RFP 65DPS-S39 - Final.docx

State of Nevada

Brian Sandoval

Department of Administration

Governor

Purchasing Division

Patrick Cates

Director

515 E. Musser Street, Suite 300 Carson City, NV 89701

Jeffrey Haag

Administrator

State of Nevada

Purchasing Division

Request for Proposal: 65DPS-S39

For

CHANNELING SERVICES INCLUDING FINGERPRINTING SERVICES AND CENTRALIZED ELECTRONIC TRANMISSION

Release Date: March 14, 2018

Deadline for Submission and Opening Date and Time: April 11, 2018 @ 2:00 PM

Refer to Section 7, RFP Timeline for the complete RFP schedule

For additional information, please contact:

Heather Moon, Purchasing Officer

State of Nevada, Purchasing Division

515 E. Musser Street, Suite 300

Carson City, NV 89701

Phone: 775-684-0179

Email address: hmoon@admin.nv.gov

Refer to Section 8 for instructions on submitting proposals

VENDOR INFORMATION SHEET FOR RFP 65DPS-S39

Vendor Shall:

A) Provide all requested information in the space provided next to each numbered question. The information provided in Sections V1 through V6 shall be used for development of the contract;

B) Type or print responses; and

C) Include this Vendor Information Sheet in Section III of the Technical Proposal.

including address if different than above

Name:

Title:

Address:

Email Address:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prospective vendors are advised to review Nevada’s ethical standards requirements, including but not limited to NRS 281A, which can be found on the Purchasing Division’s website at: http://purchasing.nv.gov.

All applicable Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) documentation can be found at: www.leg.state.nv.us/law1.cfm.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Nevada Department of Public Safety (DPS) – Records, Communications and Compliance Division (RCCD) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide LiveScan Channeling Services for electronic applicant fingerprint transmissions from all local government entities that are not criminal justice agencies and all private entities throughout Nevada for forwarding to the RCCD for further processing. In addition, the awarded vendor will provide fingerprint rolling services to meet the needs of requesting governmental and private agencies throughout Nevada that cannot submit applicant fingerprints electronically via LiveScan to the RCCD. The resulting contract will be for a contract term of four (4) years, anticipated to begin July 10, 2018 subject to Board of Examiners approval.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

LiveScan channeling services are needed Monday-Friday, excluding state holidays, for electronic applicant fingerprint transmissions. On a routine basis, the contracted vendor will need to reconcile the sent transmissions to the transmissions received by RCCD. The contracted vendor should have the capability to meter transmissions according to prescribed levels by RCCD. Special billing services may be required for state agencies that have authority to collect fees directly from customers.

SCOPE OF WORK

SUMMARY SCOPE OF WORK

The successful contracted vendor, hereinafter vendor, shall provide LiveScan Fingerprinting of authorized Civil Applicant transactions at RCCD - approved Partner Fingerprint Sites for a fee not to exceed the agreed upon rolling fee; and Electronic Channeling Transmission of authorized Civil Applicant LiveScan fingerprint transactions received from all RCCD - approved Connected LiveScan Agencies, including partner sites, to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History (hereafter NCHR) in Carson City, Nevada.

Vendor agrees to provide LiveScan fingerprinting services in Elko if a LiveScan site does not already exist in that area. It is the expectation of RCCD that the vendor shall grandfather in any existing fingerprint sites already connected at the time of contract implementation.

CIVIL APPLICANT ELECTRONIC FINGERPRINTING FROM RCCD-APPROVED CONTRACTOR PARTNER FINGERPRINT SITES

The Vendor Partner Fingerprint Site may charge its customers a rolling fee per set of fingerprints rolled and assess the current state and/or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprint processing fees as outlined on RCCD’s website (www.rccd.nv.gov). Partnering sites are responsible to ensure they are charging the most current fingerprint processing fee. Note: The rolling fee is considered revenue for the vendor’s partner fingerprint site; whereas, the corresponding state and/or FBI fingerprint processing fee for applicants and volunteers is remitted through the vendor to RCCD upon monthly billing by RCCD. Vendor acknowledges and understands these fees are subject to change at any time during the term of the contract.

ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION (HEREAFTER “CHANNELING SERVICE”) OF ALL CIVIL APPLICANT ELECTRONIC FINGERPRINT FILES FROM RCCD-APPROVED CONNECTED LIVESCAN AGENCIES

The Channeling Service segment of this contract is solely for the connection of agency LiveScan systems located and operating in Nevada that elect to connect to RCCD and are approved for connection by both RCCD and the vendor. RCCD has established that all criminal justice and state government agencies will connect directly to the RCCD store and forward server; whereas, local government agencies and private fingerprinting sites will connect indirectly to RCCD via the vendor’s store and forward server.

