N.J. Admin. Code § 5:34-4.3

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 5:34-4.3 - Opening and evaluating proposals and awarding competitive contracts

(a) The request for proposals document shall state the time and place for receiving and opening the proposals, and shall specify the criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals.

(b) At the time and place proposals are due, the names of all the vendors and the price of their respective proposals shall be announced in public. Prior to opening such proposals, the authorized agent shall, if not provided as part of the request for proposals document, describe the specific weighting of any evaluation criteria, which may be used for evaluating the proposals.

(c) Vendors and the general public may be prohibited from physically attending a proposal opening if, during a state of emergency declared by the Governor for public health reasons, the emergency reasonably prevents the local unit from accommodating in-person attendance. In the event the contracting unit cannot accommodate in-person attendance at a proposal opening for public health reasons during a state of emergency declared by the Governor, the contracting unit must broadcast the proposal opening live at the contracting unit's facilities. Another local unit's facilities may be used for the public opening of proposals in the event that the local unit cannot use its facilities for said purpose.

1. The advertisement for proposals must include explicit instructions on how the public can remotely access the opening, along with a statement that in-person attendance is prohibited due to public health-related restrictions on public gatherings due to a declared state of emergency.

2. The contracting unit shall use web-conference call or online live streaming technology with both video and audio capability, with the video showing sufficient scope and coverage, so that the official opening the proposals can be clearly seen to be opening only the proposals timely submitted.

3. At the opening, the title of the proposal must be clearly announced. If the contracting unit has solicited paper-based proposals, the contracting unit shall display each sealed proposal package, back and front, for the camera prior to opening the proposals. In addition to announcing the vendor name and price as required by (b) above, the presence of any documents required to be part of the proposal submission shall be noted for each proposal.

(d) The evaluation of request of proposals shall be subject to the following requirements:

1. The request for proposals document shall state the criteria for evaluating the proposals.

2. Where not otherwise required to do so by other applicable Federal, State and local regulations, the authorized agent may appoint a committee to assist in the evaluation of the proposals. Committees shall be subject to the following requirements:

i. If a committee is to be used, the names of the individuals who serve as committee members shall not be publicly disclosed until the evaluation report is presented to the governing body. Committee members shall be familiar with the need for the goods to be provided or the services to be performed in the request for proposals.

ii. Committee members may conduct their work separately or together.

iii. While a member of the governing body is not required to be a committee member, no more than one less than the majority of the current membership of the governing body may serve on a committee.

iv. The committee may use advisors, as it deems necessary to give opinions on evaluating proposals, except that the advisors shall be subject to the provisions of (e) below. The names of such advisors shall be included in the report submitted to the governing body.

v. Meetings of the committee are advisory in nature and are not subject to the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-1et seq.

3. At the option of the contracting unit, the request for proposals document may, after proposals are received and opened, but prior to completing the evaluation of the proposals, provide the opportunity for vendors to provide clarification regarding their submission. The presentation shall address only those matters specified by the contracting unit. The presentation shall not be used for negotiation of a contract contrary to law.

(e) The process of establishing weighting criteria and evaluating proposals shall result in a finding that a specific proposal is the most advantageous, price and other factors considered, or that all proposals should be rejected.

(f) Before reviewing any proposals, each person evaluating a proposal shall assess their own affiliations and financial interest and those of their families that relate to their duties as someone evaluating a proposal to ensure they do not have a conflict of interest. For these purposes, a person has a conflict of interest with a proposal if that person or spouse, parent, or child would be in violation of the Local Government Ethics Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.1et seq., or the School Ethics Act, N.J.S.A. 18A:12-21et seq. as appropriate. Any person with a conflict of interest related to the competitive contracting proposal shall not participate in the evaluation process.

(g) Prior to evaluating the proposals, each individual participating in the evaluation of a proposal shall execute a statement in accordance with (e) above certifying they do not have a conflict of interest. Such statement shall reflect the provisions at (e) above, which relate to possible conflict of interest situations. This statement shall be filed with the authorized agent, prior to the beginning of the evaluation process. The certification shall be as follows:

I hereby certify that I have reviewed the conflict of interest standards in the Local Government Ethics Law or the School Ethics Act, as appropriate, and that I do not have a conflict of interest with respect to the evaluation of this proposal. I further certify that I am not engaged in any negotiations or arrangements for prospective employment or association with any of those submitting proposals or their parent or subsidiary organization.

N.J. Admin. Code § 5:34-4.3

Emergency amendment, R.2020 d.062, effective 5/21/2020 (to expire July 20, 2020).
See: 52 N.J.R. 1275(a).
Section was "Opening and evaluating proposals and awarding competitive Contracts." Added new (c); and recodified former (c) through (f) as (d) through (g).

Amended by 53 N.J.R. 501(a), effective 4/5/2021