Section R7-2-1024. Invitation for Bids

A.      Invitation for bids shall be issued at least 14 days before the due date and time in the invitation for bids unless a shorter time is deemed necessary for a particular procurement as determined by the school district. If a shorter time is neces- sary, the school district shall document the specific reasons in the procurement file.

B.       Content.

1.        The invitation for bids shall include the following:

a.         Notice that all information and bids submitted by bidders will be made available for public inspection following the award of the contract;

b.        Instructions and information to bidders concerning bid submission requirements, including the means for bid submission such as, hand delivery, U.S. mail, electronic mail, facsimile, or other  acceptable means, the bid due date and time, the address of the office at which bids or other documents are to be received, the bid acceptance period, and any other special information or requirements;

c.         Whether the school district will consider partial bids for award of a contract;

d.        Notification of whether the school district may award multiple contracts and the school district’s basis for determining whether to award multiple contracts. If multiple contracts may be awarded, the invitation for bids shall include the criteria the school district will use for selecting vendors for each contract under the multiple award, including whether contracts will be awarded by individual line items or groups of line items, whether contracts will be awarded incrementally, or whether contracts will be awarded by designated regions or locations;

e.         The basis for determining the lowest bidder or bid- ders;

f.         Procurement of earth-moving, material-handling, road maintenance and construction equipment shall include as price evaluation criteria the total life cycle cost including residual value of the earth-moving, material-handling, road maintenance and construc- tion equipment and, to the extent practicable, the cost of outright purchase;

g.        The purchase description, specifications, delivery or performance schedule, and inspection and accep- tance requirements, as applicable. If a brand name or equal specification is used, instructions that use of a brand name is for the purpose of describing the stan- dard of quality, performance, and other characteris- tics needed to meet the school district’s requirements and is not intended to limit or restrict competition. The invitation for bids shall state that products substantially equivalent to the brands des- ignated qualify for consideration;

h.        The factors to be used in bid evaluations, including criteria to determine acceptability such as inspec- tion, testing, quality, workmanship, delivery and suitability for a particular purpose. Only objectively measurable evaluation criteria shall be included in the invitation for bids. Examples of such criteria include, but are not limited to, transportation cost, energy cost, ownership cost and other identifiable costs. Evaluation factors need not be precise predic- tors, but to the extent possible the evaluation factors shall be reasonable estimates based upon informa- tion the school district has available concerning future use;

i.         The contract terms and conditions, including:

i.         Warranty   and   bonding   or   other    security requirements, as applicable;

ii.        The length of the contract and whether the con- tract will include an option for extension; and

iii.      Any other contract terms and conditions;

j.         The name of the district representative or district representatives;

k.        The manner by which the bidder is required to acknowledge amendments;

l.         The minimum information required in the bid;

m.       The specific requirements for designating trade secrets and other proprietary data as confidential;

n.        Any specific responsibility criteria;

o.        A statement specifying where documents incorpo- rated by reference may be obtained;

p.        A statement that the school district may cancel the solicitation or reject a bid in whole or in part if deemed advantageous to the school district;

q.        Notice that the bidder is required to certify that sub- mission of the bid did not involve collusion or other anticompetitive practices;

r.         Notice that the bidder is required to declare whether the bidder has been debarred, suspended, or other- wise lawfully prohibited from participating in any public procurement activity, including, but not lim- ited to, being disapproved as a subcontractor of any public procurement unit or other governmental body;

s.         Any bid security required;

t.         A description of all information that will be recorded and available for public inspection at bid opening; and

u.        The date, time and location of any pre-bid confer- ence.

2.        When using electronic competitive sealed bidding, the invitation for bids shall specify whether electronic sub- mission of bids is required or optional, the electronic sub- mission requirements, and the electronic signature requirements.

C.      The school district shall mail or otherwise furnish invitation for bids or notices of the availability of invitation for bids to all prospective bidders registered with the school district for the specific material, service or construction being bid.

D.      A copy of the invitation for bids shall be made available for public inspection at the school district office.

Historical Note

Adopted effective December 17, 1987 (Supp. 87-4).

Amended effective October 22, 1992 (Supp. 92-4). Amended by final exempt rulemaking at 21 A.A.R. 1525, effective July 1, 2015 (Supp. 15-3).