REQUEST FOR OFFER

RFO #: 25-002

FOR

Department of Cannabis Control – Accela Maintenance and Operations

FOR

Accela Implementation

Services

Date: 12/29/2025 You are invited to review and respond to this Request for Offer (RFO). To submit an offer for these services, you must comply with the instructions contained in this document as well as the requirements stated in Exhibit A: STATEMENT OF WORK. By submitting an offer, your firm agrees to the terms and conditions stated in this RFO, the Software Licensing Program (SLP) contract.

Read the attached document carefully. The RFO due date is: 01/09/2026. Responses to this RFO and any required copies must be submitted electronically via email to the Procurement Officer by the Due Date identified below.

Department Contact:

Ha Dang Department of Cannabis Control

2920 Kilgore Rd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 ha.dang@cannabis.ca.gov

+1 916-251-4578 mailto:ha.dang@cannabis.ca.gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RFO

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE RFO

1.2. SUMMARY OF SERVICES REQUESTED

1.3. CONTRACT TERM

1.4. KEY DATES

1.5. QUESTIONS

1.6. IT POINT OF CONTACT

1.7. ADDENDUM

2. RFO RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

2.1. RFO RESPONSE CONTENT

2.1.1. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

2.1.1.1. TABLE OF CONTENTS

2.1.1.2. RESPONSE COVER PAGE

2.1.1.3. OFFER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

2.1.1.4. EXCLUSION FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST

2.1.1.5. CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION CLAUSES

2.1.1.6. BIDDER DECLARATION

2.1.1.7. SLP AGREEMENT

2.1.1.8. PROOF OF SMALL BUSINESS AND/OR DISABLED VETERAN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

CERTIFICATION

2.1.1.9. IRAN CONTRACTING ACT OF 2010 CERTIFICATION

2.1.1.10. DARFUR CONTRACTING ACT

2.1.1.11. PAYEE DATA RECORD (STD 204)

2.1.1.12. GENAI

2.1.1.13. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

2.1.1.14. RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS

2.1.1.15. RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCES

2.1.2. COST REQUIREMENTS

2.1.2.1. COST COMPLETION INSTRUCTIONS

3. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

4. RESPONSE REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

4.1. STAGE 1 – ACCEPTANCE

4.2. STAGE 2 – RESPONSE REVIEW/RATING

4.2.1. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT

4.2.2. TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT

4.2.2.1. CLIENT REFERENCES ASSESSMENT

4.2.2.1.1. RESPONDENT'S CLIENT REFERENCES

4.2.2.2. MANDATORY RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS ASSESSMENT

4.2.2.3. DESIRABLE RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS ASSESSMENT

4.2.3. COST ASSESSMENT

5. SELECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION

5.1. NONRESPONSIVE OFFERS

5.2. ERRORS IN RESPONSE

5.3. CONTRACTOR SELECTION

5.4. DISPOSITION OF RESPONSES

ATTACHMENT 1: RESPONSE COVER PAGE

ATTACHMENT 2: CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION CLAUSES

ATTACHMENT 3: BIDDER DECLARATION GSPD 05-105

ATTACHMENT 4: RESPONDENT SLP AGREEMENT

ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM

ATTACHMENT 6: RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCE FORM

ATTACHMENT 7: IRAN CONTRACTING ACT VERIFICATION IRAN CONTRACTING ACT VERIFICATION

ATTACHMENT 8: DARFUR CONTRACTING ACT

ATTACHMENT 9: PAYEE DATA RECORD (STD 204) FORM

ATTACHMENT 10: COMMERCIALLY USEFUL FUNCTION (CUF) CERTIFICATION FORM

ATTACHMENT 11: CALIFORNIA CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS CERTIFICATION CALIFORNIA CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS

CERTIFICATION

ATTACHMENT 12: RESPONSE CHECKLIST RESPONSE CHECKLIST

Exhibit A: STATEMENT OF WORK

1. Purpose

2. Time and Place of Performance

3. Contract Term

4. Responsibilities of the Contractor

5. Responsibilities of DCC

6. Contractor Skills/Experience:

7. Scope of Services

8. Work Order Authorizations

9. Acceptance Criteria

10. Travel

11. Security

12. Right to Terminate

13. DCC Policies

14. Incident Reporting

15. Confidentiality of Data

16. Problem Escalation

17. Replacing Personnel

18. Rates

19. Timesheet

20. Invoicing and Service Credits

21.1 General Invoicing Requirements

21.2 Accela Managed Application Services

21.3 Professional Services

21.4 Timesheet Requirements

21.5 Prompt Payment Clause

21. Commencement of Work

22. Exclusion for Conflict of Interest

23. Acceptance of Deliverables and Milestones

24. Failure to Perform

25. Confidentiality of Data ATTACHMENT 13: Work Order Authorization Form

Department of Cannabis Control RFO #25-002

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

This Request for Offer (RFO) is being conducted under the policies and procedures developed by the California Department of Cannabis Control (Department) as provided under Public Contract Code (PCC) §12102.2 et seq.

This RFO is being conducted under the policies and procedures developed by the Department of General Services (DGS) as provided under the Software Licensing Program (SLP) for Accela Implementation Services. This RFO also addresses the requirements that respondents must meet to be eligible for consideration, as well as addressing respondent’s responsibilities before and after award.

