§ 3-03 Competitive Sealed Proposals.
RCNY § 3-03
(a)The Request for Proposals (RFP) – Contents. RFPs must include the following data: (1) statement that the contract award will be made to the responsible proposer whose proposal represents the best value to the City by optimizing quality, cost and efficiency and therefore is determined to be the most advantageous to the City, taking into consideration the price and such other factors or criteria that are set forth in the RFP, including the quantitative preference to be provided to proposals submitted by vendors that are M/WBEs or State-certified M/WBEs; (2) statement of work or scope of services statement, performance requirements, and any special instructions; (3) the specific criteria and the relative weight of each criterion or category of criteria that will be used to evaluate the proposals; (4) statement of how price will be evaluated. In addition, the following statements regarding price must be included: (i) a notice that prices shall be irrevocable until contract award, unless the proposal is withdrawn, and that offers may be withdrawn only after the expiration of ninety days (or such longer period as is specified in the solicitation) after opening of proposals, in writing received by the agency prior to award; (ii) if applicable, request for cost breakdown of the proposed price; (5) proposal submission requirements including requirements, if any, for the electronic submission of proposals; if applicable, that technical and price proposals shall be submitted in separate sealed envelopes (electronic or paper); and the time and date after which proposals will not be accepted as well as location of proposal submission; (6) other information such as delivery dates or time frames within which the work must be completed. Where it is anticipated that a contract will extend beyond one year, the following information must be included in any solicitation, in addition to any other requirements of these Rules: (i) a statement of intent to award a multi-term contract, and an estimate of the quantity of services required for the proposed contract period; (ii) for client services only, a request for a proposal of a total price which shall be binding in the first year and may be negotiable from year to year thereafter; (iii) that the multi-term contract is subject to modification or cancellation if adequate funds are not appropriated to the agency to support continuation of performance in any fiscal year succeeding the first; (iv) that the multi-term contract is subject to modification or cancellation if the vendor's performance is not satisfactory; (v) that the Contracting Officer shall notify the vendor as soon as is practicable that the funds are, or are not, available for the continuation of the multi-term contract for each succeeding fiscal year; (vi) for client services only, whether proposers shall submit prices for the first year, for the entire period of performance, or for some portion of the period; and (vii) a statement setting forth those costs (if any) for which the vendor will be reimbursed in the event of cancellation; (7) general as well as special terms and conditions, if applicable; (8) a notice of the proposer's rights to appeal certain decisions; (9) a notice of the City's prompt payment policy, including an explanation of the requirements for invoicing; (10) a requirement for acknowledgment of amendments; (11) if applicable, a request for a description of experience in the line of work being considered (including references); (12) if applicable and necessary in the judgment of the Contracting Officer, a request for description of staff capability along with the resumes of key individuals who will work on the contract; (13) a notice that although discussions may be conducted with offerors submitting acceptable proposals, award may be made without any discussions; (14) if applicable, provision on the submission and consideration of multiple or alternate proposals; (15) a provision that proposers should give specific attention to the identification of those portions of their proposals that they deem to be confidential, proprietary information or trade secrets and provide any justification why such materials, upon request, should not be disclosed by the City. Such information must be easily separable from the non-confidential sections of the proposals; (16) a notice that contract award is subject to the provisions of the MacBride Principles Law; (17) a notice that contract award is subject, if applicable, to § 6-129 of the New York City Administrative Code (M/WBE and EBE Program), as well as to applicable provisions of federal, State, and other local laws and executive orders requiring affirmative action and equal employment opportunity; (18) if applicable, a notice that contract award is subject to completion of a VENDEX questionnaire and review of that information by the Department of Investigation; (19) a notice, for those contracts not otherwise subject to § 6-129 of the New York Administrative Code (M/WBE and EBE Program), that contract award is subject to the provisions of § 6-108.1 of the New York City Administrative Code relating to the LBE program and its implementing rules; (20) where applicable, all information required pursuant to Section 312(a) of the Charter; (21) the following statement: The New York City Comptroller is charged with the audit of contracts in New York City. Any vendor who believes that there has been unfairness, favoritism, or impropriety in the proposal process should inform the Comptroller, Bureau of Contract Administration, 1 Centre Street, Room 727, New York, NY 10007; telephone number (212) 669-2323; and (22) name, address, and telephone number of contact person; and (23) if applicable, information regarding multiple award task order contracts for services.
