OSU PaCS 304-04: Bidding Process

Purpose

To provide information regarding bidding requirements for repairs and public improvement contracts.  To assure quality workmanship on public projects and to encourage competition for contracts at the management skills level.

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Applicability

Any personnel involved in an OSU Public Improvement project.

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Background Information

Contracts for the repair and improvement of public facilities are procured by one of the following competitive processes:

• competitive bids, or
• requests for proposals for design/build, or
• construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC) agreements

OAR 580-050-XXXX

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Definitions

Invitation to Bid

A written solicitation document, issued by Procurement and Contract Services (PaCS) requesting a competitive bid for a specified item or service.

Request for Proposals

A formal written solicitation document issued by Procurement and Contract Services (PaCS) requesting information for evaluation including pricing and a proposed method of accomplishing the objective for an item or service for which definitive specifications cannot be written and only the desired end result can be specified.

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Policy

For procurements less than $25,000, see PaCS 302-02: Bidding Process.

Contracts valued at $25,000 to $500,000 may be procured either by soliciting at least two prospective bidders using the Oregon University System (OUS) Retainer Agreement process or may be procured using a formal Invitation to Bid.  The Retainer Agreement process is discussed in detail in PaCS 304-11: Retainer Agreements.  These two processes are utilized and conducted solely by PaCS.  For the Invitation to Bid process, advertisements are published that invite qualified prospective contractors to respond.  The contract award is based on the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

For those contracts not using the retainer process or those valued above $500,000, either the Invitation to Bid or the Request for Proposals is used.  These two processes are conducted solely by PaCS.  Both processes require advertising that will create a pool of candidates. 

• The competitive bid process awards the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. 
• For the Request for Proposals process, criteria for award includes price and other factors including but not limited to past performance of the contractor, experience of the contractor and the contractor’s management team on projects of similar size and scope, the contractor’s reputation for quality and timely completion of projects, the contractor’s business and project management practices, the contractor’s demonstrated commitment to affirmative action, or the contractor’s willingness to agree to the contract terms proposed.

Contracts for projects using a non-standard (RFP, Design/Build or CM/GC) procurement are required by law to be reviewed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Attorney General’s office and must be approved for legal sufficiency.  For advertised contracts using standard construction documents and procedures the threshold is $3,000,000 for DOJ sufficiency review.

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