Eligible firms that exist on SLP, are invited to review and respond to the attached Department of Cannabis Control RFO entitled, RFO #25-002 for Accela Maintenance and Operations. In submitting a response to this RFO, compliance with all RFO instructions is imperative.

Any agreement entered into as a result of this RFO will include by reference all terms and conditions attached to or incorporated by reference into the agreement between the Respondent’s firm and the Department.

The respondent responding to this RFO (Respondent) must hold a current SLP agreement that includes the required labor categories and must be an approved SLP vendor.

1.1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE RFO

The Department seeks to implement software enhancements for its two Accela platforms in alignment with statute, regulatory, and business process improvements. Because the cannabis regulatory environment is relatively new, changes to application and licensing requirements occur at a more frequent rate than other industries. The Department requires expert-level Accela configuration support to keep pace with this level of system change.

1.2. SUMMARY OF SERVICES REQUESTED

The State intends to make a single contract award to the Respondent that the State believes can best meet its needs.

This RFO asks for services to provide configuration and maintenance services for its two Accela platforms in alignment with statute, regulatory, and business process improvements. See Exhibit A:

STATEMENT OF WORK, SECTION 7. SCOPE OF SERVICES for more information on the services to be procured through this RFO.

1.3. CONTRACT TERM

See Exhibit A: STATEMENT OF WORK, SECTION 3. CONTRACT TERM for the contract term for Accela Implementation Services.

1.4. KEY DATES

Below is the time schedule for this informal selection process. All prospective respondents are advised of the following time schedule.

EVENT DATE / TIME

RFO Release Date 12/29/2026

RFO Offer Due Date and Time

01/09/2025, 5:00 PM PST

Proposed Contract Start Date 02/02/2025 or upon contract execution

1.5. QUESTIONS

Respondents requiring clarification of the intent, terms and conditions, content of this RFO or on procedural matters regarding the competitive RFO process may request clarification by submitting questions in accordance with the Key Dates in an email clearly marked “Questions Regarding the RFO #25-002" to the Procurement Official identified in this RFO. All questions must be submitted using the same format as identified in ATTACHMENT 1: Response Cover Page. If a Bidder submits a question after the scheduled date(s), the State will attempt to answer the question but does not guarantee that the answer will be prior to the Submission of RFO Responses Due date. Question and answer sets will be provided to all bidders without identifying the submitters. At the sole discretion of the state, questions may be paraphrased by the state for clarity.

A bidder who desires clarification or further information on the content of the solicitation, but whose questions relate to the proprietary aspect of that bidder’s response and which, if disclosed to other bidders, would expose that bidder’s response, may submit such questions in the same manner as above, but also marked “CONFIDENTIAL,” and not later than the scheduled date specified in the Key Dates to ensure a response. The bidder must explain why any questions are sensitive in nature. If the state concurs that the disclosure of the question or answer would expose the proprietary nature of the response, the question will be answered and both the question and answer will be kept in confidence. If the state does not concur with the proprietary aspect of the question, the question will not be answered in this manner and the bidder will be so notified.

1.6. IT POINT OF CONTACT

The IT Point of Contact is the State’s designated authorized representative regarding this procurement and is the sole point of contact.

Respondents are directed to communicate, submit questions, and submit all other correspondence regarding this procurement to both the IT Points of Contact (Primary & Secondary) at the contact information below.

IT POINT OF CONTACT

Department Name: Department of Cannabis Control

IT Point of Contact: Jared Hara

Email: jared.hara@cannabis.ca.gov

Phone: +1 279-217-3557

Secondary IT Point of Contact: Sean O’Connor

Email: sean.o’connor@cannabis.ca.gov

Phone: +1-916-282-0384

1.7. ADDENDUM

The State may modify the RFO at any time prior to Offer due date by issuing an addendum. The addendum will be numbered consecutively.

The State reserves the right to do any of the following:

1. Modify any date or deadline appearing in this RFO or the RFO Key Action Dates.

2. Issue clarification notices, addenda, alternate RFO instructions, attachments/forms, etc.

mailto:vaibhav.srivastava@state.ca.gov

3. Waive any RFO requirement or instruction for all respondents if the State determines that the requirement or instruction was unnecessary, erroneous, or unreasonable.

2. RFO RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

This RFO and the respondent’s response to this document will be made part of the ordering department’s STD213 Contract and procurement contract file.

Responses must contain all requested information and data and conform to the format described in this section. It is the respondent’s responsibility to provide all necessary information for the state to assess the response, verify requested information and determine the offeror’s ability to perform the tasks and activities defined in Exhibit A: STATEMENT OF WORK, and Exhibit B: COST WORKSHEET, provided as required below.

2.1. RFO RESPONSE CONTENT

This section specifies the order and content of each response. Assemble the materials in each response set as presented in the ATTACHMENT 9: RESPONSE CHECKLIST. It is the Respondent's responsibility to ensure all materials are submitted in its offer, including any materials not listed in

ATTACHMENT 9: RESPONSE CHECKLIST.

2.1.1. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

This section contains the mandatory administrative requirements that must be met in order to be considered responsive to this solicitation.

2.1.1.1. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Include a Table of Contents that identifies each Response requirements as listed in section

SECTION 2.1. RFO RESPONSE CONTENT.

