COMPETITIVE SEALED QUALIFICATION-BASED PROPOSAL (§13-1-119 – 124 NMSA 1978)
Competitive Sealed Qualification-Based Proposals are used for professional services of architects and engineers in excess of $50,000 and surveyors and landscape architects in excess of $10,000 in base design fees, excluding any applicable state or local taxes. The competitive sealed qualification-based proposal process is designed so that a land grant merced awards a service contract based on the expertise and experience of a firm rather than on price. Below are the steps and requirements for procuring professional services through the use of a competitive sealed qualification-based proposal process.
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. Any land grant-merced that is seeking to procure services for architecture, engineering, landscape architecture or surveying is required to request assistance from the Professional Technical Advisory Board (PTAB) in accordance with Section 13-1-117.2 NMSA 1978. PTAB will provide a licensed professional engineer, surveyor, architect or landscape architect to serve as an agent of the land grant-merced and will provide the following services:
a. advise the land grant-merced in the development of the Request for Qualification-based Proposals (RFQ) for professional services;
b. advise the land grant-merced in giving public notice for the RFQ;
c. advise the land grant-merced in the evaluation and selection of a firm to provided services outlined in RFQ.
d. assist the land grant-merced in the contract negotiations.
PTAB assistance is free to the land grant-merced, although a land grant-merced may, if they so choose provide reimbursement for mileage and per diem in accordance with the Per Diem and Mileage Act 10-8-1 NMSA 1978 (for more info on Per Diem and Mileage Act see Section H of this guidebook). PTAB requests that a land grant-merced contact them at least 4 weeks prior the desired date for advertising an RFQ. PTAB can be contacted on the web at http://www.acecnm.org/qbs.html by phone at (505) 888-6161 or via e-mail at PTAB@ACECNM.org. Included on the flash drive that accompanies this guidebook are the PTAB Manual for Qualification-Based Selection, a sample RFQ and Sample Evaluation Criteria all located in the PTAB folder.
2. Once PTAB has assigned a Professional Technical
Advisor (PTA) that individual will work with the land grant-merced to develop the Request for Qualifications. The RFQ 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. Section 13-1-120 NMSA 1978 provides a listing of all evaluation criteria that must be used as part of the RFQ process. The RFQ should be specific in requesting “Competitive Sealed Qualification-based Proposals” and requiring the envelope with the proposals be marked as “Competitive Sealed Proposal”. Copies of the RFQ must be made available to anyone responding to the notice described below in item 3. 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 RFQ.
3. Once the RFQ 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
4. When bids are received Do Not Open until time and date publish for qualification opening; stamp or write the date, time and who received the bids.
5. Once opened the land grant-merced along with their PTAB appointed PTA will review and rank proposals according to the criteria in the RFQ. The land grant-merced will then choose at least the top 3 offerors to conduct interviews with regard to their qualifications, approach to the project and their ability to furnish the required services. The land grant-merced may also require that any offerors chosen for interviews be required to do a public presentation of materials covered in the interview. The names of all businesses submitting proposals and the names of all business selected for an interview shall be public information (13-1-120 NMSA 1978).
If there are less than 3 proposals submitted for consideration then the land grant-merced can either rank in order of qualifications those proposals submitted for consideration of award or can terminate the selection process and re-solicit via a new notice of RFQ for more proposals. Proposals received in response to a terminated RFQ are not considered public information and shall not be made available to competing offerors.
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 (13-1-131 NMSA 1978).
6. Once interviews and public presentations from at least the 3 top firms are completed the land grant merced with assistance form their PTA shall select a firm for award. After award has been made the final rankings and evaluation scores for all proposals shall become public information.
7. The PTA will assist in the negotiation of costs related to the service indicated in the RFQ.
8. Once negotiations are completed the land grant merced shall prepare and execute a contract formalizing the scope of work, delivery of service schedule and terms of compensation.
9. The land grant-merced shall notify in writing, within 15 days after the award is made, all other firms responding to the RFQ that they have not be selected (13-1-120 NMSA 1978).