(b)Client Services RFPs.
(1)Requirement for a concept report. At least 45 days prior to issuing an RFP for a new client services program, the agency shall publicly release a concept report regarding such RFP.
(i)For the purposes of this section, the term "new client services program" shall mean any program that differs substantially in scope from an agency's current contractual client services programs, including, but not limited to, substantial differences in the number or types of clients, geographic areas, evaluation criteria, service design, or price maximums or ranges per participant, if applicable.
(ii)For the purposes of this section, the term "concept report" shall mean a document outlining the basic requirements of an RFP for client services contracts and shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: (A) purpose of the RFP; (B) planned method of evaluating proposals; (C) proposed term of the contract(s); (D) procurement timeline, including, but not limited to, the expected start date for the new contract(s), expected RFP issuance date, approximate proposal submission deadline and expected award announcement date; (E) funding information, including but not limited to, total funding available for the RFP and sources of funding, anticipated number of contracts to be awarded, average funding level of contracts, anticipated funding minimums, maximums or ranges per participant, if applicable, and funding match requirements, if any; (F) program information, including, but not limited to, as applicable, proposed model or program parameters, site, service hours, participant population(s) to be served and participant minimums and/or maximums; (G) proposed vendor performance reporting requirements.
(iii)Notwithstanding the issuance of a concept report, the agency may change the above-required information at any time after the issuance of such concept report.
(iv)Prior to release of the concept report, the agency shall publish a notification of the release in five consecutive editions of the City Record and electronically on the City's website in a location that is accessible to the public.
(v)Upon release, the concept report shall be posted electronically on the City's website in a location that is accessible to the public.
(vi)Non-compliance with this section shall not be grounds to invalidate a contract.
(2)"Open Ended" RFPs. For a client services program in which there is available funding for more than the available responsible vendors, and for which the requirements and qualifications are unusually complex and difficult to predict (such as Uniform Land Use Review Procedures approvals of appropriate sites, licenses, etc.) and for which interested potential vendors may become qualified during the course of a year, the ACCO may designate the applicable RFP as an "open-ended RFP." If an RFP is so designated, the agency shall publish in the City Record quarterly a notice of solicitation, clearly stating that the RFP may be obtained at any time and that proposals may be submitted in response to the RFP on an on-going basis. When an agency decides to terminate the open-ended RFP, it shall publish such determination in the City Record.
(c)Proposal preparation time and form.
(d)Public notice.
(e)Competitive sealed proposals from prequalified vendors list. Proposals may be solicited from vendors who have been previously prequalified. A determination to employ selective solicitation within a particular category of procurement shall be made by the ACCO and approved by the CCPO prior to issuing solicitations, unless the CCPO, upon adequate assurances of an agency's capacity to comply with the applicable procedural requirements, has determined that such approval is not required for an agency's contracts or particular categories of contracts.
(f)RFP handling procedures.
(3)Modification or withdrawal of proposals. Proposals may be modified or withdrawn prior to the established due date in the manner set forth in 9 RCNY § 3-02. The established due date is either the time and date announced for receipt of proposals or receipt of modifications to proposals, if any, or if discussions have begun, it is the time and date by which best and final offers must be submitted.
(4)Late proposals and modifications. Any proposal or modification received after the established due date and time at the place designated for receipt is late and may be accepted only in the manner set forth in paragraphs (5) through (8) below.
(5)Handling and acceptance of late proposals. A late proposal may only be accepted when it is determined by the ACCO that it is in the best interest of the City to do so. In such event, the ACCO may hold open the receipt of proposals by no more than three hours during which time no other competing proposal may be opened. The ACCO may, upon written approval by the CCPO, hold open the receipt of proposals by longer than three hours, but until no later than the original submission time on the next business day; such approval may be given by the CCPO only where the need for holding the receipt of proposals open for a longer time arises from generally applicable emergency circumstances, such as weather or transit emergencies. An opened proposal shall eliminate the option of accepting any late proposal. Where an ACCO has determined that it is in the best interest of the City to accept a late proposal, any other late proposal received during the period of extension shall be similarly accepted.
