Section 1400.2035  Procurement of Professional and Artistic Services

 

a)         The provisions of this Section apply to every procurement of professional and artistic services with the exception of the following:

 

1)         sole source procurements;

 

2)         emergency procurements; and

 

3)         any procurement of professional and artistic services less than $20,000 for a nonrenewable term of less than one year that the Chief Procurement Officer determines, in a writing that contains a brief explanation and is published as provided in Section 1400.1505, should be procured as a small purchase in accordance with Section 1400.2020.

 

b)         Forms

 

            The Chief Procurement Officer shall develop forms for use in the solicitation, review, and acceptance of all professional and artistic services. The following details must be included among the forms:

 

1)         a description of the goal to be achieved;

 

2)         the services to be performed;

 

3)         the need for the service;

 

4)         the qualifications that are necessary; and

 

5)         a plan for post-performance review.

 

            The forms must be published as provided in Section 1400.1505.

 

c)         Contract Requirements

 

            Contracts must contain at least the following information:

 

1)         the details listed in subsection (b);

 

2)         the duration of the contract, with a schedule of services, if applicable;

 

3)         the method for charging and measuring cost;

 

4)         the rate of remuneration;

 

5)         the maximum price; and

 

6)         any provisions that are required by the Chief Legal Counsel.

 

d)         Written Determinations Required Prior to Request for Proposals

 

            Prior to announcing the need for professional or artistic services, the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer shall make a written determination that explains the nature of the services and how the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer reached the determination that the services are professional or artistic.  The written determination must be made part of the procurement file.

 

e)         Prequalification

 

            The Chief Procurement Officer may maintain a list of prequalified professional and artistic vendors.  Vendors seeking to be added to the list shall submit a statement of qualifications in the following format:

 

1)         the name of the vendor, the location of the vendor's principal place of business and any other locations that may be used to perform a contract with the Treasurer's office;

 

2)         educational qualifications and licenses;

 

3)         general background and experience;

 

4)         a listing and description of government contracts, including contracts with the Treasurer's office;

 

5)         resumes of the persons who will be responsible for performance of any contract awarded;

 

6)         statement of compliance with all State of Illinois requirements; and

 

7)         any additional relevant information.

 

            Vendors may amend statements of qualifications at any time by filing a new statement.

 

f)          Request for Proposals

 

1)         Contents.  The Request for Proposals must be drafted or approved by the Chief Procurement Officer and must contain at least the following information:

 

A)        the type and scope of services required;

 

B)        a date by which proposals for the performance of the services must be submitted;

 

C)        the type of information and data required of each offeror;

 

D)        how the price should be presented;

 

E)         the factors to be used in the evaluation and selection process and their relative importance; and

 

F)         when practicable, a draft contract with a notice to the vendors that by submitting a response they are consenting to the terms and conditions of the draft agreement and agree to be bound by a final agreement that is substantially similar to the draft.

 

2)         Evaluation.  Proposals must be evaluated only on the basis of evaluation factors stated in the Request for Proposals.  The relative importance of the evaluation factors will vary according to the type of services being procured. The minimum factors are:

 

A)        the plan for performing the required services;

 

B)        ability to perform the services as reflected by technical training and education, general experience, specific experience in providing the required services, and the qualifications and abilities of personnel proposed to be assigned to perform the services;

 

C)        the personnel, equipment, and facilities to perform the services currently available or demonstrated to be made available at the time of contracting; and

 

D)        a record of past performance of similar work.

 

3)         Publication and Filing.  The Request for Proposal must be published as provided in Section 1400.1505 and must be made part of the procurement file.

 

g)         Bidders' Conferences

 

            Bidders' conferences may be conducted to enhance understanding of the procurement requirements.  They must be announced to all prospective proposers known to have received a Request for Proposal.  The conference may be designated as attendance mandatory or attendance optional.  The conference should be held long enough after the Request for Proposals has been issued to allow proposers to become familiar with it, but sufficiently before the opening of proposals to allow consideration of the conference results in preparing their proposals.  Only the written minutes of the conference are binding. Nothing stated in the bidders' conference changes the Request for Proposals unless a change is made by written amendment to the Request for Proposals. Minutes of the conference must be supplied upon request.