Vendor may charge a one-time connection fee per agency LiveScan device (at the time of connection). This one-time connection fee includes the configuration information for the Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel created between the LiveScan system and the vendor’s store and forward server, as well as the coordination of the connection process that includes the vendor’s agreement and all testing transactions required for successful completion of all authorized agency FBI Type of Transaction (TOT) and RCCD Account Number, Reason Fingerprinted and FBI-approved Originating Requestor Identification (ORI). This one-time connection fee does not include the cost of services for the agency’s LiveScan vendor and any RCCD technology personnel who are required to be present at the time of connection. (Note: The one-time connection fee as noted in this paragraph is considered revenue for vendor.) Once approved by RCCD to connect, the RCCD LiveScan Connection Coordinator will coordinate and schedule LiveScan connection and transaction testing before allowing live transactions to be electronically transmitted directly to the RCCD store and forward server or indirectly to the vendor’s store and forward server.

Vendor may also charge a per transaction fee for each transaction received by vendor’s store and forward server and subsequently forwarded to the RCCD store and forward server. Upon notification from the RCCD store and forward system of transmission results, vendor will verify that transactions sent have either received a message of acknowledgment (MAC) or an error message (ERRT). For all errors, vendor must acknowledge the content of the error message and correct the transaction (if possible) for resubmission electronically within one (1) business day of original receipt. Vendor shall also reconcile all transactions forwarded to RCCD that vendor did not receive a MAC or ERRT message for and maintain a log of each transaction along with the results as prescribed by RCCD. In addition, vendor shall resubmit identified transactions electronically within 1 business day. Vendor shall collect a “per transaction” fee from the fingerprint sites for each record transmitted through the channeling gateway.

Connected LiveScan agencies that are private fingerprinting sites are to collect at the time an applicant’s fingerprints are rolled, their advertised fingerprint rolling fee and the current state and/or FBI fingerprint processing fee(s) as outlined on RCCD’s website (www.rccd.nv.gov). The only exception to the collection of the applicable state and FBI fingerprint processing fees would be in cases where the private fingerprinting site has extended credit at their own risk or where RCCD has made special billing arrangements with a vendor on behalf of the RCCD-approved state agency as explained below.

Vendor shall be responsible for billing the respective connected LiveScan agency the current state and/or FBI fingerprinting processing fees (as outlined on RCCD’s website (www.rccd.nv.gov). Vendor may be required to provide special billing services to RCCD-approved state agencies upon written notification from RCCD. One of these RCCD-approved state agencies is the Gaming Control Board for their applicants only, as opposed to their licensees. Vendor shall also remit all state and FBI processing fees billed monthly by RCCD directly to the State of Nevada Treasurer’s Office on a monthly basis via wire transfer no later than the 10th of each month as outlined herein.

ADDITIONAL VENDOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Volunteer Account: For all transactions that come in using a Volunteer account (trust fund), the vendor is required to verify “VOLUNTEER” is appended to the end of the reason for fingerprinting. If it is not then the vendor will append “VOLUNTEER” to the end of the reason for fingerprinting; it would read with the reason for fingerprinting-VOLUNTEER. There will be no space between the hyphen and the end of the reason for fingerprinting or between the hyphen and the word VOLUNTEER. (Example: NCPA/VCA-VOLUNTEER)

Error Handling – vendor must be able to provide a daily report of all transactions that didn’t receive an acknowledgement (MAC) message back to the channeling server. The report should include the Process Control Number (PCN), date received and error message. The vendor must have the ability to make corrections to the records and resubmit once documented information from the site is provided by RCCD.

Nevada’s Automated Background Check System (NABS) handling – Records which contain reason for fingerprinting NRS 449.123 should not be included in any error handling.

VPN Access for Peer - Each individual who accesses the LiveScan equipment at each fingerprint site is required to have their own personal credentials to log into the established VPN between the vendor and the fingerprint site for fingerprint submission.

Tracking website for fingerprint sites to use for reconciliation – vendor must provide an external website for all of the fingerprint sites to access so they may track the status of their fingerprint submissions. Fingerprint Sites must be able to see the Transaction Control Number (TCN), Account number, name of applicant, date fingerprinted, request for fingerprinting, TOT, date sent to RCCD and the response (MAC or ERRT). The website shall display all fingerprint submissions for any given applicant. For example, if John Doe’s fingerprints were submitted with erroneous information which caused the record to error out, requiring the fingerprint site or the vendor to make a correction and subsequent resubmission of the fingerprint, the website shall display the original submission and the resubmission with all associated data for each submission.

Disaster recovery plan/backup server – Submittals to this RFP shall include any off-site disaster recovery plans established. Vendor is responsible to provide, at a minimum, a warm standby on-site if there is not already an off-site warm standby as described above.

