In addition to the procedures for soliciting contracts for consultant
and personal services, contracts for goods and services not required
to be procured by competitive bidding may be solicited through use
of an RFP, RFQ, or SOQ.
Each member of any committee appointed to make an RFP, RFQ,
or SOQ contract award shall file a written statement that he/she does
not have a conflict of interest that would preclude him/her from serving
upon the designated committee.
The RFEI and RFI may be utilized by a department prior to, or
instead of, initiating the RFP, RFQ, or SOQ process. The RFEI may
be used in order to gauge interest, target an audience, or create
a short list of potential responders for a subsequent RFP or RFQ issue.
An RFI may be utilized to gather information to learn about the options
available to address a particular need prior to initiating the RFP
process. In all cases, these requests will not result in the award
of a contract, but may only be used as assistance in the development
of an RFP, RFQ, or SOQ. If an RFEI is utilized to create a short list,
it must clearly convey that only responders to the RFEI may respond
to the RFP, RFQ, or SOQ.
The RFP shall delineate the criteria, methodology and instrument
for the evaluation of both general qualifications and technical services
that will be used to score the RFP.
A separate committee shall be appointed solely for the purpose
of making an award in relation to a specific RFP. The membership of
such evaluation committee shall, at a minimum, include the following:
A. The County Executive or the County Executive's duly authorized representative(s);
B. A second duly authorized representative of the County Executive (Budget
or Management);
C. The Presiding Officer of the Suffolk County Legislature or the Presiding
Officer's duly authorized representative;
D. The department head of the department requesting the RFP or his/her
representative.
The RFP committee charged with evaluating proposals may conduct
additional discussions and negotiations with proposers whose proposals
are determined to be reasonably likely of being selected for award,
for the purpose of clarification and to assure full understanding
of, and conformance to, the solicitation requirements. Proposers shall
be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity
for discussion and revision of proposals, and such revisions may be
permitted after submissions and prior to award for the purpose of
obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussions, there
shall be no disclosure of the identity of competing proposers or of
any information derived from proposals submitted by competing proposers.
Subject to the requirements of Administrative Code §
A4-13, Preferences for businesses located within Suffolk and Nassau Counties, the award shall be made to the responsible proposer whose proposal is determined in writing to offer the best value to the County, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP. No other factors or criteria shall be used in the evaluation. The contract procurement file shall contain the basis on which the award was made. In the event the lowest quote or proposal is not selected, there must be written documentation explaining why in the record.