2.1.1.2. RESPONSE COVER PAGE

A Response Cover Page (ATTACHMENT 1: RESPONSE COVER PAGE) must contain a signature of an authorized representative from your company. This signature indicates you agree to all of the terms and conditions contained within this RFO, and the associated SLP contract.

2.1.1.3. OFFER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A Respondent’s final offer in response to this RFO shall constitute an offer, which shall remain irrevocable for not less than one hundred twenty (120) calendar days following the date responses are due specified in the Key Dates section. In the event of a delay in contract award, a Respondent may extend the expiration date of its firm offer an additional thirty (30) calendar days by written notice to the State.

This expiration date may be further extended by mutual agreement between the State and the Respondent, in order to accommodate processing time for required approvals and other procurement-related reviews.

By signing the Response Cover Page and submitting a bid, the Bidder commits to adhering to this Irrevocable Offer Acknowledgement.

2.1.1.4. EXCLUSION FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST

No consultant shall be paid out of State funds for developing recommendations on the acquisition of information technology (IT) products or services or assisting in the preparation of the project approval lifecycle documents (stages 2, 3, or 4) or feasibility study, while in effect, if that consultant is to be a source of such acquisition or could otherwise directly and/or materially benefit from State adoption of such recommendations or the course of action recommended in the project approval lifecycle documents (stages 2, 3, or 4) or feasibility study. Further, no consultant shall be paid out of State funds for developing recommendations on the disposal of State surplus IT products if that consultant would directly and/or materially benefit from State adoption of such recommendations.

A consultant shall not be eligible to serve as the Prime Contractor or subcontractor pursuant to this solicitation if the Contractor/subcontractor is currently working on the solicitation in an Independent Verification and Validation (IV & V) role.

2.1.1.5. CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION CLAUSES

The Respondent must complete and submit as part of the response, the Contractor Certification Clauses in ATTACHMENT 2: CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION CLAUSES.

2.1.1.6. BIDDER DECLARATION

The Respondent must complete and submit ATTACHMENT 3: BIDDER DECLARATION GSPD 05-105 with its response. When completing the declaration, the Respondent must identify all subcontractors proposed for participation in the Contract. The contractor awarded the Contract is contractually obligated to use the subcontractors for the corresponding work identified, unless the Agency/State entity agrees to a substitution and it is incorporated, in writing. If the respondent is not using subcontractors, the respondent must still complete ATTACHMENT 3: BIDDER DECLARATION GSPD 05-105, answering the applicable questions on the form, and submit it with its response.

2.1.1.7. SLP AGREEMENT

All Respondents must have a valid SLP contract issued by DGS prior to responding to any RFO.

Respondents must submit with their response to this RFO. ATTACHMENT 4: RESPONDENT SLP

AGREEMENT

2.1.1.8. PROOF OF SMALL BUSINESS AND/OR DISABLED VETERAN

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION

If the Respondent is currently a certified small or micro business or Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE), include a copy of the certification letter issued by DGS. If the letter cannot be supplied, please include a printout from the DGS’s Office of Small Business & Disable Veteran Business Enterprise Services (OSDS) website to prove the Respondent’s current active status. The State will verify that SB/DVBE certifications are valid at the time the Response is due. In accordance with California Government Code (GC) section 14837(d) and California Military and Veterans Code Section 999, all SB and DVBE Contractors, subcontractors and suppliers that bid on or participate in a State contract shall perform a Commercially Useful Function (CUF).

The Respondent must complete ATTACHMENT 10: COMMERCIALLY USEFUL FUNCTION (CUF) CERTIFICATION FORM if the Respondent or any subcontractor(s) is a Small Business and/or DVBE.

2.1.1.9. IRAN CONTRACTING ACT OF 2010 CERTIFICATION

Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 2.7 of the California Public Contract Code (PCC) is the Iran Contracting Act of 2010. PCC § 2203 requires that no one shall submit a proposal for a Contract, or enter into or renew a contract, with a public entity for goods or services valued at $1,000,000 or more if that person (i.e., bidder or contractor) engages in investment activities of $20,000,000 or more as described in PCC § 2202.5 pursuant to all provisions of the Iran Contracting Act of 2010. The Iran Contracting Act of 2010, at PCC § 2204 requires bidders to certify at the time the proposal is submitted or the contract is renewed, that the person is not identified on a list created pursuant to subdivision (b) of PCC § 2203 as a person engaging in investment activities in Iran described in subdivision (a) of PCC § 2202.5, or as a person described in subdivision (b) of PCC § 2202.5, as applicable.

The Respondent must complete and submit the ATTACHMENT 7: IRAN CONTRACTING ACT VERIFICATION, with their response, and, if the Respondent is selected, again each time their awarded contract is renewed.

2.1.1.10. DARFUR CONTRACTING ACT

Public Contract Code sections 10475 - 10481 applies to any company that currently or within the previous three (3) years has had business activities or other operations outside of the United States.

For such a company to respond to or submit a proposal for a State of California contract, the company must certify that it is either a) not a scrutinized company; or b) a scrutinized company that has been granted permission by the DGS to submit a proposal.

A scrutinized company is a company doing business in Sudan as defined in Public Contract Code section 10476. Scrutinized companies are ineligible to, and cannot, respond to or submit a proposal for a contract with a State agency for goods or services (Public Contract Code section 10477(a)), unless written permission from the Director of DGS to respond to this procurement has been granted

(Public Contract Code section 10477(b)).

