Rules_for_Electronic_Bidding__(2).pdf

CITY OF EDINBURG

RULES FOR THE

ELECTRONIC RECEIPT OF BIDS OR PROPOSALS

Pursuant to the Texas Local Government Code, Section 252.0415 “Procedures for Electronic Bids or Proposals”, the City of Edinburg adopts the following rules to ensure the identification, security, and confidentiality of electronic bids or proposals and to ensure that the electronic bids or proposals remain effectively unopened until the proper time.

1. Invitations to Bid and Requests for Proposals will be advertised and issued through the City's electronic service provider. A notification will be added to the bid terms and conditions stating suppliers may/should submit responses electronically through the City's service provider at the appropriate electronic address listed. An automatic "e-mail return notification" will be sent to the submitting supplier upon receipt of their bid or proposal.

2. All users of the system shall be assigned a unique username and password.

3. Access to the system by authorized users shall be logged and tracked for audit purposes in order to record when any user has accessed the system and what data the user accessed.

4. Transmittal of data through the internet shall be encrypted using SLL technology. All sensitive data (sealed bid responses, passwords, etc.) within the system shall be encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm (AES), or better.

5. All bids or proposals submitted shall be protected using a time-sensitive mechanism that allows the data to be decrypted only after the due date and time.

6. The system shall be synchronized to an atomic clock (U.S. Nuclear Time) to ensure exact recording of the due date and time, and the receipt of date and time, of each submission.

7. The contents of supplier response submissions are not available during the bidding process.

8. The City's Purchasing staff, with an authorized user account and password, and only on or after the established due date and time, can open the electronic bids or proposals. The system shall provide an audit trail of who unsealed the proposals and a corresponding time stamp.

9. Bid or Proposal openings may be held virtually. If any hard copy “paper bid” responses are received they will be opened, thoroughly documented, uploaded to the system, and released on tabulation at the same time as electronic responses.

10. The City of Edinburg will determine when and what information is released to the public pursuant to Texas law.

The Purchasing Manager is responsible for ensuring that any system used for the electronic receipt of bids or proposals with an estimated value of more than $30,000, or as defined by current State law, complies with the aforementioned rules and all other statutory requirements for competitive bids or proposals.