R33-16-101a. Grounds for a Protest

  (1) This Rule shall apply to all protests filed under Section 63G-6a-1602.

  (2) In accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 63G-6a-1602, a person filing a protest must include a concise statement of the grounds upon which the protest is made.

  (a) A concise statement of the grounds for a protest must include the relevant facts and evidence leading the protestor to contend that a grievance has occurred, including but not limited to:

  (i) An alleged violation of Utah Procurement Code 63G-6a;

  (ii) An alleged violation of Title R33 or other applicable rule;

  (iii) A provision of the request for proposals, invitation for bids, or other solicitation allegedly not being followed;

  (iv) A provision of the solicitation alleged to be:

  (A) ambiguous;

  (B) confusing;

  (C) contradictory;

  (D) unduly restrictive;

  (E) erroneous;

  (F) anticompetitive; or

  (G) unlawful;

  (v) An alleged error made by the evaluation committee or conducting procurement unit;

  (vi) An allegation of bias or discrimination by officials representing the procurement unit or the evaluation committee or an individual committee member; or

  (vii) A scoring criteria allegedly not being correctly applied or calculated.

  (b) "Relevant Facts and Evidence" as referred to in Section 63G-6a-1602, must be specific enough to enable the protest officer to determine, if such facts and evidence are proven to be true, whether a legitimate basis for the protest exists.

  (c) None of the following qualify as a concise statement of the grounds for a protest:

  (i) claims made after the applicable deadlines set forth in law, rule, or the solicitation document, that the specifications, terms and conditions, or other elements of a solicitation are ambiguous, confusing, contradictory, unduly restrictive, erroneous, or anticompetitive;

  (ii) vague or unsubstantiated claims or allegations that do not reference specific facts and evidence including, but not limited to, vague or unsubstantiated claims or allegations such as:

  (A) the protestor should have received a higher score;

  (B) another vendor should have received a lower score;

  (C) a service or product provided by a protestor is better than another vendor's service or product;

  (D) another vendor cannot provide the procurement item for the price bid or perform the services described in the solicitation;

  (E) the procurement unit's eProcruement system or other electronic procurement system:

  (i) was slow, not operating properly, or was difficult to use or understand;

  (ii) could not be accessed or did not allow documents to be downloaded;

  (iii) did not allow a response to be submitted after the deadline for receiving responses expired;

  (F) the protestor did not receive individual notice of a solicitation or was otherwise unaware of a solicitation when a procurement unit has complied with the public notice requirement in Section 63G-6a-112; or

  (G) officials representing the procurement unit or the evaluation committee or an individual committee member acted in a biased or discriminatory manner against the protestor.

  (iii) Filing a protest requesting:

  (A) a detailed explanation of the thinking and scoring of evaluation committee members, beyond the official justification statement described in Section 63G-6a-708

  (B) protected information beyond what is provided under the disclosure provisions of the Utah Procurement Code; or

  (C) other information, documents, or explanations reasonably deemed to be not in compliance with the Utah Code or this Rule by the protest officer.

  (3) Each of the claims and allegations listed in Subsection (2)(c)(ii) could serve as legitimate grounds for filing a protest if properly supported by relevant facts and evidence.

  (4) In accordance with Section 63G-6a-1603, a protest officer may dismiss a protest if the concise statement of the grounds for filing a protest does not comply with Utah Code 63G-6a Part 16 or this Rule.