All transactions must be submitted from the vendor beginning at 5:30pm (Pacific Time) daily and run until all transactions have been submitted to RCCD. Vendor must have resources available on-site or on-call in the event that RCCD needs to throttle or stop traffic due to RCCD system issues or circumstances. This will include the potential need to change the transmission time to meet the business needs of RCCD.

Vendor shall facilitate only RCCD-approved LiveScan connections and authorized electronic transmissions of civil applicant fingerprints to the NCHR via vendor’s store and forward server physically located at the RCCD-approved site address.

Vendor shall capture transactional data including date and time of connection of client agencies, IP address of agency LiveScan (or Store and Forward, as applicable), information to identify the source entity such as source e-mail address or other identifying characteristic and information to identify the exact transaction, such as a transaction or sequence number. Vendor shall make this information available to RCCD within 3 business days following a written or e-mailed request to a vendor representative or service group. Information for each transaction will be captured by vendor and held for at least 90 calendar days. The information can be delivered to RCCD by mailed media or an e-mailed attachment. The file format must be ASCII text, one line per transaction, with at least the specified fields provided for each transaction.

Vendor may enter into separate contractual arrangements with each requesting LiveScan agency in order to ensure that the requesting LiveScan agency is aware that channeling services are provided by a third party from that of RCCD, include credit extension and non-payment disclosure, as well as configuration information for required VPN tunnel to a vendor’s store and forward server.

Before allowing network connectivity and/or transaction testing with the vendor’s store and forward system, vendor shall contact the requesting LiveScan agency to confirm that the physical security of the LiveScan device(s) reported on the initial RCCD documentation has not changed. Vendor shall confirm the corresponding VPN tunnel to vendor is established before testing transactions. Once the VPN tunnel has been established and testing has been successful, vendor shall permit channeling services to proceed from vendor’s store and forward server for indirect submission to the RCCD store and forward system.

Vendor shall reiterate to requesting LiveScan agencies that all fingerprint transactions electronically transmitted via a vendor’s store and forward server will have the “Bill To” information converted to reflect vendor’s account number held with RCCD before submitting directly to the NCHR. (Note: This item is not applicable to volunteer account transactions, in order for RCCD to ensure the Trust Account is billed accordingly.)

Vendor shall inform requesting LiveScan agencies that it is each requesting LiveScan agency’s responsibility to collect the current state and FBI fees up front from the individual being fingerprinted, unless one of the following situations applies:

A requesting LiveScan agency elects to extend credit to its customers at its own risk and will establish its own billing and collection service.

A vendor, on behalf of RCCD, has established special billing arrangements for a state agency as approved by RCCD.

Vendor shall coordinate with RCCD for any special billing arrangements with state government agencies only. All other credit/billing arrangements with other types of LiveScan agencies are at the discretion of the vendor.

Vendor shall make the necessary arrangements with requesting LiveScan agencies to set up any individual billing accounts based on credit approval granted by a vendor. For each electronic transmission submitted via the vendor, the vendor must itemize the per transaction fees as described in Electronic Transmission of all Civil Applicant Electronic Fingerprint Files from RCCD-approved Connected LiveScan Agencies (as outlined in Section 3.3) and the state and FBI Fees as described in that same section for all transactions received by vendor in the previous month.

Vendor shall remit all payments via electronic wire transfers to the State Treasurer’s Office on a monthly basis no later than the 10th of each month for the transactions processed in the previous month and contact NCHR’s Fiscal Section in the manner prescribed by RCCD for electronic payment notification. (Note: Any delay in payment from a vendor may affect vendor’s account status with RCCD.)

Vendor will handle any and all connectivity/transmission issues with a connected LiveScan agency and will notify RCCD of these connectivity/transmission issues, once identified, with proposed resolution or periodic status update.

Vendor must continually comply with the current Western Identification Network (WIN) Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification (EFTS) and Nevada LiveScan Specifications. Any updates as a result of changes to the WIN EFTS, FBI EBTS or Nevada Specifications must be made within 45 calendar days of notification by RCCD or upon such other timeframe as is mutually agreed upon by both parties.

Vendor is subject to a security audit by the RCCD in accordance with FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy 5.6 Standards.

Vendor must protect personally identifying information in accordance with NRS 205.461-NRS 205.4657 and NRS 603A.

Vendor shall prepare and submit monthly reconciliation reports, as prescribed by RCCD, for all transactions received and forwarded to RCCD during the previous month, noting any error transactions, including not submitted or pending transactions, and final resolutions (if applicable).

Vendor shall submit monthly reconciliation reports no later than the last day of the month following the reporting period. If the submission due date falls on a weekend or state holiday then the report must be postmarked no later than the next business day.

