After the Deadline for Submitting Proposals: Issues to Consider and Decisions to Make

January-29-2004

Area	Procurement, Public/Private Partnerships and Alternative Finance

Summary

The final stage of the procurement process, from the receipt of proposals to the announcement of the contract award, raises a number of practical, policy and legal issues.  While not intended to be a detailed analysis of all the issues related to this stage of the process, this paper will introduce the following selected issues, with an emphasis on the following relevant legal considerations:  (1) the effective use of oral presentations as part of the evaluation process, (2) the fair and disciplined application of evaluation criteria and pricing comparisons, (3) the importance of due diligence research on bidders, (4) the appropriate timing for the announcement of the contract award, (5) the latitude for negotiation, (6) the drafting and signing of the final contract and (7) the importance of debriefing unsuccessful bidders.