(6)Documentation of late proposals. The ACCO shall, within one business day of such acceptance of late proposals, document the reasons that it is in the best interest of the City to approve the extension, the time extended, the name of any vendor(s) submitting a proposal received during the extension period established pursuant to paragraph (5) above, as well as an affirmative statement that no proposals were opened prior to the acceptance of the late proposal and that any other late proposal received during the period of extension was similarly accepted.
(7)Late modifications. A late modification of a successful proposal that makes its terms more favorable to the City shall be considered at any time it is received and, if accepted by the ACCO, shall be so documented in the Recommendation for Award.
(8)Record. A record shall be made of each request for acceptance of a late proposal or modification. A late proposal or modification that is not accepted by the ACCO shall not be opened until after registration of the contract.
(9)Receipt and Registration of Proposals. The identify of an offeror shall not be disclosed prior to the established date and time for receipt of proposals. Proposals shall not be opened publicly but shall be opened in the presence of two or more City employees. Proposals and modifications shall be time and date-stamped upon receipt and held in a secure place until the established due date and time. The agency shall disclose the identity of all proposers for goods and standard services on the due date and time of the proposals. After the date and time established for the receipt of proposals, a Register of Proposals shall be prepared and shall be open to public inspection after award of a contract. It shall include for all proposals the name of each offeror and the number of modifications received, if any.
(g)Evaluation Process. Award, if any, must be made to the responsible proposer whose proposal represents the best value to the City by optimizing quality, cost and efficiency and therefore is determined to be the most advantageous to the City, taking into consideration the price and such other factors or criteria that are set forth in the RFP. In evaluating the proposals, the agency may consider only price and the criteria set forth in the RFP. In considering price, the agency may use methods such as ranking technically viable proposals by price, evaluating price per technical point, or evaluating proposals in accordance with another combination of price and technical merit. Such methods may result in the agency selecting the highest technically rated proposer over another technically qualified proposer who offered a lower fee as a result of factors including, but not limited to, the selected vendor's superior technical skill and expertise, increased likelihood of timely completion, and/or ability to manage several projects simultaneously with lower overall costs to the City, including costs in City personnel time and consultants. However, for construction-related consulting services, including those procured through multiple award task orders, the agency shall rank proposers by technical merit, and then consider price by negotiating a fair and reasonable price with the highest technically ranked proposer(s). In ranking proposers for construction-related consultant services by technical merit, agencies must, except with the approval of the CCPO, provide a point preference of five percent (5%) of the total technical points earned to all proposers that are M/WBEs or State-certified M/WBEs before ranking proposers by technical merit. The point preference percentage, if any, shall be included in the RFP. Other methods for considering price, including using fee curves based on market-derived data with appropriate consideration of complexity, or evaluating proposals in accordance with another combination of price, technical merit and proposers' M/WBE or State-certified M/WBE status, may be used for construction-related consulting services only with the written approval of the CCPO.
(vii)For construction-related consulting services, in the event that the agency has chosen to negotiate a fair and reasonable price with the top-ranked proposer, if such a fee is not successfully negotiated, the agency may conclude such negotiations, and enter into negotiations with the next ranked vendor(s), as necessary.
(h)Construction-related services.
(j)Multiple Award Task Order Contracts.
(k)Vendor Selection and Documentation. The ACCO shall make a determination showing the basis on which the contract award was made to the responsible proposer whose proposal was determined to represent the best value to the City and therefore to be the most advantageous to the City, taking into consideration the price and such other factors or criteria that are set forth in the RFP. This determination shall be included in a Recommendation of Award. Each Recommendation for Award shall include at a minimum the following information: (1) justification of the award; (2) if the award is for goods, services, or construction for which there is agency price history, a price comparison of the proposed price versus previous price, if applicable, with the rationale for any increases supported by cost/price analysis data; (3) reasons for multiple award, and multiple award task order contracts; (4) any special terms and conditions included in the proposed contract via the use of cost/price analysis techniques; (5) affirmative finding of responsibility for the selected proposer(s); and (6) efforts to negotiate better value. Upon determination of the most favorable proposal and after obtaining all required approvals, the Contracting Officer shall award the contract to that proposer. (Amended City Record 1/29/2016, eff. 3/1/2016 & 7/1/2016; amended City Record 12/2/2019, eff. 1/1/2020; amended City Record 12/2/2024, eff. 1/1/2025)