A Respondent is required to submit a completed Darfur Contracting Act form (located in ATTACHMENT 8: DARFUR CONTRACTING FORM) if their company currently or within the previous three (3) years has had business activities or other operations outside of the United States. The Darfur Contracting Act form should be submitted with the response. If this document is not included in the response, Respondent shall provide it within five (5) days after request from the State. Failure to submit required information may result in the response being considered non-responsive.

If a Respondent has not conducted business outside of the United States in the last three (3) years, this section does not apply.

2.1.1.11. PAYEE DATA RECORD (STD 204)

To be awarded this agreement, the Respondent is required to complete, sign, return a Payee Data Record (STD 204) (located in ATTACHMENT 9: PAYEE DATA RECORD) with their response.

2.1.1.12. GENAI

The State of California seeks to realize the potential benefits of GenAI, through the development and deployment of GenAI, while balancing the risks of these technologies.

Bidder/Offeror must notify the State in writing if it: (1) intends to provide GenAI as a deliverable to the State; or (2), intends to utilize GenAI, including GenAI from third parties, to complete all or a portion of any deliverable that materially impacts: (i) functionality of a State system, (ii) risk to the State, or

(iii) Contract performance. For avoidance of doubt, the term "materially impacts" shall have the meaning set forth in State Administrative Manual (SAM) 4986.2.

Failure to report GenAI to the State may result in disqualification. The State reserves its right to seek any and all relief it may be entitled to as a result of such non-disclosure.

Upon notification by a Bidder/Offeror of GenAI as required, the state reserves the right to incorporate GenAI Special Provisions into the final contract or reject bids/offers that present an unacceptable level of risk to the state.

Government Code 11549.64 defines “Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)” as an artificial intelligence system that can generate derived synthetic content, including text, images, video, and audio that emulates the structure and characteristics of the system’s training data.

2.1.1.13. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

This subsection contains the mandatory qualifications pertaining to the required services that must be met in order to be considered responsive and responsible to this solicitation. In addition to meeting these requirements, the Respondent must adhere to the SOW as described in Exhibit A:

STATEMENT OF WORK.

2.1.1.14. RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS

The Respondent must complete and submit as part of the response, the Respondent Qualification Form located in ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM.

https://www.dgs.ca.gov/Resources/SAM/TOC/4900/4986-2 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=11549.64.&highlight=true&keyword=Generative%20Artificial%20Intelligence

Unless otherwise specified in the requirement, the Respondent may cite as many projects as needed to meet the requirements. Each cited project must be submitted on a separate Respondent Qualification Form. It is incumbent upon the Respondent to provide enough detail for the State to assess the Respondents ability to meet the requirements and perform the services as described in this RFO and Statement of Work (SOW).

The Respondent must have been the prime contractor for each of the referenced projects. The Respondent must have provided timely and effective services or deliverables on projects within the United States of America that represent work similar in nature to the services requested in this RFO. Experience must have occurred within the last ten (10) years of the Response Due Date.

Requirements labeled as “M” are mandatory and must be responded to. Requirements labeled as (DQ) are Desirable and are not required to be offered by the Respondent in order to be compliant with the qualification requirements. However, if a Respondent offers any of the (DQ) requirements, the Respondent must meet the minimum requirements as stated in each (DQ) requirement. The State will review responses to (DQ) requirements and apply points, if applicable.

2.1.1.15. RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCES

The purpose of the client reference requirement is to provide the state the ability to assess the respondent’s experience in providing similar or relevant services to other organizations through a satisfaction rating provided by the Respondent’s previous project clients. The description of their projects must be detailed and comprehensive enough to permit the state to assess the similarity of those projects to the work anticipated for the Contract resulting from this RFO.

The Respondent must complete and submit as part of its Response, ATTACHMENT 6:

RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCE FORM from each project cited in their corresponding

ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM

The Respondent's reference contact should be someone who performed a management or supervisory role on the referenced project. References may be contacted to verify and validate the information on the ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM.

Reference Contact Person: The Client Reference contact person must be willing and able (i.e., familiar with what transpired, not bound by confidentiality, etc.) to answer questions which validate the information on the submitted form.

2.1.2. COST REQUIREMENTS

Bidder is responsible for performing all tasks and responsibilities and providing all services identified in the resulting agreement at the rates provided on Exhibit B: COST WORKSHEET. The rates for these services included in Exhibit B: COST WORKSHEET are those that the Respondent must provide for the term of the Contract as identified in the SOW. All Respondents must provide individual costs as indicated in the cost worksheet and submit with their response.

2.1.2.1. COST COMPLETION INSTRUCTIONS

The cost worksheet must be completed by the Respondent and submitted with its response to be considered responsive. The cost worksheet lists all cost elements required to provide the requested services. The Respondent must include the completed cost worksheets in Exhibit B: COST

WORKSHEET.

The Respondent must complete all yellow-highlighted cells in the Cost Worksheet with the requested information for their response to be considered responsive.

The Respondent is required to enter all cost data in the format prescribed by the cost worksheet, even if there are no costs for the item indicated on the worksheet. In these instances, the Respondent must indicate the cost as a zero ($0). In addition, if any character other than a numeral is used (e.g., a dash), the state will assume the cost of the item to be zero ($0). All other fields must not be modified. If the cost worksheet is modified or cells are left blank, the state may reject the response. The cost worksheets must be filled out completely or the response may be rejected.

