§ 102-448. Right to protest; due process.

(a)

Applicability. The provision of this Code section applies to the following Code sections:

(1)

Section 102-373, Competitive sealed bidding;

(2)

Section 102-374, Competitive sealed proposals;

(3)

Section 102-375, Competitive selection procedures for professional and consultant services;

(4)

Section 102-376, Qualification based selection procedures for architectural and engineering services for federally funded projects;

(5)

Section 102-381, Prequalification of offerors (request for qualifications);

(6)

Section 102-382, Request for quotation;

(7)

Section 102-389, Responsibility of offerors;

(8)

Section 102-449, Debarment; and

(9)

Section 102-450, Suspension of contractors.

(b)

Right to protest. Any actual offeror that has submitted a bid/proposal for a particular procurement and is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation or award of the contract shall protest in writing to the purchasing agent after the date that the specific bid or proposal is submitted. No protest will be accepted or considered prior to the date the specific bid or proposal is submitted; it will be considered untimely. All protests shall set forth in full detail the factual and legal basis for the protest and specific relief sought by the protestor. Protests arising from factual or legal basis that the protestor knew or should have known prior to the submission of the bid/proposal must be submitted within three business days of the submission of the bid/proposal. Protests arising from factual or legal basis that the protestor knew or should have known subsequent to the date the bid/proposal was submitted must be submitted within ten business days after the protestor knew or should have known of such basis, but in no event shall any protest be submitted more than ten business days after the award of the contract. Untimely protests will not be considered by the purchasing agent and will be simply denied as untimely. Decisions on timeliness by the purchasing agent are not appealable. This Code section shall be described in all procurement solicitations.

(c)

Authority to resolve protest. The purchasing agent shall have the authority to settle and resolve any and all protest of an aggrieved bidder or offeror concerning the solicitation or award of a contract prior to the filing of an appeal to the procurement hearing officer, where the right to appeal to a hearing officer is allowable under this Code section.

(d)

Stand procurements during protest. When a protest has been properly and timely filed and such filing is before a contract award has been approved and spread on the minutes of the commissioners at an open meeting, or before a purchase order has been signed and issued by the purchasing agent, the purchasing agent shall not award the contract until the protest has been settled; except, the purchasing agent, with the approval of the county manager after consulting with the user department, may make a written determination of the award of a contract without delay if necessary to protect substantial interests of the county.

(e)

Making information on protest available. The purchasing agent shall upon written request, make available to any interested party information submitted that bears on the substance of a protest except where the information is proprietary, confidential, or otherwise submitted or required to be withheld by law or regulation. Entities who desire, for business purposes, to keep its bid or protest documentation confidential shall so request by specifically identifying such information within documents submitted and indicating on the front page of each document that it contains such nonpublic information.

(f)

Decision on protest. If a protest is timely filed, the purchasing agent shall inform the protestor of the decision in writing within fifteen business days or, if the purchasing agent requires more than fifteen business days to render a decision, the purchasing agent will advise the protestor within the initial ten days of the additional amount of time required to render a decision on the protest.

(g)

Finality of decision. A decision under subsection (f) of this section is final and conclusive, unless fraudulent or the protestor, having the right to file under this division, files an administrative appeal with the procurement appeals hearing officer in accordance with this division.

(Res. No. 13-0052, 1-23-13)

Note— Formerly Code, Pt. I, § 2-324.