27 Miss. Code. R. 100-3-203
The provisions of this section apply to every procurement of personal or professional services made by competitive sealed proposals.
The words "practicable" and "advantageous" are to be given ordinary dictionary meanings:
If competitive sealed bidding is not practicable, competitive sealed proposals should be used. If competitive sealed bidding is practicable, it must then be determined whether competitive sealed bidding is advantageous. If competitive sealed bidding is determined not to be advantageous, competitive sealed proposals should be used.
Another consideration concerns the type of evaluations needed after offers are received. Where evaluation factors involve the relative abilities of offerors to perform, including degrees of technical or professional experience or expertise, use of competitive sealed proposals is the appropriate procurement method. Additionally, use of competitive sealed proposals is appropriate where the type of need to be satisfied involves weighing artistic and aesthetic values to the extent that price is a secondary consideration. Finally, where the types of services to be performed may require the use of comparative judgmental evaluations to evaluate them adequately, use of competitive sealed proposals is the appropriate method.
Competitive sealed bidding is not practicable unless the nature of the procurement permits award to a low bidder who agrees by its bid to perform without condition or reservation in accordance with the purchase description, delivery or performance schedule, and all other terms and conditions of the Invitation for Bid. Factors to be considered in determining whether competitive sealed bidding is or is not practicable include:
A determination may be made to use competitive sealed proposals if it is determined that it is not advantageous to the State, even though practicable, to use competitive sealed bidding. Factors to be considered in determining whether competitive sealed bidding is not advantageous include:
Note:The following is offered as an example of circumstances when formal competitive sealed bidding is "practicable" but not "advantageous."
It could be "practicable" to invite competitive sealed bids on a functional specification prepared by the State for services that are highly specialized such as producing job classifications; however, the contract award would likely better serve the State's interest if it were made on the basis of the most advantageous proposal rather than the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. For this reason, it would not be "advantageous" to the State to take competitive sealed bids; that is, the State's specification could conceivably result in an acceptable product, but another could have been obtained more economically and in a form that would better serve the needs of the State. Competitive sealed proposals would also afford the opportunity to discuss design characteristics with the offerors as the discussions proceeded.
Before a contract may be entered into by competitive sealed proposals, the Agency Head shall determine in writing and keep in the procurement file the following:
The Request for Proposal shall be prepared in accordance with Section 3-202.03 (The Invitation for Bid) regarding Invitations for Bids provided that it shall also include:
The Request for Proposal shall be in the form specified by the Procurement Officer and contain at least the following information:
Proposal preparation time shall be set to provide offerors a reasonable time to prepare their proposals.
The manner in which proposals are to be submitted, including any forms to be used, shall be included as part of the Request for Proposal.
Public notice shall be given by distributing the Request for Proposal in the same manner provided for distributing an Invitation for Bid under Section 3-202.06 (Public Notice).
Pre-proposal conferences may be conducted in accordance with Section 3-202.07 (Pre-Bid Conferences). Any such conference should be held prior to submission of initial proposals.
Amendments to Requests for Proposals may be made in accordance with Section 3-202.08 (Amendments to Invitations for Bids) prior to submission of proposals. After submission of proposals, amendments may be made in accordance with Section 3-202.19.2 (Procedure for Phase-One of Multi-Step Sealed Bidding, Amendments to the Invitation for Bid).
Proposals may be modified or withdrawn prior to the established due date in accordance with Section 3-202.09 (Pre-Opening Modification or Withdrawal of Bids). For the purposes of this section and Section 3-203.11 (Late Proposals, Late Withdrawals, and Late Modifications) below, the established due date is either the time and date announced for receipt of proposals or receipt of modifications to proposals, if any; or if discussions have begun, it is the time and date by which best and final offers must be submitted, provided that only offerors who submitted timely proposals may submit best and final offers.
Any proposal, withdrawal, or modification received after the established due date is late. See Section 3-203.10 (Modification or Withdrawal of Proposals) for the definition of "established due date." Any proposal, withdrawal, or modification not received at the place designated for receipt of proposals is late. Late proposals, withdrawals, or modifications may only be considered in accordance with Section 3-202.10 (Late Bids, Late Withdrawals, and Late Modifications).
Proposals shall be opened in the presence of two or more agency officials. Proposals and modifications shall be date-stamped or time/date-stamped upon receipt and held in a secure place until the established due date.