The state has populated some of the cells with formulas, however it is the responsibility of the Respondent to ensure worksheets and calculations are correct and accurate. The state will not assume responsibility for any cost figures that do not calculate properly. Cells highlighted in yellow, indicate the cells in which the Respondents must enter its cost.

3. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

These instructions describe the submission format and the approach for the development and presentation of submission data. Format instructions and all requirements and questions in the RFO must be responded to, and all requested data must be supplied.

It is the Respondent’s responsibility to ensure its submission is submitted in a manner that enables the State Assessment Team to easily locate response descriptions and exhibits for each requirement. Page numbers must be located in the same page position throughout the offer.

Figures, tables, charts, etc. must be assigned index numbers and must be referenced by the numbers in the offer text and in the submission Table of Contents. Figures etc. must be placed as close to the text references as possible.

Responses must be received by the RFO Responses Due date and time as outlined in the SECTION 1.4. KEY DATES. Late receipt of a response may cause the state to deem a respondent nonresponsive.

Responses must be submitted in electronic file format (soft copy) as follows:

Responses must be in Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word 2016 and Excel 2016 (or later) as appropriate, or compatible, except electronic files of drawings must be compatible with Microsoft Visio 2013, and project schedules must be submitted in Microsoft Project 2013. Forms (signature required) may be in pdf format.

As stated in the Selection Requirements and Information, Disposition of Responses, the section below, the Respondent should be aware that marking the response “confidential” or “proprietary” may exclude it from consideration for an award.

The State will not be liable for any costs incurred by any Respondent in responding to this RFO, regardless of whether the State awards the Contract through this process, decides not to move forward with the project, cancels this RFO for any reason, or Contracts for the project through other processes or by issuing another solicitation.

4. RESPONSE REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

A multiple stage process will be used to review and/or rate responses. Offers that do not comply with the mandatory components stipulated in this RFO may be deemed non-compliant and the Respondent disqualified. The state may reject any response found to be non-compliant at any stage of the review.

The state reserves the right to modify or cancel this procurement in its entirety or in part at any time.

The State may request that a Respondent clarify any area of their response that the State determines to be unclear or areas that may render the Response non-compliant and/or non-responsive to the requirements. The State may provide Respondents with the opportunity to resubmit documentation and/or clarification by the date and time specified by the State. However, if the Respondent does not resubmit a compliant response to the areas identified by the date and time specified, the Respondent’s response will be rendered non-compliant and/or non-responsive, and ineligible to proceed to the next stage of the RFO.

The Respondent is required to thoroughly review the RFO to ensure that its response is fully compliant with the RFO requirements and thereby avoid the possibility of being ruled non-compliant.

If the state finds that a Respondent’s Final Offer has a material deviation from a specified requirement, the Respondent will be deemed non-compliant and will be the basis for rejecting the Respondent’s offer.

Award of a contract, if made, will be to the Respondent that meets and/or exceeds the State’s requirements and provides the best value to the State. All aspects of the Respondent’s offer are confidential until after Contract Award.

4.1. STAGE 1 – ACCEPTANCE

Shortly after the submission deadline, the state staff will convene to review each response for initial responsiveness to the RFO requirements (e.g., timeliness, completeness).

4.2. STAGE 2 – RESPONSE REVIEW/RATING

Responses that appear to meet the initial RFO requirements and contain the required documentation will be submitted to a review team. Reviewer(s) will first score all aspects of the

Administrative Assessment. If all sections of the Administrative Assessment pass, the Reviewer(s) will then proceed to the Technical Assessment to review and compare all responses to one another and assign a numeric score or ranking to each response based on its adequacy, thoroughness, and the degree to which the response best meets the needs and represents the best value to the state.

Reviewers will use the following criteria when conducting the Administrative Assessment.

RFO SECTION TITLE SCORING

Administrative Assessment

Response Cover Page Pass/Fail

Bidder Declaration Pass/Fail

Respondent’s SLP Agreement Pass/Fail

Respondent’s Proof of SB and/or DVBE, if applicable Pass/Fail

CUF Pass/Fail

Overall Administrative Assessment Pass/Fail

Reviewers will review and assign scores to the following criteria as part of the Technical Assessment.

RFO SECTION TITLE SCORING

Technical Assessment

Respondent References /54

Respondent Qualification /100

Staff References /50

Staff Qualification /275

Cost Assessment

Project Cost /800

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS /1429

4.2.1. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT

SECTION 2.1.1. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS of this RFO will be scored as Pass or Fail.

Responsiveness to the requirements listed in this RFO will be either given a “Pass” (e.g., complied with requirement, completed and returned document) or “Fail” (e.g., did not comply with requirement, did not complete or return document). If a supplier receives a Fail for any of these requirements, the response may be rejected.

4.2.2. TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT

The section SECTION 2.1.1.13 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS of this RFO will be scored through points. There is a maximum score of 1429 points for the technical assessment. Please see ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM and ATTACHMENT 6: RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCE FORM for details on how points may be achieved.

4.2.2.1. CLIENT REFERENCES ASSESSMENT

References may be contacted to verify information submitted. Failure to provide verifiable references may cause the RFO Response to be rejected.

