be
evaluated and Purchase Orders or Purchase Agreement issued with reasonable
promptness and by written notice to the successful Vendor (only); bids and
proposals are considered to be irrevocable for a period of sixty (60) days
following the opening date unless expressly provided for to the contrary in the
solicitation document, and may not be withdrawn during the specified period
without the express written permission of the State Purchasing Agent.
2. The State reserves the right, before
making an award, to initiate investigations as to whether or not the materials,
equipment, supplies, services, qualifications, integrity, capability, capacity,
and/or facilities offered by the Vendor meet the requirements set forth in the
solicitation and are ample and sufficient to ensure the proper performance of
the Contract in the event of award. Failure to pay subcontractors on previous
Vendor Contracts may be considered (also see §
13.5 of this Part herein).
If upon such examination it is found that the conditions of the solicitation
are not complied with, and/or that the goods or services proposed to be
furnished do not meet the requirements called for in the solicitation, and/or
that the services, qualifications, integrity, capability, capacity and/or
facilities of the Vendor are not satisfactory, then the State may reject
Vendor's bid or proposal at the State's sole discretion. Nothing in the
foregoing shall mean or imply that it is obligatory upon the State to make any
examinations before issuance of a Purchase Order or Purchase Agreement. If such
examination is made, it in no way relieves the Vendor from fulfilling all
requirements and conditions of the Contract.
3. Qualified or conditional offers which
impose limitations of the Vendor's liability or modify the requirements of the
solicitation, offers for alternate specifications, or offers which are made
subject to different terms and conditions, including form contracts, other than
those specified by the State may be, at the sole discretion of the State
Purchasing Agent:
a. Rejected as being
non-responsive; or,
b. Set aside in
favor of the requirements set forth in the solicitation (with the consent of
the Vendor); or,
c. Accepted, if
the State Purchasing Agent determines in writing that such acceptance is in the
best interest of the State.
d.
Acceptance or rejection of alternates or counter-offers by the State Purchasing
Agent shall not constitute a precedent and shall not be considered to be
binding on successive solicitations or procurements.
4. Vendor bids and proposals must bear an
authorized signature or certification in a form approved by the State
Purchasing Agent. Vendor bids and proposals which do not bear the required
signature or certification may be deemed to be non-responsive to the
solicitation. Bids submitted in pencil will not be accepted.
5. Vendor bids and proposals must utilize the
unit of measure specified in the solicitation. In the event of any discrepancy
between unit prices and their extensions, the unit price will govern.
6. The State Purchasing Agent reserves the
right to determine whether a Vendor's bid or proposal is Responsive to a
solicitation and whether a Vendor is Responsible.
7. The State Purchasing Agent reserves the
right to reject any and all bids or proposals in whole or in part, to waive
technical defects, irregularities, and omissions, to give consideration to a
Vendor's past performance where, in the State Purchasing Agent's judgment, the
best interest of the State will be served, to require additional competitive
negotiations and/or to issue a request for best and final offers.
8. The State Purchasing Agent reserves the
right to make awards by items, group of items or on the total low bid for all
the items specified as indicated in the solicitation, unless the Vendor
expressly indicates otherwise in its bid or proposal that doing so is not
acceptable.
9. Preferences may be
given as authorized by law or regulation, including, but not limited to, the
following:
a. Preference may be given to bids
for products raised or manufactured in Rhode Island, in the event that all
other things are equal. Contracts funded entirely by State funds, when all
factors are equal, a Vendor or service provider whose headquarters or primary
place of business is located within the State, or in the event of a joint
venture with a Vendor or service provider whose headquarters or primary place
of business is within the State, shall receive preference.
b. MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES - Pursuant
to the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 37-14.1 reserves the right to apply
additional consideration to offers, and to direct awards to bidders other than
the responsive bid representing the lowest price where:
(1) The offer is fully responsive to the
terms and conditions of the Request;
(2) The price offer is determined to be
within a competitive range (not to exceed 5% higher than the lowest responsive
price offer) for the product or service;
(3) The firm making the offer has been
certified by the R.I. Department of Administration, Office of Diversity Equity
and Opportunity to be a small business concern meeting the criteria established
to be considered a Minority Business Enterprise. A minimum of ten percent [10%]
of the dollar value of the work performed against contracts shall be performed
by certified Minority Business Enterprises where it has been determined that
subcontract and/or supply opportunities exist, and where certified Minority
Business Enterprises are available. A vendor may count 60% of its expenditures
for materials and supplies required under a contract and obtained from an MBE
certified as a regular dealer or supplier, and 100% of such expenditures when
obtained from an MBE certified as a manufacturer, towards the MBE participation
requirement under R.I. Gen. Laws §
37-14.1-6.
For materials or supplies obtained from firms certified as a broker or
manufacturer's rep, vendors may receive MBE participation credit only for the
fees and commissions charged for the procurement of the goods and materials,
but not the cost of the materials themselves. Awards of this type shall be
subject to approval, by the Director of Administration, of a Subcontracting
Plan submitted by the bidder receiving the award.
10. The State Purchasing Agent
reserves the right to act in the State's best interest regarding awards caused
by clerical errors or omissions by the Division.
11. Any Contract issued by the Division is
subject to the resolution of any timely bid protest.
12. Any objections to specifications or
requirements in a solicitation must be received by the Chief Purchasing Officer
in accordance with State Procurement Regulation (§
1.6 of this
Subchapter).
D. Public
Records
Vendors are advised that all records submitted to the
Division may be subject to disclosure in accordance with the Rhode Island
Access to Public Records Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §
38-2-1, et
seq. and/or in the course of litigation through discovery. Any records
submitted which a Vendor believes are of a privileged or confidential nature or
are not subject to disclosure in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws §
38-2-2 or
other applicable laws, should be clearly marked. The Vendor should provide a
brief explanation as to why each portion of information marked as confidential
or privileged should be withheld from public disclosure and cite the specific
provision of R.I. Gen. Laws §
38-2-2. In
the event the Vendor makes a reasonable assertion of confidentiality or
privilege, the Division and/or agency and/or public institution of higher
education will use reasonable efforts to honor the Vendor's
request.
E. Product
Evaluation
In all solicitations, the words "or equal" shall be
understood to apply to each article when a manufacturer's name or catalog are
referenced unless the solicitation specifically states "no substitutions." When
submitting a bid or proposal which includes items other than those specified in
the solicitation, the Vendor must, in every instance, give the trade
designation of the article, manufacturer's name and detailed specifications of
the item the Vendor proposes to furnish; otherwise, the bid or proposal shall
be construed as being submitted for the identical commodity described in the
solicitation. The State Purchasing Agent reserves the right to determine
whether or not the substitute item(s) offered by the Vendor is an approved
equal to the item(s) specified in the solicitation.
1. All standards are minimum standards except
as otherwise provided for in the solicitation.
2. Samples must be submitted to the Division
of Purchases in accordance with the solicitation. Samples must be furnished
free of charge with the understanding that they shall not be returned to the
Vendor.
3. All samples submitted by
Vendors may be subject to examination or testing by any laboratory the State
Purchasing Agent may designate.
F. COLLUSION - Vendor warrants that it has
not, directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement or participated in any
collusion or otherwise taken any action in restraint of full competitive
bidding.
G. PROHIBITION AGAINST
CONTINGENT FEES AND GRATUITIES - Vendor warrants that it has not paid, and
agrees not to pay, any bonus, commission, fee, or gratuity to any employee or
official of the State for the purpose of obtaining any contract or award issued
by the State. Vendor further warrants that no commission or other payment has
been or will be received from or paid to any third-party contingent on the
award of any contract by the State, except as shall have been expressly
communicated to the State Purchasing Agent in writing prior to acceptance of
the contract or award in question. Subsequent discovery by the State of
non-compliance with these provisions shall constitute sufficient cause for
immediate termination of all outstanding contracts and suspension or debarment
of the bidder(s) or contractor(s) involved.