The RCCD store and forward system will return 1 of 2 messages to a vendor’s store and forward server. The MAC code means the transaction was successfully received at RCCD; error messages are denoted by the code ERRT. Vendor shall properly document each instance for the following scenarios:

Any ERRT messages must be addressed by vendor within 2 business days.

If resolved, include resolution of the specific errors and date resubmitted electronically to RCCD and/or if any further action is needed.

If unable to resolve, include the reason and the date that RCCD was notified for handling.

For MAC messages, simply noting no further action required is sufficient.

If neither message is received, vendor must identify the transaction by PCN and determine if able to resubmit electronically noting specific resolution, as outlined herein, within 5 business days of the date of the initial transaction.

Vendor shall resolve any noted discrepancies, such as missing or rejected transactions, in the manner delineated in herein.

Once vendor is notified by RCCD of any items not properly documented or unsatisfactorily resolved, vendor shall have 10 business days to respond to the RCCD in writing with the resolution.

Vendor shall handle any rejected items, identified as ERRT transactions, identified by the RCCD store and forward system within 1 business day and resubmit the rejected item(s) electronically on behalf of the connected LiveScan agency submitting the respective transaction(s). If vendor cannot resubmit a transaction electronically, then the vendor will print the unresolved transaction on an FBI Civil Applicant fingerprint card, as directed by RCCD, and mail the printed card(s) to RCCD for subsequent handling directly with the RCCD account holder as a possible manual transaction. (Note: Unresolved transactions will be billed to the vendor unless otherwise indicated by RCCD. In instances where RCCD notifies vendor, because of the electronic failure, the vendor shall adjust the connected LiveScan agency’s account to remove the corresponding state and/or FBI fingerprinting fees for the rejected transaction.)

Vendor shall be responsible for billing individual connected LiveScan agencies for the applicable state and/or FBI fingerprint processing fees, and provide a summary of all transactions for special billing purposes for each state agency approved by RCCD. The detail of all billed transactions can be provided to the connected LiveScan agency or special billing agency via an approved media as agreed upon by RCCD.

Current FBI, WIN, and state LiveScan specifications must be maintained with any communicated updates as outlined herein and Attachment K – Specifications.

BILLING INFORMATION FOR VENDOR

RCCD will approve direct billing arrangements between vendor and the specified state agency. In these instances, the fingerprint site will only collect their own rolling fees, to include the per transaction fee when an applicant presents him or herself to be fingerprinted for the specifically approved state agency. The fingerprint site WILL NOT collect the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee from the applicant. Vendor shall collect the per transaction fee from the fingerprint site only. RCCD will bill the vendor for the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee; the vendor will then collect the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee from the approved state agency.

The fingerprint site will collect their rolling fee, which includes the per transaction fee, as well as the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee from the applicant at the time of fingerprint services. RCCD will bill the vendor for the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee. The vendor shall bill and collect the per transaction fee and the state/FBI fingerprint processing fee from the fingerprint site.

All civil applicant fingerprint transactions received by RCCD either electronically or from vendor are billed directly for the applicable state and/or FBI fingerprint processing fees on a monthly basis for all transactions received during the previous month. As part of this contract, any transactions received via a vendor shall be billed directly to the vendor.

RCCD RESPONSIBLITIES

RCCD shall facilitate all LiveScan connection requests for electronic transmission of civil applicant fingerprint transactions to the NCHR.

Only criminal justice (i.e., law enforcement) and state government agencies may connect directly to the RCCD store and forward server located in Carson City, Nevada, not utilizing the contracted vendor for channeling services.

RCCD will authorize vendor to connect LiveScan agencies approved by RCCD for those local government agencies that are not operating in a law enforcement capacity and for private sector sites, such as private fingerprinting businesses that roll fingerprints for the general public.

RCCD shall notify vendor of approved LiveScan connection requests as identified in this section to “channel” electronic transmissions of authorized civil applicant transactions to NCHR through the store and forward server physically located at the RCCD-approved site address.

The designated RCCD LiveScan Connection Coordinator will coordinate the connection schedule and transaction testing with the requesting LiveScan agency, as well as their LiveScan vendor along with technology personnel/vendor, and vendor. The requesting LiveScan agency must have successfully completed all transaction testing deemed appropriate for that site before being approved by RCCD as a connected LiveScan agency.

RCCD will monitor and may periodically request that vendor adjust their store and forward system transaction submission rate in order to minimize any significant impact to the RCCD network.

RCCD will bill vendor on a monthly basis at the current state and FBI rates for all state and/or FBI transactions processed by RCCD in the previous month. The vendor is solely responsible for payment of all transactions submitted through their store and forward server to the RCCD.