References will be scored based upon the ratings provided by the Reference(s). Any conflicting information may result in the offer being deemed non-responsive.

Prior to the Respondent proposing a current DCC employee as a reference, the Respondent shall contact the IT Procurement Contact to ensure the current DCC employee is not a member of the Assessment Team.

References must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a representative (end user) from the company for which the project was developed and/or services provided;

• Must be external to the Respondent’s organization and corporate structure;

• Is not a current employee of the Respondent’s own company;

• Must be able to provide an objective assessment of the proposed Respondent performance.

All references must be available to be contacted by the State to obtain rated responses from the Respondent reference forms. The State reserves the right to disqualify references and/or experience that, in its determination, does not reflect the experience/ qualifications required.

If references are contacted, the State will make two (2) attempts via phone and/or email to validate the Respondent’s experience in providing similar or relevant services using the information provided in qualification and reference forms.

4.2.2.1.1. RESPONDENT'S CLIENT REFERENCES

The Respondent must provide a completed ATTACHMENT 6: RESPONDENT CLIENT REFERENCE FORM from each of the projects cited in the Qualification form(s).

Each Respondent Client Reference Form may achieve a maximum of 54 rating points. The maximum points possible for Client References is 54. References will be scored based upon the ratings provided by the References.

Failure to reach a contact person to validate a reference shall result in that reference having a 0 score for that reference. Any reference that has a rating of “Unsatisfactory” for ANY question, or if the question is not answered, the Respondent will receive 0 points for that question.

The Reference scores from the references will be calculated by totaling the ratings from each of the forms submitted. The total rating score will be averaged (by dividing the rating scores by the total number of reference forms submitted). This figure will be rounded to the nearest whole number to determine the Respondent’s final evaluated total score for Respondent references.

4.2.2.2. MANDATORY RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS

ASSESSMENT

The Respondent must pass all the mandatory (M) qualifications to be deemed responsive to the RFO. The Assessment Team will assess the Mandatory Respondent Qualifications to determine if the Respondent meets the mandatory qualifications on a pass/fail basis, and if applicable, score the desirable qualifications.

4.2.2.3. DESIRABLE RESPONDENT QUALIFICATIONS

ASSESSMENT

During the Technical Assessment, points may be awarded based on the Respondent’s ability to meet the Desirable Qualification requirements. The maximum points allocated for the Desirable

(D) Respondent Qualifications is 100 points.

If the State is unable to validate that the information supplied which qualifies for any desirable scored experience points, no points will be awarded for such experience. See SECTION 4.2.

https://sb.cityinnovate.com/account/solicitations/documents/28418#_bookmark69

STAGE 2 – RESPONSE REVIEW/RATING for details on the total possible points available for the Desirable Qualification requirements.

4.2.3. COST ASSESSMENT

SECTION 2.1.2. COST REQUIREMENTS of this RFO will be scored and can achieve up to 800 points. The cost worksheet information will be checked for mathematical accuracy. The State may, at its sole option, correct errors or omissions, or ask clarifying questions related to cost.

The Respondent with the lowest proposed Grand Total Cost based on the assessment performed below will receive a maximum of 800 points.

Example of cost calculation:

Cost Score Awarded to Respondent = Lowest Respondent's Grand Total Cost / Respondent’s Grand Total Cost x Maximum Cost Points Available (800).

The following table is an example only of how points are awarded for cost.

RESPONDENT' S

NAME

A B C

RESPONDENT

GRAND TOTAL

COST

PERCENTAGE (LOWEST

RESPONDENT'S GRAND

TOTAL COST DIVIDED BY

THE RESPONDENT'S

GRAND TOTAL COST)

RESPONDENT

SCORE (B X 800 = C)

Response A $200,000 $150,000/$200,000 = .75 (75%)

.75 X 800 = 600

Response B $150,000 $150,000/$150,000 = 1.0 (100%)

1.0 X 800 = 800

5. SELECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION

5.1. NONRESPONSIVE OFFERS

In addition to any condition previously indicated in this RFO or another document, the following occurrences may cause the state to deem a response nonresponsive.

1. Failure of a Respondent to comply with the RFO response content or submission instructions.

2. Receipt of an RFO Response that is conditional, materially incomplete or defective.

3. The state’s discovery, at any stage of the selection or upon contract award, that the winning

Respondent is unwilling or unable to comply with the contract terms, conditions, attachments, or exhibits cited in this RFO, or the resulting contract.

5.2. ERRORS IN RESPONSE

An error in the response may cause the rejection of that response; however, the state may at its sole option retain the response and make certain corrections. In determining if a correction will be made, the state will consider the conformance of the response to the format and content required by the RFO, and any unusual complexity of the format and content required by the RFO.

1. If the Respondent's intent is clearly established based on review of the complete response submittal, the state may at its sole option correct an error based on that established intent.

2. The state may, at its sole option, correct obvious clerical errors.

3. The state may, at its sole option, correct discrepancy and arithmetic errors on the basis that, if intent is not clearly established by the complete response submittal, the master copy shall have priority over additional copies, the response narrative shall have priority over the Contract, and the Contract shall have priority over the cost sheets.

Within each of these, the lowest level of detail will prevail. If necessary, the extensions and summary costs will be recomputed accordingly, even if the lowest level of detail is obviously misstated. The total price of unit-price items will be the product of the unit price and the quantity of the item. If the unit price is ambiguous, unintelligible, uncertain for any cause, or omitted, it shall be the amount obtained by dividing the total price by the quantity of the item.

