D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 27-1615
The contracting officer may issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) before an RFP when the contracting officer determines that the RFQ process will be the most advantageous to the District. This selection process will determine which prospective contractors are qualified to receive RFPs and submit responses to the RFPs, based on financial and professional responsibility criteria established by the contracting officer for pre-qualification of a prospective contractor.
The District shall issue an RFQ to firms to determine whether they have the expertise, ability, and entrepreneurship to:
The contracting officer shall give public notice of the RFQ in accordance with Chapter 13 of this title.
The RFQ shall invite interested prospective contractors to respond in writing with a statement of their qualifications to perform the required services, including financial and professional responsibility information. The RFQ shall provide, at a minimum:
The contracting officer may conduct oral or written discussions with prospective contractors who submitted responses to the RFQ. If the contracting officer conducts discussions, he or she shall conduct discussions with all prospective contractors who submitted responses to the RFQ.
The contracting officer may provide the information submitted by all prospective contractors in response to the RFQ to an evaluation panel who may recommend to the contracting officer, based upon the panel's analysis of the information according to the criteria set forth in the RFQ, whether or not a prospective contractor should be among the highest ranked offerors to proceed to the second step.
The contracting officer shall determine the financial and professional responsibility of each prospective contractor and rank them in writing from the most qualified to the least qualified on the basis of the information provided. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 1629, prior to the issuance of the RFP the contracting officer may make available the identities of the highest-ranked offerors who will be issued an RFP.
The contracting officer shall then issue an RFP in accordance with the provisions of Section 1612 to at least three (3) of the highest-ranked offerors who have been determined most qualified. The RFP shall not be advertised in newspapers or publicly posted.
If there are fewer than three (3) offerors, the contracting officer may issue the RFP to the highest-ranked offeror(s).
The contracting officer's decision regarding how many proposals to solicit shall not be subject to review.
D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 27-1615