COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS (§13-1-111 to 117 NMSA 1978)
Competitive sealed proposals are used when price is not the sole factor in the selection. Competitive sealed proposals can be used to procure contracts for construction and facility maintenance, service and repairs. This procedure may also be used to select a consultant to provide administration of a project, appraisals or expert testimony, and community, economic and environmental planning services. In the federal regulations this request is known as qualification for administrative services. This procedure is not used to select architects, engineers, landscape architects or surveyors. These types of services require a competitive qualifications-based proposal as outline in the next section below. The procedures for utilizing a competitive sealed proposal process are as follows:
If a competitive seal proposal is required for services the first thing the land grant-merced must do is comply with the New Mexico State Use Act. Please see page on New Mexico State Use Act for more information.
1. The land grant-merced needs to develop the Request for Proposals (RFP) (13-1-112 NMSA 1978). The RFP must include: the specifications for the services to be procured; all contractual terms and conditions applicable to the procurement; the form for disclosure of campaign contributions given by prospective contractors to applicable public officials; the location where proposals are to be received and the applicable deadline for receipt of proposals, the date, time and place where proposals are to be reviewed; and the factors that will be used to evaluate proposals and their relative weight (13-1-114 NMSA 1978). It is suggested that the land grant-merced include a requirement for at least references as part of the factors for evaluation (a sample form for reference check form has been included on the flash drive accompanying this guidebook under Section G – Procurement Code in Procurement Supporting Documents Folder). The RFP should be specific in requesting “Competitive Sealed Proposals” and requiring the envelope with the proposal be marked as “Competitive Sealed Proposal”.
Copies of the RFP must be made available to anyone responding to the notice described below in item 2. Copies can either be a hard copy or an electronic document that can be mailed, picked up or e-mailed to anyone interested in responding to the RFP.
2. Once the RFP has been developed the land grant merced must give public notice of the request for proposals. This is done by publishing a notice of the RFP in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the area, such as the Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican etc. (13-1-104 NMSA 1978). The notice must be published not less than 10 calendar days prior to the date of when sealed proposals received are to be opened (13-1-113 NMSA 1978). The notice of RFP must include: a brief description of the services being sought in the RFP; the name and contact information for the person responsible for distributing the RFP packet as well as the location and time, if applicable, of where RFP packets can be picked up; and the time deadline for submitting a sealed proposal. A sample notice of proposal can be found on the flash drive accompanying this guidebook under Section G – Procurement Code in Procurement Supporting Documents Folder
3. When proposals are received do not open, stamp or write the date, time and who received the proposals and store in a secure place until the time and date set for the proposal opening. The proposals shall not be opened publicly and shall not be opened for public inspection until after the negotiation process is complete and an offeror has been selected for award of contract. A sample RFP Pre-Proposal Conference Log and Proposal Receipt log can be found by clicking on the sample documents tab located on left side of the main procurement page.
4. Once the deadline for receipt of proposals has passed and on the day indicated in the RFP, the land grant- merced can review and rank proposals in accordance with the RFP. Reviews and rankings should be in writing. Sample proposal evaluation forms can be found by clicking on the sample documents tab located on left side of the main procurement page.
5. Depending on the number of proposals received, the land grant-merced can narrow choices down to one or more offerors based on RFP rankings. The land grant-merced can then meet those selected to discuss the proposals and negotiate price. The land grant merced may allow offerors the opportunity to revise proposals after such discussion and prior to award for the purpose of obtaining the best and final offers (13-1-115 NMSA 1978). At no time should the proposal or price offers of other competitors be disclosed to any other competitor during discussions and negotiations (13-1-116 NMSA 1978). A sample Interview Sheet can be found by clicking on the sample documents tab located on left side of the main procurement page.
6. Once the land grant-merced is satisfied with all final proposals they may make the selection of award based on the most advantageous offer taking into consideration price and other criteria established in the RFP (13-1-117 NMSA 1978).
In the event that the land grant-merced does not receive any proposals or determines that it is in the best interest of the land grant-merced to not accept the proposals received, the land grant-merced may cancel the solicitation of proposals or reject in whole or in part all proposals submitted. The land grant-merced must document the reasons for the cancellation or rejection and include that documentation as part of the procurement file. Once a solicitation is cancelled or all proposals associated with a solicitation are rejected the land grant-merced must re-solicit a new RFP. In the case where a land grant-merced did not receive any proposals or the proposals received are not acceptable in both the first or second solicitations of proposals, the land grant-merced may purchase the services associated with the bid in the open market at the best obtainable price.
7. Once the land grant-merced has made its award selection the next step is to prepare and execute a contract that must include the scope of work, delivery of service schedule and terms of payment.
8. Lastly the land grant-merced needs to give written notification, by mail, within 15 days of award to all respondents to the RFP of land grant merced’s selection decision. A sample Memorandum for Notification of Firm Selection can be found by clicking on the sample documents tab located on left side of the main procurement page.
