§ 20-25Method of solicitation.
§ 20-26Time frame.
§ 20-27Form.
§ 20-28Time period for submission of bids.
§ 20-29Cancellation of solicitations.
§ 20-30Credit (or purchasing) cards.
Petty cash and micro purchases. The WHA may contact only one source if the price is considered reasonable.
Small purchases. Quotes may be solicited orally, through fax, or by any other reasonable method.
Sealed bids and competitive proposals. Solicitation must be done publicly. The WHA must use one or more following solicitation methods, provided that the method employed provides for meaningful competition:
Advertising in newspapers or other print mediums of local or general circulations.
Advertising in various trade journals or publications (for construction).
E-procurement. The WHA may conduct its public procurements through the Internet using e-procurement systems. However, all e-procurements must otherwise be in compliance with 24 CFR 85.36, state and local requirements, and the Authority's procurement policy.
For purchases of more than $100,000, the public notice should run not less than once each week for two consecutive weeks.
Notices/advertisements should state, at a minimum, the place, date and time that the bids or proposals are due, the solicitation number, a contact who can provide a copy of and information about the solicitation, and a brief description of the needed item(s).
A minimum of 30 days shall generally be provided for preparation and submission of sealed bids and 15 days for competitive proposals. However, the Executive Director may allow for a shorter period under extraordinary circumstances.
An IFB, RFP, or other solicitation may be cancelled before bids/offers are due, if:
A solicitation may be cancelled and all bids or proposals that have already been received may be rejected, if:
The supplies or services (including construction) are no longer required;
Ambiguous or otherwise inadequate specifications were part of the solicitation;
All factors of significance to the WHA were not considered;
Prices exceed available funds, and it would not be appropriate to adjust quantities to come within available funds;
There is reason to believe that bids or proposals may not have been independently determined in open competition, may have been collusive, or may have been submitted in bad faith; or
For good cause of a similar nature when it is in the best interest of the WHA.
The reasons for cancellation shall be documented in the procurement file, and the reasons for cancellation and/or rejection shall be provided upon request.
A notice of cancellation shall be sent to all bidders/offerors solicited and, if appropriate, shall explain that they will be given an opportunity to compete on any resolicitation or future procurement of similar items.
If all otherwise acceptable bids received in response to an IFB are at unreasonable prices, an analysis should be conducted to see if there is a problem in either the specifications or the WHA's cost estimate. If both are determined adequate and if only one bid is received and the price is unreasonable, the contracting officer may cancel the solicitation and either.
Re-solicit using an RFP; or
Complete the procurement by using the competitive proposal method. The contracting officer must determine, in writing, that such action is appropriate, must inform all bidders of the WHA's intent to negotiate, and must give each bidder a reasonable opportunity to negotiate.
If problems are found with the specifications, WHA should cancel the solicitation, revise the specifications and re-solicit using an IFB.
Credit card usage should follow the rules for all other small purchases. For example, the contracting officer may use a credit card for micro purchases without obtaining additional quotes, provided the price is considered reasonable. However, for amounts above the micro-purchase level, the contracting officer would generally need to have obtained a reasonable number of quotes before purchasing via a credit card.
When using credit cards, the WHA should adopt reasonable safeguards to assure that they are used only for intended purposes (for instance, limiting the types of purchases or the amount of purchases that are permitted with credit cards).
