Attachment E - Best Value Determination - Sample RFQ.pdf

BEST VALUE SELECTION PROCESS

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

STATEWIDE CONTRACT FOR SUPPLEMENTAL

STENOGRAPHIC COURT REPORTING

AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

The categories of Stenographic Court Reporting and Transcription Services (“Services”) covered by this multiple award contract are in the Statement of Work of Bid Solicitation 6100057555 for

Supplemental Bid Stenographic Court Reporting and Transcription Services issued by the

Department of General Services on March 8, 2023.

The procedure for acquiring these Services follows the procedures set forth in Section 517(f) of the Commonwealth Procurement Code (62 Pa. C. S. § 517(f)).

When Services are needed, a Commonwealth agency shall select one of the awarded Suppliers based upon best value. A Commonwealth agency may seek further reduction in contract price when making their selection or as part of their best value determination below.

Best Value Selection

I. Best Value in General

A. Definition

Best Value refers to the process of selecting the quote (or quotes) which provides the greatest value to the Using Agency based on evaluating and comparing all pertinent criteria, including cost, so that the contractor(s) whose overall proposal best suits the Using Agency’s needs is selected for each individual proceeding or group of proceedings.

B. Best Value Criteria

Best Value criteria shall include, but are not limited to:

1. Cost. This includes all costs chargeable under the contract for the proceeding or group of proceedings.

2. Availability. This includes the contractor’s availability to cover the proceeding or group of proceedings.

3. Capacity. This includes the current Using Agency and Commonwealth workload of the contractors.

4. Performance. This includes the contractor’s and its proposed resources’ prior experience performing the specific types of Services for the specific type of proceeding; prior experience in appearing on-time for proceedings, producing quality work product, and meeting required turnaround times.

5. Domestic Workforce utilization. This refers to the level of domestic workforce your firm is utilizing for the requested proceedings.

6. Other—Any other factor not included in the above criteria determined especially relevant for a specific proceeding or group of proceedings.

II. Best Value Process

The following process will be followed:

A. Establish Evaluation Officer or Evaluation Team

1. The Using Agency shall establish the officer or team to select the contractor(s) and to conduct the Requests for Quotes (RFQs) as provided below.

2. The duties of the Evaluation Officer or Evaluation Team are to identify the best value criteria and evaluate the quotes received for each RFQ issued as provided below, and to select a contractor(s) for each proceeding or group of proceedings.

3. The Best Value process, including an explanation of the rationale for the order of importance and any additional selection criteria chosen, must be documented in writing and be retained in the contract file for the particular proceeding or group of proceedings.

B. Identify/Rank Best Value Criteria

Using the Best Value Determination Form, the Evaluation Officer or Team will indicate the order of importance of the stated criteria by placing the number one (1) to the left of the criteria that is considered most important, a two (2) at the next most important, and so on. Criteria not assigned a ranking by designation of a number will not be considered in the evaluation process; thus, if a special “other” criterion is specified, the Officer/Team must specifically set forth the criterion on the Best Value Determination Form and determine what information the contractors must supply to evaluate that special criterion.

C. Select the Contractor(s)

1. Services under $10,000 in a fiscal year per supplier, per category, per

Agency Bureau:

No RFQ process is required for Services under $10,000. Using Agency

Bureau’s may select any awarded supplier; however, they will need to document and attach to their purchase order the reasons for choosing the contracted supplier. Using Agencies should confirm contractors’ availability for the scheduled proceeding or group of proceedings in advance, and may contact contractors to seek reductions in price. All qualified contractors for the applicable service location shall be afforded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity to offer reduced pricing.

