§ 43-31. Competitive negotiation.

A. 

When used. Competitive negotiation ("CN") must be used to procure professional services. CN may be used for almost any type of other contract, except for construction. (CN can be used to procure construction only if i) the County makes a written determination that CSB is not practicable or is not fiscally advantageous, and ii) the project is a design-build project, construction management project, or is for construction of highways, or the drainage, dredging, excavation, grading, or similar work upon real property.) When CSB and CN are both permissible, the nature of the items being procured should be examined for characteristics that are better suited to a particular procurement process.

B. 

Process. CN generally consists of the following:

(1) 

Contract file. The contract file includes all documents pertaining to the procurement. The file is open for public inspection and should be retained for at least five years. (Note that bidders can designate portions of their bids as proprietary under the Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4342, to shield those portions from public disclosure.) If questions arise as to whether the public should be allowed access to a particular bid, consult the County Attorney.

(2) 

Request for proposal ("RFP").

(a) 

Unlike CSB, competitive negotiation calls for the Purchasing Agent to negotiate a contract with the successful offeror. Accordingly, the RFP is somewhat less critical than its counterpart, the ITB. Still, the RFP should establish the County's contractual expectations and indicate whether a numerical scoring system will be used to evaluate proposals. Forms 2.0 and 2.1 may be used for this purpose.

Editor's Note: Said Forms are on file in the County offices.

(b) 

Where the RFP relates to professional services, it shall not request cost estimates for the services to be rendered. Other RFPs should request a price, and they should state that price will be a factor in considering the RFP.

(3) 

Advertisement and posting. Notice of the RFP should be advertised and posted at least 10 days before the deadline for receiving proposals. Form 2.2 may be used for this purpose. The notice should be published in any newspaper of general circulation and may be posted in the County office, the County website, and the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website. Proposals may also be solicited directly from potential contractors.

Editor's Note: Said Form is on file in the County offices.

(4) 

Evaluation of offers. At this stage of CN, the law distinguishes between professional services and everything else.

(a) 

Professional services.

[1] 

With respect to professional services, the Purchasing Agent should evaluate the proposals based solely on professional competence. Next, interviews are scheduled with at least the two offerors ranked highest. In these interviews, the parties can discuss professional qualifications, the project under consideration, the project cost, and the offerors can be asked to provide a nonbinding estimate of the cost of their services. (Note: If one offeror is clearly superior to all others, the Purchasing Agent may elect, in writing, to bypass the interviews and start contract negotiations with that one.)

[2] 

After the discussions, the Purchasing Agent again ranks the offerors, and enters into contract negotiations with the highest ranking offeror. If a contract can be negotiated with that offeror at a fair and reasonable price, then the contract is awarded. Otherwise, negotiations are terminated with the first offeror, and the Purchasing Agent moves on to the next ranked offeror until a contract can be awarded.

(b) 

Goods, nonprofessional services, and construction.

[1] 

For goods, construction, and nonprofessional services, the proposals are ranked by price and any other specifications set forth in the RFP. Interviews are conducted with at least the two offerors ranked highest. In these interviews, the Purchasing Agent should obtain binding prices.

[2] 

Again, if one offeror is clearly more qualified than the others — and the Purchasing Agent so finds, in writing — the Purchasing Agent can simply interview that single offeror.

[3] 

After the interviews are complete, the Purchasing Agent should award the contract to offeror with the best proposal.

(5) 

Awarding the contract. The Purchasing Agent awards the contract at the conclusion of the evaluation process set forth in Subsection B(4)(a) or B(4)(b), whichever is applicable. The County Attorney can draft a simple agreement or review any contract submitted by the offeror.