SEC. 21.4. INVITATIONS FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS OR QUALIFICATIONS.

(a) Authorization; Evaluation Criteria. A Contracting Officer may issue a request for Proposals, or request for qualifications, for the selection of Professional Service Contractors following consideration of the evaluation factors set forth in the request for Proposals, which may include cost, except as prohibited by law. If a department determines that it would be in the best interests of the City to acquire combined Commodities and Services or General Services by means of a request for Proposals or qualifications, rather than an invitation for Bids, such request for Proposals or qualifications shall be issued by the Purchaser. A request for Proposals or qualifications for Professional Services may be issued directly by the department.

(b) Negotiation. The Contracting Officer is authorized to negotiate terms and conditions, including price, with the highest ranked Proposer. If the Contracting Officer cannot conclude a contract that, in the opinion of the Contracting Officer is in the City’s best interest, the Contracting Officer may terminate negotiations with the highest ranked Proposer. In the event that the Contracting Officer cannot conclude negotiations with the next highest ranked Proposer on terms acceptable to the City, then the Contracting Officer may negotiate with each successively ranked Proposer.

(c) Requests for Qualifications. The Purchaser may issue a request for qualifications ("RFQ") to determine the qualifications of prospective Contractors for particular types of Commodities and/or Services to the City. A department may issue a RFQ to determine the qualifications of prospective Contractors for Professional Services to be provided to that department.

(d) Prequalified Lists. The Purchaser may maintain City-wide lists of prequalified contractors for Commodities and Services as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) below, prequalification may be for the following purposes:

(A) maintaining a list of prequalified entities from which Contracting Officers may issue a further Solicitation for future contracts as needed by the City, or

(B) the selection of the highest available ranked Contractor(s) based on ranking of responses to an RFQ.

(2) For Contracts less than or equal to the Minimum Competitive Amount, selection of a Contractor(s) for a particular contract may be made without the use of a further Solicitation provided that the department selecting from the prequalified list shall notify other prequalified list members for that contract and document the selection process. At a minimum, the written documentation shall address the following:

(A) The Commodities and/or Services required to meet the department’s needs;

(B) The proposed Contractor’s unique qualifications or experience to provide the Commodities and/or perform the Services, or why the nature of the Commodities and/or Services requires use of the Contractor; and

(C) The anticipated cost to the City and the department’s determination that such cost will be in the best financial interest of the City.

The department shall maintain the selection documentation for at least three years after termination or expiration of the contract. The Controller shall periodically audit the procurement of these prequalified list contracts as provided in Charter Section F1.106.

(3) Except as provided below, prequalification shall be valid for not more than two years following the date of initial prequalification. Prequalification may be valid for not more than four years so long as both the following two conditions are met:

(A) The City re-opens the list by reissuing the same RFQ within two years of the original RFQ; and,

(B) The City uses the same panel of evaluators to score the responses to the RFQ.

Entities included on the list of prequalified entities pursuant to the original RFQ shall not be required to re-qualify under the re-issued RFQ, but may choose to submit updated information regarding their qualifications when the RFQ is re-issued. A list of prequalified entities may only be extended once under this subsection (d)(3) and may not be used for more than four years from the issuance of the original RFQ.

(e) Content of Requests for Proposals. A request for Proposals shall specify evaluation criteria for selection, and shall reserve the right to reject or cancel the request for Proposals in whole or in part.

(f) Mass-transit Vehicles. Notwithstanding any other provision of the charter or laws of the City, the Public Transportation Department, through its department head and through the Purchaser is authorized to include among its purchasing specifications the use of negotiated procurement procedures for the purchase of mass-transit vehicles.

(g) Purchases of Services or Commodities Substantially Related to the Request for Proposals or Qualifications. The Contracting Officer may, subject to the Contractor’s consent, purchase Services and Commodities not within the original scope advertised in the Request for Proposals or Qualifications, but that are substantially related in nature. Such additional purchases shall be limited in scope in accordance with the Purchaser’s regulations.

(Added by Ord. 156-99, File No. 990743, App. 6/2/99; amended by Ord. 142-16, File No. 160667, App. 7/29/2016, Eff. 8/28/2016; Ord. 255-20, File No. 200787, App. 12/18/2020, Eff. 1/18/2021, Oper. 1/18/2021; Ord. 147-25, File No. 250509, App. 8/5/2025, Eff. 9/5/2025)