 

h)         Amendments to Requests for Proposals

 

1)         Form.  Amendments to Requests for Proposals must be identified and must require that the proposer acknowledge receipt of all amendments issued. The amendment must reference the portions of the Request for Proposals it amends.

 

2)         Distribution.  Amendments must be sent to all prospective proposers known to have received a Request for Proposal.

 

3)         Timeliness.  Amendments must be distributed within a reasonable time to allow prospective bidders to consider them in preparing their bids.  If necessary, the Chief Procurement Officer may extend the response time in writing, or by facsimile or telephone and confirmed in the amendment.

 

i)          Receipt and Handling of Proposals

 

            Proposals and modifications must be sent to the Chief Procurement Officer where they must be time-stamped upon receipt but not opened and held in a secure place until the established due date and time, at which time they will be opened by the Chief Procurement Officer.  Proposals must not be opened publicly nor disclosed to unauthorized persons and must be opened in the presence of at least one witness.  A record of proposals that includes the following must be established for all proposals: the name of each offeror, the number of modifications received, if any, and a description sufficient to identify the services offered.  The register of proposals must be open to public inspection only after award of the contract and must be made part of the procurement file at that time.  To the extent permitted by the contract entered into with the vendor, the successful proposal must be available for inspection by the public; however, proposals of offerors who are not awarded the contract must not be open to public inspection.

 

j)          Request for Nondisclosure of Data

 

            If the offeror selected for award has requested in writing the nondisclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary data so identified, the Chief Procurement Officer shall examine the request in the proposal to determine its validity prior to entering into negotiations with the offeror.  If the parties do not agree as to the disclosure of data in the contract, the Chief Procurement Officer may reject the proposal.

 

k)         Discussions

 

1)         Discussions Permissible.  The Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer shall evaluate all proposals submitted and may conduct discussions with any proposer.  The purposes of the discussions are to:

 

A)        determine in greater detail the proposer's qualifications; and

 

B)        explore with the offeror the scope and nature of the required services, the offeror's proposed method of performance, and the relative utility of alternative methods of approach.

 

2)         No Disclosure of Information.  No information derived from proposals submitted by an offeror may be disclosed to any other proposer.

 

3)         Best and Final Offers.  The Chief Procurement Officer may request best and final offers with a common date and time for submission of the proposals.  The Chief Procurement Officer may conduct additional discussions or change the specifications or other contract requirements and require another submission of best and final proposals.  If a proposer does not submit either a notice of withdrawal or another best and final offer, the proposer's immediate previous proposal will be construed as its best and final proposal.

 

l)          Negotiation and Award of Contract

 

1)         General.  The Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer shall negotiate a contract with the best qualified proposer, based on the evaluation factors in the request for proposals, for the required services at compensation determined in writing to be fair and reasonable.

 

2)         Successful Negotiation of Contract with Best-Qualified Proposer. If compensation, contract requirements, and contract documents can be agreed upon with the best-qualified proposer, the contract must be awarded to that proposer, unless the procurement is cancelled.

 

3)         Failure to Negotiate Contract with Best-Qualified Offeror.

 

A)        If compensation, contract requirements, or contract documents cannot be agreed upon with the best qualified proposer, a written record stating the reasons must be made part of the procurement file and the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer shall advise that proposer of the termination of negotiations.

 

B)        Upon failure to negotiate a contract with the best-qualified offeror, the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer may enter into negotiations with the next most qualified offeror.

 

4)         Ranking by Price.  For contracts with annualized value that exceeds $25,000, evaluation and ranking by price are required.  The Chief Procurement Officer may, with the Treasurer's approval, select an offeror other than the offeror with the most favorable price, if the Chief Procurement Officer explains in a written decision why another offeror was selected.  A copy of the decision must be forwarded to the Chief of Staff for review.  The written decision must be made part of the contract and published as provided in Section 1400.1505.

 

5)         Notice of Award.  Written notice of award must be promptly provided to the successful offeror, published as provided in Section 1400.1505 and made a part of the procurement file.  The notice must provide, at a minimum, the following:

 

A)        the name of the Chief Procurement Officer or Purchasing Officer;

 

B)        the successful vendor;

 

C)        a contract reference number or other identifier; and

 

D)        the value of the contract.