Competitive Selection Procedures for Services Specified in § 5121 of this Chapter

(a)Conditions for Use. The services specified in § 5121(a) of this Chapter shall be procured in accordance with this Section, except as authorized under §§ 5214 or 5215 of this Chapter. Services for architecture, engineering, construction, land surveying, environmental assessment and other such services shall be procured in accordance with Article 5 of this Chapter.

(b)Statement of Qualifications. Persons engaged in providing the types of services specified in § 5121(a) of this Chapter may submit statements of qualifications and expressions of interest in providing such types of services. The Procurement Officer may specify a uniform format for statements of qualifications. Persons may amend these statements at any time by filing a new statement.

(c)Public Announcement and Form of Request for Proposals. Adequate notice of the need for such services shall be given by the purchasing agency through a Request for Proposals. The Request for Proposals shall describe the services required, list the type of information and data required of each offeror, and state the relative importance of particular qualifications.

(d)Discussions. The head of the purchasing agency or a designee of such officer may conduct discussions with any offeror who has submitted a proposal to determine such offeror’s qualifications for further consideration. Discussions shall not disclose any information derived from proposals submitted by other offerors.

(e)Award. Award shall be made to the offeror determined in writing by the head of the purchasing agency or a designee of such officer to be best qualified based on the evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposals, and negotiation of compensation determined to be fair and reasonable. If compensation cannot be agreed upon with the best qualified offeror, the negotiations will be formally terminated with the selected offeror. If proposals were submitted by one or more other offerors determined to be qualified, negotiations may be conducted with such other offeror or offerors, in the order of their respective qualification ranking, and the contract may be awarded to the offeror then ranked as best qualified if the amount of compensation is determined to be fair and reasonable.