2. Services over $10,000 in a fiscal year:

Using Agencies are required to solicit all awarded suppliers who can provide the specific service in the county needed and make a best value selection. The best value selection shall, in addition to price, include consideration of the suppliers’ capacity, availability and performance. The Supplier selected by a

Commonwealth agency shall receive a Purchase Order (PO) for performance of the needed services. A Commonwealth agency may issue blanket purchase orders to one or more selected Suppliers and then may use the selected Suppliers on an as needed basis and pay only for the services actually rendered.

a. Prepare Request for Quotes

To assist in the preparation of the RFQ, a sample e-mail RFQ template has been created.

The RFQ E-Mail Template sets forth the criteria for which contractors must supply information for proper evaluation of the quotes and must correspond to the Best Value Determination Form for each proceeding or group of proceedings. Contractors must supply information only for those items that will be criteria for the particular proceeding or group of proceedings. Thus, if a special “other” criterion has been included on the Best Value

Determination Form, the criterion and any specific information needed to evaluate it must be included under “Other” on the RFQ E-Mail issued for that proceeding or group of proceedings.

b. Send Request for Quotes E-Mail to all Qualified Contractors

An RFQ E-Mail (prepared using the RFQ—E-Mail Template) should be sent to all qualified contractors for the type and location (Category and County) of the proceeding or group of proceedings. The Using Agency may hold a pre-quote meeting, if deemed appropriate by the agency. A listing of contractors for each county is attached to the contract.

A contractor receiving an RFQ E-Mail may submit a quote by reply e-mail completing the information requested within the time specified (minimum

5 business days).

c. Evaluate Quotes Received

1. The Evaluation Officer or a member of the Evaluation Team is responsible for recording and maintaining the following information for each proceeding or group of proceedings:

(a) All contractors to whom an RFQ was sent;

(b) All contractors who submitted quotes;

(c) All quotes that were rejected; and

(d) The selected contractor(s).

2. There is a two-step process for evaluating the quotes:

(a) Initial Screen for Responsiveness

The initial screen for responsiveness is to insure that the contractor provided all the necessary information required to evaluate the contractor’s quote under the best value selection process. Incomplete quotes or quotes that arrive after the deadline will be rejected and not considered in the Best Value

Determination

(b) Evaluate Best Value Criteria

The criteria order established on the grid on the Best Value

Determination Form will be ranked in order of importance. The

Evaluation Officer, or the Evaluation Team collectively, will rate how well each contractor has met the qualitative criteria using the words “excellent,” “good,” “average,” “fair” and “poor” on the grid. For cost, the Officer/Team will enter the actual amount quoted by each contractor. For domestic workforce utilization, the Evaluation Officer or Team will enter the respective total percentages for each provided by each contractor.

The Contractor Responsibility Program file for each contractor being evaluated should be checked for relevant information on past performance and outstanding Commonwealth obligations.

d. Select the Contractor

After completing the Best Value Determination Form, the Evaluation

Officer, or the Evaluation Team collectively, will then select the contractor whose quote is determined to provide the best value to the Using Agency for that particular proceeding or group of proceedings. The Official/Team must complete the narrative explanation at the bottom of the Form to explain why a particular contractor was selected.

More than one contractor may be selected for a group of proceedings issued under a single RFQ when the number, location or type of proceedings exceeds the capacity or availability of the contractor determined to be the best value; in that event, the second best value contractor shall be selected for the remaining proceedings to the extent of their capacity and availability, and so on, until all of the proceedings specified in the RFQ are assigned.

The Best Value Determination Form will be attached to the Purchase Order as an Internal Document.

D. Prepare Purchase Order

After the contractor(s) is selected, a Purchase Order (PO) against the selected contractor’s contract will be created.

E. Issue Purchase Order

The Using Agency will issue a Purchase Order to the selected contractor(s) only after receiving approval of the PO from the Comptroller. The Using Agency will notify the successful contractor(s) by e-mail and may copy the unsuccessful contractors on that e-mail or separately notify (by e-mail) the unsuccessful contractors.

