Section 27-1553. RECEIPT AND EVALUATION OF STEP ONE PROPOSALS

 

1553.1Upon receipt of proposals, the contracting officer shall:

 

(a)  Safeguard the proposals against disclosure to unauthorized persons;

 

(b)  Accept and handle data with restrictive disclosure procedures in accordance with chapter 31 of this title; and

 

(c)  Remove any reference to price or cost.

 

1553.2The contracting officer shall establish a time period for evaluating technical proposals. The time period may vary with the complexity and the  number of proposals received.

 

1553.3Proposal evaluations shall be based on the criteria specified in the request for technical proposals without consideration of responsibility.

 

1553.4Proposals shall be categorized as one (1) of the following:

 

(a)  Acceptable;

 

(b)  Reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable; or

 

(c)  Unacceptable.

 

1553.5Any proposal which modifies or fails to conform to the essential requirements or specifications of the request for technical proposals shall  be considered  nonresponsive and categorized as unacceptable.

 

1553.6The contracting officer may proceed directly with step two if:

 

(a) There are a sufficient number of acceptable proposals to ensure adequate price competition under step two; and

 

(b) Further time, effort and delay to make additional proposals acceptable, and thereby increase competition, would not be in the best interest of the District.

 

1553.7If it is not in the best interest of the District to proceed directly with step two, the contracting officer shall request bidders whose proposals may be  made acceptable to submit additional clarifying or supplemental  information.

 

1553.8If discussions are held, the contracting officer must identify the nature of the deficiencies in the proposal or the nature of the additional information  required.

 

1553.9No proposal shall be discussed with any bidder other than the submitting bidder.

 

1553.10When initiating a request for additional information, the contracting officer shall fix an appropriate time for bidders to conclude discussions, if  any, submit all additional information, and incorporate that additional  information as part of their proposals.

 

1553.11The time for completing the actions under § 1553.10 may be extended at the contracting officer’s discretion.

 

1553.12If the additional information incorporated as part of a proposal within the final time fixed by the contracting officer establishes that the proposal is  acceptable, it shall be so categorized. Otherwise, it shall be categorized as  unacceptable.

 

1553.13If a technical proposal is found unacceptable, either initially or after clarification, the contracting officer shall promptly notify the bidder of the  basis of the determination and notify the bidder that a revision of its  proposal will not be considered.

 

1553.14Upon written request, and as soon as possible after award, the contracting officer may debrief unsuccessful bidders in accordance with the provisions  of chapter 16 of this title.

 

1553.15If it is necessary to discontinue the two-step sealed bidding method, the contracting officer shall include a statement of the facts and circumstances  in the contract file.

 

1553.16Each bidder shall be notified, in writing, of a discontinuance of the two-step sealed bidding process.

 

authority

The Chief Procurement Officer of the District of Columbia (CPO), pursuant to the authority set forth in sections 401, 402, 409, 414, 1102, and 1106 of the Procurement Practices Reform Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-371; D.C. Official Code §§ 2-354.01, 2-354.04, 2-354.14, 2-361.02 and 2-361.06 (2011 Repl.)) (Act).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 35 DCR 1443 (February 26, 1988); as amended by Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 3714 (March 6, 2012)[EXPIRED]; as amended by Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 6290, 6311 (June 1, 2012).