R926-10-8. Request for Proposals (RFP)

(1) If the procurement process includes short-listing, the Department will issue the RFP to all of the short-listed proposers. If the procurement process does not include short-listing, the Department will issue the RFP in accordance with Section R926-10-4. The Department may elect to request draft proposals, or proposals followed by discussions, which may include best and final offers, or may elect to award the contract without discussions or best and final offers.

(2) The Department may issue draft RFPs to proposers for comments in order to better manage the procurement process.

(3) The RFP shall identify information required to be submitted by proposers, which shall in all events include the information required for tollway development agreement proposals in Utah Code Section 72-6-204. The Department may require proposers to provide separate technical and price proposals and other elements in their proposals. The RFP may include a request for alternative proposals or for any other information the Department, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.

(4) The Department may require a proposer to submit additional information following the submission of a proposal, to the extent that the Department deems it necessary or advisable to review such additional information to evaluate the expertise, experience, financing capacity, integrity, ownership, or any other aspect of any proposer.

(5) The Department reserves the right to require or to permit proposers to submit revisions, clarifications to, or supplements of their previously submitted proposals. The Department may require proposers to add or to delete features, concepts, elements, information or explanations that were not included in their initial proposals. A proposer will not be legally bound to accept a request to add to or delete from a proposal any feature, concept, element or information, but its refusal to do so in response to a request by the Department shall constitute sufficient grounds for the Department to reject the proposal.

(6) If only one entity responds to the RFP or if only one proposer meets the minimum qualification requirements in the RFP, the Department may negotiate with that single proposer in accordance with section R926-10-3).

(7) The Department may, at any time and in its sole discretion, reject any or all proposals submitted in response to a request for qualifications or a request for proposals or competing proposals.

(8) Technical solutions/design concepts contained in proposals shall be considered proprietary information unless a stipulated fee is paid.