4. The state may, at its sole option, correct errors of omission. In the following four situations, the state will take the indicated actions if the Respondent's intent is not clearly established by the complete response submittal:

4.1. If an item is described in the narrative but omitted from the Contract and cost data provided in the response for assessment purposes, it will be interpreted to mean that the item will be provided by the Respondent at no cost.

4.2. If a minor item is not mentioned at all in the response and is essential to satisfactory performance, the response will be interpreted to mean that the item will be provided at no cost.

4.3. If a major item is not mentioned at all in the response, the offer will be interpreted to mean that the Respondent does not intend to supply that item.

4.4. If a major item is omitted, and the omission is not discovered until after Contract award, the Respondent shall be required to supply that item at no cost. The state shall have sole-discretion in determining whether an item is minor or major.

5. If a Respondent does not follow the instructions for computing costs not related to the Contract, if any, (e.g., State personnel costs), the state may reject the response, or at its sole option, re-compute such costs based on instructions contained in the RFO.

6. If the re-computations or interpretations, as applied in accordance with this section, result in significant changes in the amount of money to be paid to the Respondent (if awarded the Contract) or in a requirement of the Respondent to supply a major item at no cost, the Respondent will be given the opportunity to promptly establish the grounds legally justifying relief from its response.

7. It is essential that the Respondent carefully review the cost elements in response, since they will not have the option to correct errors after the time for submittal of the Final Offers.

8. The state may request clarification of items in the Respondent’s offer if the meaning is not clear to the State. Responses to requests for clarification must be confirmed in writing by the Respondent as instructed by the State’s Procurement Official at the time of the request.

9. At the State’s sole discretion, it may declare all Final Responses to be Draft Responses in the event that the state determines that Final Responses from all respondents contain material deviations. Respondents may not protest the State’s determination that all responses have material deviations. If all responses are declared noncompliant, the state may issue an addendum to the solicitation. Should this occur, the state may hold confidential discussions with participating respondents who remain interested in the solicitation. Each participating Respondent will be notified of the new Final Response due date. This submission must conform to the requirements of the original solicitation as amended by any subsequent addenda. The new Final Responses will be assessed as required in this section.

5.3. CONTRACTOR SELECTION

1. The state will email or verbally notify the chosen respondent of its selection.

2. Following the contract award, the Respondents not selected for award may submit a request

(Public Records Act Government Code Section 7920-000-7931-000) to the RFO Procurement Officer to receive a copy of any or all Respondent offers and scoring/ assessment tools/forms. Offer copies will be redacted to remove information deemed by the State to be personal, sensitive, or confidential.

5.4. DISPOSITION OF RESPONSES

All materials submitted in response to this RFO will become the property of the State and, as such, are subject to the California Public Records Act (PRA) (Government Code Section 6250, et seq.).

Upon award of the contract all documents submitted in response to this RFO and all documents used in the selection process (e.g., review checklists, scoring sheets, letters of intent, etc.) will be regarded as public records under the California Public Records Act (GC Section 6250 et seq.) and subject to review by the public. However, these documents shall be held in the strictest confidence until the award is made.

The Respondent should be aware that marking a document “confidential” or “proprietary” in a Final Response will not keep that document from being released as part of the public record.

ATTACHMENT 1: RESPONSE COVER PAGE

COVER PAGE

Name of Responding Firm (Legal name as it will appear on the contract)

Mailing Address (Street address, P.O. Box, City, State, Zip Code)

Person authorized to act as the contact for this firm in matters regarding this response:

Printed Name (First, Last): Title:

Telephone number: Fax number:

Email address:

Person authorized to obligate this firm in matters regarding this response and/or the resulting contract:

Printed Name (First, Last): Title:

Telephone number: Fax number:

Email address:

(CORPORATIONS ONLY) Name/Title of person authorized by the Board of Directors to sign this response on behalf of the Board:

Printed Name (First, Last): Title:

Signature of Respondent or Authorized Representative

Date:

ATTACHMENT 2: CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION CLAUSES

The Respondent must complete and sign the Contractor Certification Clauses form and submit it with its response to this RFO.

The Contractor Certification Clauses and its instructions are available as a fill and print PDF at:

https://www.dgs.ca.gov/-/media/Divisions/OLS/Resources/CCC-042017.pdf https://www.dgs.ca.gov/-/media/Divisions/OLS/Resources/CCC-042017.pdf

ATTACHMENT 3: BIDDER DECLARATION GSPD 05-105

The Respondent must complete and sign the Bidder Declaration GSPD-05-105 form and submit it with its response to this RFO.

The Bidder Declaration GSPD-05-105 and its instructions are available as a fill and print PDF at: https://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/fmc/gs/pd/gspd05-105.pdf https://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/fmc/gs/pd/gspd05-105.pdf

ATTACHMENT 4: RESPONDENT SLP AGREEMENT

The Respondent must submit their SLP Agreement for Accela Software as ATTACHMENT 4:

RESPONDENT SLP AGREEMENT of their response to the RFO.

ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM

RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM

The Respondent must complete and submit as part of the offer, Respondent Qualifications to confirm that the Respondent’s experience meets all the minimum requirements (and if applicable, desirable experience). It is incumbent upon the Respondent to provide enough detail for the State to evaluate the Respondent’s ability to meet the requirements and perform the services as described in this RFO.

A separate Qualification Form must be submitted for every project used to meet the minimum required experience and if applicable, any desirable experience. Any given project may meet multiple requirements.

The State may contact references listed on the Qualification Form to verify the information provided by the Respondent.

The State may consider an offer as non-responsive if references fail to substantiate the Respondent's experience and qualifications, r contains conflicting information or the State is unable to reach any point of contact with reasonable effort (provided that three (3) attempts to contact such person during normal working hours shall be deemed to be reasonable effort) within three (3) business days. It is the Respondent’s responsibility to inform each point of contact to be available during normal working hours (8

AM – 5 PM PST).

The Respondent must have been the Prime Contractor for each of the referenced projects. The Respondent must specify the required experience in the pertinent row for each requirement, which will be used by the State to evaluate the Respondent’s qualifications. The Respondent may use additional forms as needed to complete its response. The Bidder must complete this Attachment in accordance with the instructions provided below.

1. All experience must have occurred within ten (10) years prior to solicitation due date, unless stated otherwise.

2. Project experience must be external to a Respondent’s organization and corporate structure.

3. The reference contact name(s) must be a representative of the company for which the project was completed.

4. References from another Contractor, contracting company or employer are not acceptable.

5. Prior to the Respondent using a current DCC employee as a reference, the Respondent shall contact the State Procurement Officer to ensure the current DCC employee is not a member of the Assessment Team.

6. All dates must be in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Box 1, Respondent: Provide the company name of the Respondent submitting the offer.

Box 2, Project Name: Provide the name of the qualifying project used to meet the required experience.

Box 3, Company Name of the Respondent’s Reference: Identify the company or government agency for whom the project was completed. Respondent must fill out a Qualification Form for each project submitted.

Box 4, Contact name and contact information of the Respondent's reference: Identify the contact information from whom the project was completed. Enter the name, title, e-mail address, and phone number for the reference contact for the project. By submitting an offer, the Respondent declares that the reference person identified is/was employed by the company identified in box 3.

Boxes 5 and 6, Start Date and End Date: Provide the start and end dates the Respondent worked on the cited project using MM/DD/YYYY format. If a day is not identified, the State will NOT count that month. For example, if 5/2012 – 5/2014 are the dates provided, it is assumed the project began on 5/1/2012 and ended on 5/30/2014. The dates must be for full-time work as defined below for Full Time Equivalent (FTE).

Box 7, Check “Yes” if the Responder that performed the work for the referenced project was the Prime Contractor; or check “No” if the Respondent was not the Prime Contractor. The Respondent must have been the Prime Contractor for each of the referenced projects based upon the requirements within the details of the qualifications.

Box 8, Project Description: Provide a brief description of the nature of the Respondent's cited project. The description should include those elements that are similar to the State’s project as described in this RFO.

Box 9, Contract Amount: Provide the dollar amount in currency format of the project contract value.

Box 10, Instructions for documenting the years of experience gained from the project cited.

Completed Implementation Within the last 10 years: The referenced Project Start Date must be within 10 years of 2025; therefore the project must have started during or after January 1, 2015.

DEFINITIONS:

Respondent References: A reference that was in a management or supervisory role for an external organization (external to the Respondent's organization and corporate structure) for whom the project was completed.

Client: Defined the same as customer.

Completed Implementation: A solution that has received system acceptance from the customer and is in a production environment.

Customer: An external organization who receives and pays for goods or services.

Local Government: A city, town, county or district.

National government: Any political organization that is put in place to maintain control of a nation.

State government: Any State Agency/Entity.

Note: It is the Respondent's responsibility to ensure that each minimum experience requirement is met in full and is addressed in the Respondent's qualification form(s) in order for the State to determine compliance to the requirements. If the State cannot determine that the years of experience for each of the minimum experience requirements have been met, Respondents offer may be deemed non-responsive.

ATTACHMENT 5: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION FORM

1 Respondent:

2 Project Name:

3 Company Name of Respondent's Reference (Client):

Contact Name and Title/Role, Email Address, and Telephone Number of Respondent's client reference:

5 Contract Start Date (MM/DD/YYYY):

Contract End Date (MM/DD/YYYY): If project is ongoing, please state "ongoing" and provide a estimated end date.

Was the Respondent that performed the work the Prime Contractor on the project?

Yes No

8 Project Description:

9 Contract Amount: $

For each mandatory experience listed below, check “Yes” if the total years of experience was met on this referenced project; check “No” if none of the experience was met on this referenced project; or check “Partial” if fewer than the total years of the experience was met on this referenced project. If partial or total experience was met (checked), enter the years and/or months of “Experience gained on the cited project” and describe the bidder's role and responsibilities performed on the project in the “Description of services provided” field. The Respondent must ensure that each description clearly addresses how the project meets each of the minimum qualifying components of the Mandatory Experience Requirement, as defined in each of the requirements.

NUMBER CLASSIFIC

ATION

QUALIFICATION

TOTAL

EXPERIENCE

REQUIRED

EXPERIENCE

GAINED ON THIS

CITED PROJECT

MQ #1

Mandatory (M)

Experience implementing Accela software products for the purpose of…