RCCD will provide vendor with a monthly invoice for the vendor’s account which includes the following information:

Summary of charges noting previous balance, payments, adjustments, current charges, and total due.

Account detail by date for each transaction with the amount and date, along with the individual applicant’s name and the LiveScan TCN.

RCCD will also provide vendor with a monthly report of all submissions processed during the previous month.

RCCD shall notify vendor of any approved state agencies authorized for special billing arrangements, and vendor shall incorporate that billing structure into their next billing cycle or within 30 days after written notification by RCCD.

RCCD shall also provide a monthly report of all submissions processed during the previous month for RCCD-approved state agencies authorized for special billing arrangements with vendor.

RCCD shall evaluate vendor’s account history on a periodic basis for current payment status and may temporarily suspend acceptance of transactions due to non-payment on account.

RCCD shall review the monthly reconciliation report prepared by vendor for all transactions received and forwarded to RCCD and each item noted for initial results and final resolution (if applicable), as prescribed by RCCD.

RCCD requires the monthly reconciliation report be submitted no later than the last day of the month following the reporting period. If the submission due date falls on a weekend or a state holiday, then the report must be postmarked by the next business day. For instance, the report for February 2018 is due by March 31, 2018 (Saturday); however, it will not be considered late if postmarked by April 2, 2018 (Monday).

RCCD shall verify that all transactions that initially received an error message from the RCCD store and forward system were subsequently resolved within 2 business days of the date of transaction.

RCCD shall also verify that any transactions without an acknowledgement message from the RCCD store and forward system were identified and resolved within 5 business days of the date of transaction.

Any unresolved items, such as missing or rejected transactions, are documented for follow up by RCCD upon receipt of manual fingerprint cards from vendor.

RCCD will notify vendor of any items not properly documented or unsatisfactorily resolved within 30 calendar days from the date the original report was received by RCCD. Vendor must provide a written response to the noted items within 10 business days from receipt of RCCD notification.

COMPANY BACKGROUND AND REFERENCES

VENDOR INFORMATION

Vendors shall provide a company profile in the table format below.

Company name:

Ownership (sole proprietor, partnership, etc.):

State of incorporation:

Date of incorporation:

# of years in business:

List of top officers:

Location of company headquarters, to include City and State:

Location(s) of the office that shall provide the services described in this RFP:

Number of employees locally with the expertise to support the requirements identified in this RFP:

Number of employees nationally with the expertise to support the requirements in this RFP:

Location(s) from which employees shall be assigned for this project:

A Nevada-based business may apply for a five percent (5%) preference on its proposal. This preference may apply if a business has its principal place of business within Nevada. This preference cannot be combined with any other preference, granted for the award of a contract using federal funds, or granted for the award of a contract procured on a multi-state basis. To claim this preference a business must submit a letter with its proposal showing that it qualifies for the preference.

Please be advised, pursuant to NRS 80.010, a corporation organized pursuant to the laws of another state shall register with the State of Nevada, Secretary of State’s Office as a foreign corporation before a contract can be executed between the State of Nevada and the awarded vendor, unless specifically exempted by NRS 80.015.

The selected vendor, prior to doing business in the State of Nevada, shall be appropriately licensed by the State of Nevada, Secretary of State’s Office pursuant to NRS76. Information regarding the Nevada Business License can be located at http://nvsos.gov.

Nevada Business License Number:

Legal Entity Name:

Is “Legal Entity Name” the same name as vendor is doing business as?

Yes

No

If “No”, provide explanation.

Has the vendor ever been engaged under contract by any State of Nevada agency?

Yes

No

If “Yes”, complete the following table for each State agency for whom the work was performed. Table can be duplicated for each contract being identified.

Name of State agency:

State agency contact name:

Dates when services were performed:

Type of duties performed:

Total dollar value of the contract:

Are you now or have you been within the last two (2) years an employee of the State of Nevada, or any of its agencies, departments, or divisions?

Yes

No

If “Yes”, please explain when the employee is planning to render services, while on annual leave, compensatory time, or on their own time?

If you employ (a) any person who is a current employee of an agency of the State of Nevada, or (b) any person who has been an employee of an agency of the State of Nevada within the past two (2) years, and if such person shall be performing or producing the services which you shall be contracted to provide under this contract, you shall disclose the identity of each such person in your response to this RFP, and specify the services that each person shall be expected to perform.

Disclosure of any significant prior or ongoing contract failures, contract breaches, civil or criminal litigation in which the vendor has been alleged to be liable or held liable in a matter involving a contract with the State of Nevada or any other governmental entity. Any pending claim or litigation occurring within the past six (6) years which may adversely affect the vendor’s ability to perform or fulfill its obligations if a contract is awarded as a result of this RFP shall also be disclosed.