After the date established for receipt of proposals, a Register of Proposals shall be prepared by the Procurement Officer which shall include for all proposals:
The Procurement Officer shall examine all offers to identify any written requests for nondisclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary data. Any disclosure of this information is subject to the provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated §§ 25-61-9 and 79-23-1.
The Request for Proposal shall state all of the evaluation factors, including price, and their relative importance.
The evaluation shall be based on the evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposal. Factors not specified in the Request for Proposal shall not be considered. The following factors shall be listed and shall be considered in conducting the evaluation. The relative importance of these and other factors will vary according to the type of services being procured. The minimum factors are:
Evaluations shall be performed using a standard, 100 point scoring scale.
Example of weighted score criteria:
Proposed Plan - 30 points (30%)
Ability to Perform Services - 20 points (20%)
Personnel, Equipment, and Facilities - 15 points (15%)
Price Proposal - 20 points (20%)
Record of Past Performance - 15 points (15%)
Total Score = 100 points (100%)
For the purpose of conducting discussions under Section 3-203.14 (Proposal Discussions with Individual Offerors) below, proposals shall initially be classified as:
Offerors whose proposals are unacceptable shall be sent written notification promptly. The notification should state their proposal was deemed unacceptable and should include a specific reason or reasons for it being declared unacceptable.
For the purposes of Section 3-203.01(f) (Competitive Sealed Proposals, Discussions with Responsible Offerors and Revisions to Proposals) and this section, the term "offerors" includes only those businesses submitting proposals that are acceptable or potentially acceptable. The term does not include businesses which submitted unacceptable proposals.
Discussions may be held to:
Offerors shall be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussions and revisions of proposals. The Procurement Officer should establish procedures and schedules for conducting discussions. If, during discussions, there is a need for any substantial clarification of or change in the Request for Proposal, the Request for Proposal shall be amended to incorporate such clarification or change. Auction techniques (revealing one offeror's price to another) and/or disclosure of any information derived from competing proposals are prohibited. Any substantial oral clarification of a proposal shall be reduced to writing by the offeror. The Procurement Officer shall keep a record of the date, place, and purpose of meetings and those attending and place same in the agency's procurement file.
If allowed by the Request for Proposal and if necessary for proper evaluation, the Procurement Officer shall establish a common date and time for the submission of best and final offers. Best and final offers shall be submitted only once; provided, however, the Agency Head may make a written determination that it is in the State's best interest to conduct additional discussions or change the State's requirements and require another submission of best and final offers. The Agency Head's written determination shall be maintained in the agency's procurement file. Otherwise, no discussion of or changes in the best and final offers shall be allowed prior to award. Offerors shall also be informed that if they do not submit a notice of withdrawal or another best and final offer, their immediate previous offer will be construed as their best and final offer.
Proposals may be modified or withdrawn as provided in Section 3-203.10 (Modification or Withdrawal of Proposals).
When the Procurement Officer knows or has reason to conclude before award that a mistake has been made in a proposal, such officer should request the offeror to confirm that the proposal is correct. If the offeror alleges mistake, the proposal may be corrected if the conditions set forth in Subsection 3-203.15.3 through 3-203.15.5 below are met.
This subsection sets forth procedures to be applied in four situations in which mistakes in proposals are discovered after receipt of proposals but before award:
Mistakes shall not be corrected after award of the contract except when the Agency Head finds it would be unconscionable not to allow the mistake to be corrected.
When a proposal is corrected or withdrawn, or correction or withdrawal is denied under Subsections 3-203.15.3(b), (c), (d), or 3-203.15.4, a written determination shall be prepared and maintained in the agency procurement file showing that relief was granted or denied in accordance with these regulations. The Agency Head shall prepare the determination, except under Subsection 3-203.15.3(b), the determination may be prepared by the Procurement Officer. The written determination shall be maintained in the procurement file.
The Procurement Officer shall make a written determination showing the basis on which the award was found to be most advantageous to the State based on the factors set forth in the Request for Proposal. The written determination shall be maintained in the procurement file. This shall include an analysis describing why the personal or professional services contract was awarded, renewed, or amended to be published in accordance with Section 2-203.17 (Publicizing Award).
Written notice of award shall be sent to all offerors and copies of such notices shall be maintained in the procurement file. Notice of award shall be made available to the public in accordance with Executive Order 1362. The public notice of award must be accompanied by an analysis describing why the personal or professional services contract was awarded, renewed, or amended.
27 Miss. Code. R. 100-3-203