Agency Instructions to Vendors Submitting Bids 102715.pdf

Revised 10/27/2015

INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS SUBMITTING BIDS

(Agency Delegated Procurements Only)

1. REVIEW DOCUMENTS THOROUGHLY: The attached documents contain a solicitation for bids. Please read these instructions and all documents attached in their entirety. These instructions provide critical information about requirements that if overlooked could lead to disqualification of a Vendor’s bid. All bids must be submitted in accordance with the provisions contained in these instructions and the Solicitation. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of Vendor’s bid.

2. MANDATORY TERMS: The Solicitation may contain mandatory provisions identified by the use of the words “must,” “will,” and “shall.” Failure to comply with a mandatory term in the Solicitation will result in bid disqualification.

3. BID SUBMISSION: All bids must be submitted electronically through wvOASIS or signed and delivered by the Vendor to the Agency on or before the date and time of the bid opening.

Any bid received by the Agency staff is considered to be in the possession of the Agency and will not be returned for any reason.

4. ADDENDUM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Changes or revisions to this Solicitation will be made by an official addendum issued by the Agency. Vendor should acknowledge receipt of all addenda issued with this Solicitation by completing an Addendum Acknowledgment Form, a copy of which is included herewith. Failure to acknowledge addenda may result in bid disqualification. The addendum acknowledgement should be submitted with the bid to expedite document processing.

5. BID FORMATTING: Vendor should type or electronically enter the information onto its bid to prevent errors in the evaluation. Failure to type or electronically enter the information may result in bid disqualification.

6. ALTERNATES: Any model, brand, or specification listed in this Solicitation establishes the acceptable level of quality only and is not intended to reflect a preference for, or in any way favor, a particular brand or vendor. Vendors may bid alternates to a listed model or brand provided that the alternate is at least equal to the model or brand and complies with the required specifications. The equality of any alternate being bid shall be determined by the State at its sole discretion. Any Vendor bidding an alternate model or brand should clearly identify the alternate items in its bid and should include manufacturer’s specifications, industry literature, and/or any other relevant documentation demonstrating the equality of the alternate items. Failure to provide information for alternate items may be grounds for rejection of a Vendor’s bid.

7. EXCEPTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: The Solicitation contains the specifications that shall form the basis of a contractual agreement. Vendor shall clearly mark any exceptions, clarifications, or other proposed modifications in its bid. Exceptions to, clarifications of, or modifications of a requirement or term and condition of the Solicitation may result in bid disqualification.

8. REGISTRATION: Prior to Contract award, the apparent successful Vendor must be properly registered with the West Virginia Purchasing Division and must have paid the $125 fee, if applicable.

9. UNIT PRICE: Unit prices shall prevail in cases of a discrepancy in the Vendor’s bid.

10. PREFERENCE: Vendor Preference may only be granted upon written request and only in accordance with the West Virginia Code § 5A-3-37 and the West Virginia Code of State Rules.

A Vendor Preference Certificate form has been attached hereto to allow Vendor to apply for the preference. Vendor’s failure to submit the Vendor Preference Certificate form with its bid will result in denial of Vendor Preference. Vendor Preference does not apply to construction projects.

11. SMALL, WOMEN-OWNED, OR MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES: For any solicitations publicly advertised for bid, in accordance with West Virginia Code §5A-3-37(a)(7) and W. Va. CSR § 148-22-9, any non-resident vendor certified as a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business under W. Va. CSR § 148-22-9 shall be provided the same preference made available to any resident vendor. Any non-resident small, women-owned, or minority-owned business must identify itself as such in writing, must submit that writing to the Purchasing Division with its bid, and must be properly certified under W. Va. CSR § 148-22-9 prior to contract award to receive the preferences made available to resident vendors. Preference for a non-resident small, women-owned, or minority owned business shall be applied in accordance with W. Va. CSR § 148-22-9.

12. ELECTRONIC FILE ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Vendor must ensure that its submission in wvOASIS can be accessed by the Agency staff immediately upon bid opening.

The Agency will consider any file that cannot be immediately opened and/or viewed at the time of the bid opening (such as, encrypted files, password protected files, or incompatible files) to be blank or incomplete as context requires, and therefore unacceptable. A vendor will not be permitted to unencrypt files, remove password protections, or resubmit documents after bid opening if those documents are required with the bid.

13. NON-RESPONSIBLE: The Purchasing Division Director reserves the right to reject the bid of any vendor as Non-Responsible in accordance with W. Va. Code of State Rules § 148-1- 5.3, when the Director determines that the vendor submitting the bid does not have the capability to fully perform, or lacks the integrity and reliability to assure good-faith performance.”

14. ACCEPTANCE/REJECTION: The State may accept or reject any bid in whole, or in part in accordance with W. Va. Code of State Rules § 148-1-4.5. and § 148-1-6.4.b.”

15. YOUR SUBMISSION IS A PUBLIC DOCUMENT: Vendor’s entire response to the Solicitation and the resulting Contract are public documents. As public documents, they will be disclosed to the public following the bid/proposal opening or award of the contract, as required by the competitive bidding laws of West Virginia Code §§ 5A-3-1 et seq., 5-22-1 et seq., 5G-1-1 et seq. and the Freedom of Information Act in West Virginia Code §§ 29B-1-1 et seq.

DO NOT SUBMIT MATERIAL YOU CONSIDER TO BE CONFIDENTIAL, A TRADE

SECRET, OR OTHERWISE NOT SUBJECT TO PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.

Submission of any bid, proposal, or other document to the Purchasing Division constitutes your explicit consent to the subsequent public disclosure of the bid, proposal, or document. The Purchasing Division will disclose any document labeled “confidential,” “proprietary,” “trade secret,” “private,” or labeled with any other claim against public disclosure of the documents, to include any “trade secrets” as defined by West Virginia Code § 47-22-1 et seq. All submissions are subject to public disclosure without notice.