Does any of the above apply to your company?

Yes

No

If “Yes”, please provide the following information. Table can be duplicated for each issue being identified.

Date of alleged contract failure or breach:

Parties involved:

Description of the contract failure, contract breach, or litigation, including the products or services involved:

Amount in controversy:

Resolution or current status of the dispute:

Status of the litigation:

Vendors shall review and provide if awarded a contract the insurance requirements as specified in Attachment D, Insurance Schedule for RFP 65DPS-S39.

Company background/history and why vendor is qualified to provide the services described in this RFP. Limit response to no more than five (5) pages.

Provide a brief description of the length of time vendor has been providing services described in this RFP to the public and/or private sector.

Financial information and documentation to be included in accordance with Section 8.5, Part III – Confidential Financial Information.

Dun and Bradstreet Number

Federal Tax Identification Number

The last two (2) years and current year interim:

Profit and Loss Statement Balance Statement

SUBCONTRACTOR INFORMATION

Subcontractors are defined as a third party, not directly employed by the contractor, who shall provide services identified in this RFP. This does not include third parties who provide support or incidental services to the contractor.

Does this proposal include the use of subcontractors?

Yes

No

If “Yes”, vendor shall:

Identify specific subcontractors and the specific requirements of this RFP for which each proposed subcontractor shall perform services.

If any tasks are to be completed by subcontractor(s), vendors shall:

Describe how the work of any subcontractor(s) shall be supervised, channels of communication shall be maintained and compliance with contract terms assured; and

Describe your previous experience with subcontractor(s).

Provide the same information for any proposed subcontractors as requested in Section 3.1, Vendor Information.

Vendor shall not allow any subcontractor to commence work until all insurance required of the subcontractor is provided to the vendor.

Vendor shall notify the using agency of the intended use of any subcontractors not identified within their original proposal and provide the information originally requested in the RFP in Section 3.2, Subcontractor Information. The vendor shall receive agency approval prior to subcontractor commencing work.

BUSINESS REFERENCES

Vendors shall provide a minimum of three (3) business references from similar projects performed for private and/or public sector clients within the last five (5) years.

Vendors shall submit Attachment E, Reference Questionnaire to their business references.

It is the vendor’s responsibility to ensure that completed forms are received by the Purchasing Division on or before the deadline as specified in Section 7, RFP Timeline for inclusion in the evaluation process. Reference Questionnaires not received, or not complete, may adversely affect the vendor’s score in the evaluation process.

The State reserves the right to contact and verify any and all references listed regarding the quality and degree of satisfaction for such performance.

VENDOR STAFF RESUMES

A resume shall be completed for each proposed key personnel responsible for performance under any contract resulting from this RFP per Attachment F, Proposed Staff Resume.

COST

Vendors must provide a management fee for all costs associated with the responsibilities and related services (refer to Attachment G, Cost Schedule).

FINANCIAL

PAYMENT

Upon review and acceptance by the State, payments for invoices are normally made within 45 – 60 days of receipt, providing all required information, documents and/or attachments have been received.

Pursuant to NRS 227.185 and NRS 333.450, the State shall pay claims for supplies, materials, equipment and services purchased under the provisions of this RFP electronically, unless determined by the State Controller that the electronic payment would cause the payee to suffer undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.

BILLING

The State does not issue payment prior to receipt of goods or services.

The vendor shall bill the State as outlined in the approved contract and/or payment schedule.

The State presently has a Procurement Card Program that participating State agencies may use to pay for some of their purchases. The Program is issued through a major financial institution and is treated like any other major credit card. Using agencies may desire to use the card as a method of payment. No additional charges or fees shall be imposed for using the card. Please indicate in your proposal response if you will accept this method of payment.

TIMELINESS OF BILLING

The State is on a fiscal year calendar. All billings for dates of service prior to July 1 shall be submitted to the State no later than the first Friday in August of the same year. A billing submitted after the first Friday in August that forces the State to process the billing as a stale claim pursuant to NRS 353.097, shall subject the contractor to an administrative fee not to exceed $100.00. This is the estimate of the additional costs to the State for processing the billing as a stale claim and this amount shall be deducted from the stale claims payment due the contractor.

WRITTEN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The Purchasing Division shall accept questions and/or comments in writing regarding this RFP as noted below:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

All questions regarding this RFP should be submitted using the Bid Q&A feature in NevadaEPro.

To access the Bid Q&A:

Log into your Seller account on NevadaEPro:

Click the Bids tab in the header, Click View under Bid Q&A on the appropriate Bid Solicitation under the Open Bids section.

The deadline for submitting questions is as specified in Section 7, RFP Timeline.