SAMPLE RFQ--E-MAIL TEMPLATE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

STATEWIDE CONTRACT FOR

STENOGRAPHIC COURT REPORTING

AND TRANSCRIBING SERVICES

(Date)

Dear_________________:

The Department of ____________________ has a need for the following services and is soliciting information as shown below. The following information is provided for you to submit a quote:

CATEGORIES: ________ Stenographic Court Reporting

________ Transcription Services

________ Summary Minutes

________ Verbatim Minutes

________ Depositions

________ Labor and Industry Industrial Board

________ Labor and Industry UCBR Transcription

DURATION _______________________________________________________________

OF SERVICES:

COUNTIES: ________________________________________________________________

EQUIPMENT: ________________________________________________________________

REQUIRED

COPIES OF: ________________________________________________________________

TRANSCRIPTS

Transcript: ___ Standard ___ Minuscript ___ No Transcript

(Stenographic Court Reporting only)

DELIVERY: ____________________________________________________________

TIMES

RIGHT TO KNOW: ___ Option 1: Commonwealth internal use

(Required for UCBR)

OR:

___ Option 2: Commonwealth right to publish

APPEARANCE FEE: __________ per day (if capped by agency)

OR:

__________ L&I Industrial Board ($200 per day)

The successful contractor(s) will be selected based on Best Value. The Best Value Criteria specified below defines the criteria that will be used to determine the successful contractor(s) to be awarded the assignment. It is imperative that you complete your quotation by providing the information requested on this form. You must return your quote by reply e-mail no later than

_______ am/pm on ________________.

Best Value Criteria:

1. Cost. This includes all costs chargeable under the contract for the proceeding or group of proceedings. NOTE: Contractors may offer reductions in price from their contracted price list.

2. Availability. This includes the contractor’s availability to cover the proceeding or group of proceedings.

3. Capacity. This includes the current Using Agency and Commonwealth workload of the contractors.

4. Performance. This includes the contractor’s and its proposed resources’ prior experience performing the specific types of Services for the specific type of proceeding; prior experience in appearing on-time for proceedings, producing quality work product, and meeting required turnaround times.

5. Domestic Workforce Utilization. This refers to the level of domestic workforce your firm is utilizing for the requested proceedings.

6. Other—Any other factor not included in the above criteria determined especially relevant for a specific proceeding or group of proceedings.

1. Please complete the following for your Cost quotation:

$__.__ Price per Page

$__.__ Hourly Rate (Stenographic Court Reporting- If No Transcript only)

$__.__ Appearance Fee (if not set above)

You may not submit pricing higher than the price list that was submitted with your bid. You are free to offer lower pricing.

2. Please indicate for which specific or range of requested proceedings your firm is available based on the duration of services provided:

___ ALL ___ Majority (list proceedings for which your firm is not available below)

___ Limited (list proceedings for which your firm is available below)

3. Can your firm handle the estimated expected workload as defined above?

__________ Yes __________ No

7. Other (if applicable):

If you have any questions, please contact , at

(Name) or .

(Phone No.) (E-mail address)

BEST VALUE DETERMINATION FORM

RFQ FOR STENOGRAPHIC COURT REPORTING AND TRANSCRIBING SERVICES

AGENCY REQUEST NO. ________________________

CONTRACTOR NAMES

Order SELECTION CRITERIA

( ) Cost*

( ) Availability

( ) Capacity

( ) Performance

( ) Domestic Workforce Utilization**

( ) Other (SPECIFY)

BEST VALUE

Scoring: Excellent, Good, Average, Fair, Poor (enter “E, G, A, F, or P”)

* For Cost – enter actual contracted rate or amount quoted.

**For Domestic Workforce utilization participation, enter the respective total percentage.

Narrative: Reasons for Selection:

Contractor(s) ________________________________________ has(ve) been selected as providing the best value to the [USING AGENCY] for this proceeding or group of proceedings because ____________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________and this/these combination best meets the [USING AGENCY’S] needs for this request.

Evaluation Officer or Team Leader

DATE: