Attachment J - Bidder Inquiry Instructions.pdf

The Bidding Inquirers will use the published key to login through Quick Add menu from the home page.

Once the required information is entered (Agency, Key, and Email) the Contactor would click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Unregistered users will be asked to register.

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Registered users will be asked the question selected during registration. The registered contractor would click on ‘Login’ after providing the correct answer.

The logged‐in Inquirer should make note of the light‐bulb message “In the bidder inquiry process your identity …” To start asking their questions, the Contractors would click on the Post a new inquiry link.

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The /Submit Question/ page requires the fields of Classification, Discipline, and Question, as well as at least one of Sheet, Detail, or Specification. A supporting PDF file may be included. A completed form is submitted with a click on the ‘Add Inquiry’ button.

A green banner message displays “Your question has been added” and the form is reset to accept another inquiry. Returning to the /Select Option/ page can be accomplished by clicking on the /Options/ link of the breadcrumb menu.

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A report of the contractor’s inquiries is available through the View your inquiries link.

The report generates in a new window which should be closed once the user is done viewing, saving, or printing the report.

Logging out is achieved by clicking the (Logout) link in the far upper‐right of the display.

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The posted inquiries will need evaluated by the assigned subject matter experts.

To evaluate inquiries, login as an assigned Inquiry Evaluator, and click on the name of the project containing the Bidder Inquiry app.

Click on the hyper‐linked number of pending evaluations under the Evaluate/Pending column heading.

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The Inquiry and associated field values are displayed, below which is the Evaluation Form. Once the form is completed, click the ‘Add Evaluation’ button to add the evaluation.

The green banner message confirms that “Your evaluation has been saved”, and the next inquiry is displayed.

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An empty queue of pending evaluations will return the evaluator to the Select App page displaying a yellow banner message, “No Pending inquiries to evaluate were found…”, and the Evaluator can log out by clicking on the (Logout) link to the far upper right of the display.

The Inquiry Replier now needs to login to view the evaluated inquiries, and publish the official Government Response.

To reply to the inquiries, the assigned Inquiry Replier would click on the name of the project containing the Bidder Inquiry app.

Click on the hyper‐linked number of pending replies under the Reply/Pending column heading.

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The Inquiry and associated field values are displayed, below which is displayed the Evaluation.

Below the Evaluation is the Reply Form. Once the form is completed, click the ‘Add Reply’ button to add the reply.

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The green banner message confirms that “Your resolution has been saved” and the next inquiry is displayed.

An empty queue of pending replies will return the replier to the Select App page displaying a yellow banner message, “No Pending inquiries to reply were found…”. If the replier is interested in any reports, the reporting options are display with a click on the RPT icon, resembling a couple sheets of printed paper.

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There exists an option for View all Inquiries under each of the three sections: Contractor Reports, Technical Evaluator Reports, and Contracting Officers Reports; but each of the each of the reports contains select information depending on the access level of the reporter’s role.

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The Contracting Officers Report contains all discussions and their authors’ contact information.

The Technical Evaluators Report does not reveal the contact information of the inquirers or repliers.

The Contractor Report contains only the inquiries and the responses, with their statuses. No contact information is displayed. Please also note that the evaluating discussions are not included, nor is the open reply (Status: Request Working).

Additionally, the only available supporting documentation is that which was attached to an inquiry. The evaluations are not included, so files attached to evaluations are not in the Contractors’ Report; and the Reply Form does not offer the Contracting Officers an option to attach files. If a reply requires supporting documentation, that documentation must otherwise be provided to the interested parties, possibly with an amendment.

Both closed requests in the displayed report need additional action on the part of the Replier because the Contractors cannot “see attached” nor “Refer to Evaluation”.

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To address the Open Reply, click on the corresponding hyper‐linked number.

After providing the discussion, click ‘Add Reply’.

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No Open Inquiries … click on the number of Closed Replies.

The already closed and published reply cannot be edited or deleted, but additional replies may Append or Supercede all previous replies.

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Because the status of the inquiry did not change, it remains in the same queue as the logged in user, still viewing 1 of 3 items. Click ‘Last>>’ to reach the last item in the queue.

And ‘Add Reply’.

Click the / Select App / link of the breadcrumb menu to return to that page.

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Click on the RPT icon to view the reporting options.

Use the Contractor Report’s View all Inquiries link to view the inquiries and replies as they appear to the Contractors.

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Reports generate in their own new window and should be closed once viewed, saved, or printed.

To exit, click the (Logout) link in the far upper right of the display.

To make sure no inquiries are posted after the due date for inquiries, the Project Manager should log in and close the app.

Click on the name of the project containing the bid app.

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Click on the app’s ID to edit.

Click on the Open and Close Review link to close the app.

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Select the ‘No’ radio button for those phases to be closed, then click the ‘Update & continue’ button.

The green banner message states “Review status updated”. Click the / Select App / link of the breadcrumb menu to return to that page.

The (Key Access) link provides users logged in with a password a way to reach the public area while remaining logged in with their password‐protected account.

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Access to the public area still requires a key. Once the key is input, click ‘Login’.

The closed app now displays such as the status, and the ‘Post a new inquiry’ is no longer hyper‐linked, but the Contractors can still generate reports so they can view the replies.

A password protected login can return to the Project Select page by clicking on the Home link or icon.

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