D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 27-1532

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 24, June 14, 2024

Rule 27-1532 - REJECTION OF INDIVIDUAL BIDS

1532.1

The contracting officer shall reject any bid that fails to conform to the essential requirements of the IFB.

1532.2

The contracting officer shall reject any bid that does not conform to the applicable specifications unless the IFB authorized the submission of alternate bids and the goods offered as alternates meet the requirements specified in the IFB.

1532.3

Any bid that fails to conform to the delivery schedule or permissible alternates stated in the IFB shall be rejected.

1532.4

A bid shall be rejected if the bidder imposes conditions that would modify the requirements of the IFB or limit the bidder's liability to the District. For example, a bid shall be rejected if the bidder:

(a) Protects against future changes in conditions, such as increased costs, if total possible costs to the District cannot be determined;

(b) Fails to state a price and indicates that price shall be "price in effect at time of delivery" or words of equivalent meaning;

(a) States a price but qualifies it as being subject to "price in effect at time of delivery" or words of equivalent meaning;

(b) When not authorized by an IFB, conditions or qualifies a bid by stipulating that it is to be considered only if the bidder receives, or does not receive, an award under a separate solicitation;

(e) Requires the District to determine that the bidder's product meets applicable District specifications; or

(f) Limits the rights of the District under any contract clause.

1532.5

A low bidder may be requested to delete objectionable conditions from a bid, so long as the conditions do not go to the substance, as distinguished from the form, of the bid or would give the bidder an unfair advantage over other bidders. A condition goes to the substance of a bid when it affects price, quantity, quality, or delivery of the items or services offered.

1532.6

The contracting officer may reject any bid if he or she determines that the bid price is unreasonable. Unreasonableness of price includes not only the total price of the bid, but the prices for individual line items as well.

1532.7

A bid received from any bidder that is suspended, debarred, or otherwise ineligible shall be rejected if the period of suspension, debarment, or ineligibility has not expired by the bid opening date.

1532.8

The contracting officer shall reject low bids received from bidders determined not to be responsible, and shall consider the non-responsible bidders for debarment pursuant to chapter 22 of this title.

1532.9

When bid security is required and a bidder fails to furnish the security in accordance with the requirements of the IFB, the rules set forth in chapter 27 of this title shall apply.

1532.10

If a bid received at the District government facility by electronic data interchange is unreadable to the degree that conformance to the essential requirements of the IFB cannot be ascertained, the contracting officer shall immediately notify the bidder that the bid will be rejected unless the bidder provides clear and convincing evidence:

(a) Of the content of the bid as originally submitted; and

(b) That the unreadable condition of the bid was caused by District government software or hardware error, malfunction, or other District government mishandling.

D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 27-1532

Final Rulemaking published at 35 DCR 1435 (February 26, 1988); as amended by Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 3714 (March 6, 2012)[EXPIRED]; as amended by Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 6290, 6302 (June 1, 2012)

Section 1532 is formerly entitled, "All or None Qualifications." Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 6290 (June 1, 2012) replaced the section with a new section entitled, "Rejection of Individual Bids."

Authority: The Chief Procurement Officer of the District of Columbia (CPO), pursuant to the authority set forth in sections 401, 402, 409, 414, 1102, and 1106 of the Procurement Practices Reform Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-371; D.C. Official Code §§ 2-354.01, 2-354.04, 2-354.14, 2-361.02 and 2-361.06 (2011 Repl.)) (Act).