All questions and/or comments shall be addressed using the Bid Q&A in NevadaEPro. If questions and answers require a material change to the Bid Solicitation, an Amendment will be posted in NevadaEPro and you will receive email notification.

RFP TIMELINE

The following represents the proposed timeline for this project. All times stated are Pacific Time (PT). These dates represent a tentative schedule of events. The State reserves the right to modify these dates at any time.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS, FORMAT AND CONTENT

GENERAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Vendors shall submit their proposals by using Create Quote through the State electronic procurement website, https://NevadaEPro.com, in accordance with the instructions below.

Refer to Instructions for Vendors Responding to a Bid in the Important Links section on the front page of NevadaEPro for instructions on how to submit a Quote using NevadaEPro.

The one (1) CD or flash drive shall contain a maximum of four (4) PDF files which may include:

Technical Proposal Confidential Technical (if applicable) Cost Proposal (if applicable) Confidential Financial (if applicable)

Proposals shall have a technical response, which may be composed of two (2) parts in the event a vendor determines that a portion of their technical response qualifies as “confidential” per NRS 333.020 (5) (b).

If complete responses cannot be provided without referencing confidential information, such confidential information shall be provided in accordance with Section 8.3, Part IB – Confidential Technical Proposal and Section 8.5, Part III Confidential Financial Information.

Specific references made to the section, page, and paragraph where the confidential information can be located shall be identified on Attachment A, Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification and comply with the requirements stated in Section 8.6, Confidentiality of Proposals.

Proposals that do not comply with the requirements may be deemed non-responsive and rejected at the State’s discretion.

Although it is a public opening, only the names of the vendors submitting proposals shall be announced per NRS 333.335(6). Technical and cost details about proposals submitted shall not be disclosed.

Assistance for handicapped, blind or hearing-impaired persons who wish to attend the RFP opening is available. If special arrangements are necessary, please notify the Purchasing Division designee as soon as possible and at least two (2) days in advance of the opening.

For ease of evaluation, the technical and cost proposals shall be presented in a format that corresponds to and references sections outlined within this RFP and shall be presented in the same order. Written responses shall be in bold/italics and placed immediately following the applicable RFP question, statement and/or section.

Proposals are to be prepared in such a way as to provide a straightforward, concise delineation of capabilities to satisfy the requirements of this RFP. Expensive color displays, promotional materials, etc., are not necessary or desired. Emphasis shall be concentrated on conformance to the RFP instructions, responsiveness to the RFP requirements, and on completeness and clarity of content.

For purposes of addressing questions concerning this RFP, the sole contact shall be the Purchasing Division as specified on Page 1 of this RFP. Upon issuance of this RFP, other employees and representatives of the agencies identified in the RFP shall not answer questions or otherwise discuss the contents of this RFP with any prospective vendors or their representatives. Failure to observe this restriction may result in disqualification of any subsequent proposal per NAC 333.155(3). This restriction does not preclude discussions between affected parties for the purpose of conducting business unrelated to this procurement.

Any vendor who believes there are irregularities or lack of clarity in the RFP or proposal requirements or specifications are unnecessarily restrictive or limit competition shall notify the Purchasing Division, in writing, as soon as possible, so that corrective addenda may be furnished by the Purchasing Division in a timely manner to all vendors.

If a vendor changes any material RFP language, vendor’s response may be deemed non-responsive per NRS 333.311.

The vendor understands and acknowledges that the representations made in its proposal are material and important, and shall be relied on by the State in its evaluation of a proposal. Any misrepresentation by a vendor shall be treated as fraudulent concealment from the State of the true facts relating to the proposal.

PART IA – TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

The Technical Proposal shall not include cost and/or pricing information. Cost and/or pricing information contained in the technical proposal may cause the proposal to be rejected.

Using Create Quote in NevadaEPro, vendors shall provide one (1) PDF Technical Proposal on the Attachments tab that includes the following:

Section I – Title Page with the following information:

Part IA – Technical Proposal

Vendor Name:

Address:

Section II – Table of Contents

An accurate and updated table of contents shall be provided.

Section III – Vendor Information Sheet

The vendor information sheet shall be completed and signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization.

Section IV – State Documents

The State documents section shall include the following:

The signature page from all amendments signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization.

Attachment A – Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization.

Attachment B – Vendor Certifications signed by an individual authorized to bind the organization.

Copies of any vendor licensing agreements and/or hardware and software maintenance agreements.

Copies of applicable certifications and/or licenses.

Section V – Scope of Work

Vendors shall place their written response(s) to Section 2, Scope of Work in bold/italics immediately following the applicable RFP question, statement and/or section.

Section VI– Company Background and References

Vendors shall place their written response(s) to Section 3, Company Background and References in bold/italics immediately following the applicable RFP question, statement and/or section. This section shall also include the requested information in Section 3.2, Subcontractor Information, if applicable.

