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The Role of the RFP Committee “TEAM BUILDING” Matt Manion, C.P.M., VCO Tina Mizelle, VCO November 14, 2006. Competitive Negotiation is one of the six procurement methods.
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The Role of the RFP Committee “TEAM BUILDING” Matt Manion, C.P.M., VCO Tina Mizelle, VCO November 14, 2006
Competitive Negotiation is one of the six procurement methods. A Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued when conducting a competitive negotiation procurement, which involves negotiation.
The RFP is contrasted with the Invitation for Bid (IFB): the IFB is awarded to the lowest-priced responsive and responsible bidder. Price is only one of several factors that determine the award for an RFP.
Competitive negotiation (RFP) has the advantage of flexibility for describing in general terms what is being sought and the factors to be used in evaluating responses.
The RFP offers the opportunity, through negotiation, to change the content of an offer and pricing after opening. Negotiation is the dialogue that occurs to achieve mutually satisfactory objectives and benefits and to reconcile differences through mediation.
In the RFP process, the contract officer selects an RFP Evaluation Committee (TEAM) to evaluate proposals received in response to the RFP. The role of the RFP Evaluation Committee is to evaluate proposals and identify the best proposal that meets the needs of the agency.
Individuals for the Evaluation Committee may be selected from your agency, other agencies, localities or other resources. It is preferable that the Evaluation Committee be selected prior to issuance of the RFP so they can participate in the drafting of the solicitation.
An RFP Evaluation Committee is actually a TEAM: A group organized to work together, with each member contributing individual strengths to reach the best decision.
Selecting the RFP Evaluation Committee: • Look for members who “play well” with others. • Depending on the commodity or service, do you want members with general, technical, or specific knowledge? • Involve members from agencies that have the most investment in the contract.
Selecting the RFP Evaluation Committee, cont.: • Do you want evaluation members from one agency, multiple agencies, local governments, or non-public entities. • Do you want these members to be voting or non-voting members? • How many members do you want (three to five recommended, due to scheduling difficulty).
Criteria for the Evaluation Committee TEAM: • Unbiased • Ethical • Dependable (willing to give time needed) • Knowledgeable • No conflicts of interest
Documents to provide to Evaluation Committee members: • Copy of Article 6 (Ethics portion of VPPA) • Non-disclosure Statement • Guidelines for evaluation committee • Cover memo identifying the evaluation committee and responsibilities. • Copy of RFP • Score sheets
Throughout the proposal evaluation process, Evaluation Committee members shall not contact any Offeror or reveal any information or tentative conclusions of the relative merits of the proposal(s). Results of the evaluation process are not public information until AFTER AWARD.
Contact with potential Offerors and Offerors should be limited to the Contract Officer. All questions, concerns, and other information that’s needed by the TEAM should go through the Contract Officer.
Proposals are then evaluated on the basis of the criteria set forth in the RFP, using the scoring weights previously determined. All RFP responses are to be evaluated. Proposals not meeting requirements should be scored lower.
Offerors may be given an opportunity to correct a deficiency in their proposals, within an appropriate period of time, as determined by the purchasing office. Offerors who fail to submit required documentation or meet mandatory requirements, in such time, for evaluation purposes may be eliminated from further consideration.
As an option, evaluators may request presentations or discussions with offerors, as necessary, to clarify material in the offerors proposals, to help determine those fully qualified and best suited.
Evaluation Committee Members will individually and independently (without discussion with other panel members)review each proposal and be prepared to discuss areas of apparent noncompliance, areas needing clarification for each proposal in relationship to the requirements set forth in the RFP, and the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal.
The offerors proposals are evaluated against the RFP evaluation criteria, not against each other. Pricing is an objective criteria; therefore, pricing is evaluated with a mathematical formula, which compares the offeror’s pricing to each other. In Best Value RFPs, pricing is not rated but instead reviewed for completeness and reasonableness.
Evaluation Committee Members will assign a numerical rating, in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in the RFP excluding criteria for price and participation ofsmall business. In Best Value RFPs, adjectival or other ratings are used instead of the numerical scoring.
Evaluation Committee Members should also provide comments as to the rationale they used to determine the score or rating for each evaluation criteria for each proposal.
The Contract Officer/committee prepares a “Summary Evaluation Rating” form for the first round of scoring, and identifies any additional questions for the offerors. The responses to these questions are considered by the committee and the proposals are re-scored.
Two or more offerors determined to be fully qualified and best suited are then selected for negotiation. Price is considered, but need not be the sole determining factor.
The Evaluation Committee, along with the Contract Officer, develop the negotiation strategies for each offeror selected. The committee may or may not participate in the actual negotiation sessions with the offerors. Negotiations may be conducted via email.
The Contract Officer/committee prepares final “Evaluation Rating” forms for the offerors. The final scores will identify the offeror(s) selected for contract award.
The contract officer posts the “Notice of Intent to Award” or the “Notice of Award”. The RFP Evaluation Committee is done with their work, unless a protest is received and needs to be addressed.
