The Request for Proposal Handbook
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The REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL HANDBOOK Fifth Edition 20th Anniversary THE BEST RFP PRACTICES, CHECKLISTS, GUIDELINES, EXAMPLES AND REGULATIONS FROM MORE THAN 100 STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR AGENCIES Michael Asner Brought to you courtesy of Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Inc. (TSX: MDF) is a Canadian leader in information technology offering strategic sourcing and unified commerce solutions as well as B2B and B2C marketplaces. Mediagrif’s solutions are used by millions of consumers and businesses in North America and around the world. The Corporation has offices in Canada, the United States, Denmark and China. MERX is a leading provider of cloud-based Source-to-Contract (S2C) solutions anchored by electronic tendering and a dynamic global business network exceeding 200,000 suppliers. MERX helps thousands of customers better manage procurement spend, reduce strategic sourcing costs and achieve outcomes with actionable visibility of risks, contracts and supplier performance. 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LET US SIMPLIFY YOUR STRATEGIC SOURCING Mediagrif | www.mediagrif.com MERX | www.MERX.com ASC | www.ASCNet.com BIDNET | www.BidNetDirect.com/buyers The Request for Proposal Handbook The EQUEST R FOR PROPOSAL HANDBOOK Fifth Edition 20th Anniversary Michael Asner THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL HANDBOOK Fifth Edition First Printing Michael Asner September, 2014 This publication is a product of: Michael Asner Consulting Suite 2003, 1028 Barclay St. Vancouver, BC Phone: (604) 530-7881 Canada V6E 0B1 Email: [email protected] Phone: (604) 530-7881 Web address: www.rfpmentor.com Disclaimer Great care has been taken to ensure that the information presented is accurate; however, this information is still subject to errors and subject to change. The examples have been obtain from many jurisdictions throughout North America and may not be applicable in every jurisdiction. RFPs and the law of contracts The process of issuing an RFP and receiving proposals does, by design or inadvertently, establish contractual rights and obligations. Each RFP and the associated process should be reviewed by your lawyer or legal department prior to issuing the RFP. The examples and sample RFPs used throughout this text have been used in many different jurisdictions in the past. The author makes no claim about the appropriateness, correctness, or legal consequences of these examples or sample RFPs. Competent legal advice should be obtained to review your Request For Proposal and the associated process. ISBN: 978-1-896129-19-8 Copyright © 2014 by Michael Asner Consulting. All rights including translation into other languages, reserved. Printed in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any mean, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One A WORLDWIDE VIEW OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Public Procurement is a Big Deal 2 The Goals of Key Worldwide Stakeholders 3 Efforts to Reduce Corruption 8 Chapter Two PUBLIC PROCUREMENT – THE LAW United States – Federal 17 United States – State and Local Governments 26 Canada 35 Chapter Three FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES What is an RFP? 54 When is an RFP used? 56 Deciding When to Use an RFP 57 When NOT to use an RFP? 59 Advantages and Disadvantages 65 Other Procurement Options 70 Chapter Four IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE RFP POLICY Different Approaches to Policy Development 76 Implementing Policy 83 Example #1: National Institute of Governmental Purchasing 84 Example #2: Queensland (Australia) 85 Example #3: St. Johns River Water Management District (FL) 88 Example #4: Yukon Government (Canada) 91 Example #5: State of Alaska 98 (i) Chapter Five THE RFP PROCESS Planning the Process 123 Designing Your RFP Process 128 Typical Timing 159 Changing the RFP Process 166 Examples of the RFP Process 168 Chapter Six THE RFP DOCUMENT Part One – The Basics The Statement of Work 183 How Much Information? 192 What Goes into an RFP Document? 193 The Anatomy of Three Excellent RFP Documents 196 Part Two – Getting it Right Problem-Solving Features of RFP Documents 218 Using Risk as an Evaluation Feature 225 Guidelines & Templates 232 Chapter Seven EXEMPLARY RFP MANUALS Learning from the Mistakes and Experience of Others 254 New Mexico 255 New York 263 Federal Transit Administration 267 Massachusetts 274 Montana 281 North Carolina 285 (ii) Chapter Eight DEALING WITH SUPPLIERS (Until the Competition Closes) Inviting Suppliers to Compete 295 From Release to Closing 304 Some Important Numbers 309 When can a Contract be Awarded without an RFP? 310 A Test for Transparency and Fairness 316 Chapter Nine ORGANISING THE EVALUATION PROCESS The Need for an Evaluation Process 323 An Explanation of ‘Best Value’ 328 The Methodology Used 332 The Evaluation Committee 334 Examples of Actual Evaluation Procedures 349 Chapter Ten SAFEGUARDING THE EVALUATION PROCESS When Bad Things Happen to Good Evaluations 372 A Trail of Great Documents Intimidates their Lawyers 375 Tools to Help the Evaluators Keep on Track 380 An Actual Evaluation: Step by Step 393 Chapter Eleven THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE EVALUATION PROCESS Establishing Compliance 418 Scoring the Proposals 423 Using Risk as an Evaluation Factor 440 Imposing Upset Levels 446 Evaluating the Cost 447 Adopting a Non-Numerical Evaluation of Cost 455 Developing a Short List 461 Communicating with Proponents 462 (iii) Chapter Eleven (continued) Negotiating the Contract 468 Requesting Best and Final Offers 492 Checking References & Past Performance 498 Chapter Twelve ENDING THE PROCESS Confirming the Winner 521 Finalizing the Contract 528 Releasing the Results 547 Dealing with the Losers 550 Completing the RFP File 558 Chapter Thirteen SUPPLIER COMPLAINTS AND PROTESTS A Framework for Handling Complaints 566 How to Discourage Supplier Protests 571 Providing an Effective Dispute Resolution Mechanism 576 Grounds for Relief 581 Examples of Policies and Procedures 582 References 587 (iv) PREFACE This book was first published in 1995. Since then, it has been expanded and revised every five years. Used by more than 5000 agencies and departments, primarily at the state and local government level, The RFP Handbook has become a trusted reference for procurement professionals. I’m both grateful and amazed at its wide acceptance by my colleagues in government procurement. Now, it’s time for a revision. And in creating the Fifth Edition, I have not only updated all the content but added 60 new references and 20 new topics - issues which I believe are not adequately dealt with in any single existing text that I’ve found. These issues include the following: Understanding the worldwide view of public procurement Knowing the law Testing your evaluation procedure before issuing the RFP Using risk as an evaluation factor Using a Fairness Officer on high-risk RFPs Providing a step-by-step narrative of an actual evaluation procedure Non-numerical evaluation of cost Using Past Performance data in your evaluation This book leads the reader through the entire Request for Proposal process and provides best practices from more than 100 jurisdictions. It is based on my experience as an independent consultant specializing in public procurement and the RFP process. These best practices have emerged as a practical strategy for building ‘fair, open and transparent’ into public procurement. This book includes material generously provided by two of my colleagues. John Adler, a past president of NASPO and an important voice for procurement reform, and Denis Chamberland, a lawyer internationally recognized as a procurement expert. I also want to thank my colleagues who have contributed ideas, suggestions and content for making this Handbook an accepted resource for RFP information. As always, comments, and suggestions on any topic are appreciated. Simply call me at (604) 530-7881 or email me at [email protected]. Best regards Michael Asner Sept., 2014 Chapter One A WORLDWIDE VIEW OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Contents Public Procurement is a Big Deal 2 The Goals of Key Worldwide Stakeholders 3 Efforts to Reduce Corruption 8 An Ending Comment 12 End Notes 12 Chapter One A WORLDWIDE VIEW OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT This book is only about Requests For Proposals (RFPs) and the related best practices. It is significant that RFPs and best practices are not determined by the location, they are not confined to any particular city or county or state. In fact, they are not unique to your organization or even your country. Your problems have been experienced by many other jurisdictions, sometimes thousands of miles away in different countries. The solution to a specific problem developed in one country is often directly transferable to many other jurisdictions. RFPs as they exist today are a creation of similar public policies on a worldwide basis. These public policies have been shaped by many factors. This book deals with some of these factors such as laws, the courts, ordinances, and regulations.