Section VII – Attachment F – Proposed Staff Resume

Vendors shall include all proposed staff resumes per Section 3.4, Vendor Staff Resumes in this section.

This section shall also include any subcontractor proposed staff resumes, if applicable.

Section VIII – Other Informational Material

Vendors shall include any other applicable reference material in this section clearly cross referenced with the proposal.

PART IB – CONFIDENTIAL TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Vendors only need to submit Part IB if the proposal includes any confidential technical information (Refer to Attachment A, Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification).

If needed, vendors shall provide one (1) PDF Confidential Technical Proposal file that includes the following:

Section I – Title Page with the following information:

Part IB – Confidential Technical Proposal

Vendor Name:

Address:

Section II – Confidential Technical

Vendors shall cross reference the confidential technical information back to the technical proposal, as applicable.

PART II – COST PROPOSAL

Vendors shall submit pricing information on the Items tab of their Quote in NevadaEPro.

Vendors shall provide additional pricing information as detailed in Section 8.4.4 if appropriate or required in accordance with Section 4, Cost.

The cost proposal shall not be marked “confidential”. Only information that is deemed proprietary per NRS 333.020 (5) (a) may be marked as “confidential”.

If needed, vendors shall provide one (1) PDF Cost Proposal file that includes the following:

Section I – Title Page with the following information:

Part II – Cost Proposal

Vendor Name:

Address:

0. Section II – Cost Proposal

Vendor’s shall place the information required per Section 4, Cost in this section.

PART III – CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

If needed, vendors shall provide one (1) PDF Confidential Financial Information file that includes the following:

Section I – Title Page with the following information:

Part III – Confidential Financial Information

Vendor Name:

Address:

Section II – Financial Information and Documentation

Vendors shall place the information required per Section 3.1.10 in this section.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF PROPOSALS

As a potential contractor of a public entity, vendors are advised that full disclosure is required by law.

Vendors are required to submit written documentation in accordance with Attachment A, Confidentiality and Certification of Indemnification demonstrating the material within the proposal marked “confidential” conforms to NRS §333.333, which states “Only specific parts of the proposal may be labeled a “trade secret” as defined in NRS §600A.030(5)”. Not conforming to these requirements shall cause your proposal to be deemed non-compliant and shall not be accepted by the State.

Vendors acknowledge that material not marked as “confidential” shall become public record and shall be posted to the Purchasing website upon contract award.

It is the vendor’s responsibility to act in protection of the labeled information and agree to defend and indemnify the State of Nevada for honoring such designation.

Failure to label any information that is released by the State shall constitute a complete waiver of any and all claims for damages caused by release of said information.

PROPOSAL PACKAGING

Vendors shall submit their proposals through the State electronic procurement website, https://NevadaEPro.com, in accordance with the instructions below.

Proposals shall be received via https://NevadaEPro.com no later than the date and time specified on the General tab of the Bid Solicitation in NevadaEPro. Proposals that are not submitted by bid opening time and date shall not be accepted. Vendors may submit their proposal any time prior to the deadline stated in NevadaEPro. In the event that dates and times specified in this document and dates times specified in NevadaEPro conflict, the dates and time in NevadaEPro shall take precedence.

Proposals submitted as physical copies, email, or any submission method other than via NevadaEPro shall not be considered.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND AWARD PROCESS

The information in this section does not need to be returned with the vendor’s proposal.

Proposals shall be consistently evaluated and scored in accordance with NRS 333.335(3) based upon the following criteria. The following criteria are listed in order of importance.

Cost

Cost proposals will be evaluated based on the following formula:

Lowest Cost Submitted by a Vendor = Price Factor Proposers Total Cost Price Factor X points = Cost Criteria Score

Effective July 1, 2017, a five percent (5%) preference will be awarded to businesses based in Nevada. A Nevada business is defined as a business which certifies either that its ‘principal place of business’ is in Nevada, as identified in Section 3.1, Vendor Information, or that a ‘majority of goods provided for the contract are produced’ in Nevada. The preference will be applied to the total score.

Financial stability shall be scored on a pass/fail basis.

Proposals shall be kept confidential until a contract is awarded.

The evaluation committee is an independent committee comprised of a majority of State officers or employees established to evaluate and score proposals submitted in response to the RFP pursuant to NRS 333.335.

The evaluation committee may solicit information from any available source concerning any aspect of a proposal and seek and review any other information deemed pertinent to the evaluation process.

Each vendor shall include in its proposal a complete disclosure of any alleged significant prior or ongoing contract failures, contract breaches, any civil or criminal litigation or investigations pending which involves the vendor or in which the vendor has been judged guilty or liable.