While negotiated RFPs permit the flexibility to negotiate the details of a deal, those details must be negotiated within the guardrails of the originally scoped contract opportunity and originally established process rules and evaluation criteria.
There are several types of RFPs, including business RFPs, construction RFPs, government RFPs, and technology RFPs. The type of RFP used depends on the specific needs and goals of the project.
Negotiated RFP means a Request for Proposal which allows for consecutive or concurrent negotiations to be conducted with Bidders on any of the contract terms including, but not limited to, the technical specifications, commercial terms and/or prices following the process outlined in the Request for Proposal.
An entity may engage in procurement by means of a request for proposals without negotiation where the procuring entity needs to consider the financial aspects of proposals separately and only after completion of examination and evaluation of the technical, qualitative and performance characteristics of the proposals.
This procedure lets you clarify bids with bidders after their submission of fully formed initial tenders. You should use this procedure If you are unable to define how to meet your needs technically and/or you cannot specify the legal or financial requirements of your contract.
The RFP process allows more flexibility than the sealed bid process in the evaluation process. The evaluation committee first evaluates proposals for compliance to the specifications and requirements in the RFP and creates a list of those firms whose proposals meet mandatory requirements.
Competitive negotiation is VITA's recommended procurement method when an agency has a defined IT need and is requesting suppliers to propose the best solution to meet that need. Commit adequate time and resources to gather data for developing the RFP's business, functional and technical requirements.
Seven Due Process Principles for Negotiated RFPs Avoid Overly Prescriptive Approaches. Use Transparent Rules and Criteria. Keep the Award Within Scope of the RFP. Keep the Selected Proponent to Its Offer. Do Not Arbitrarily Terminate Negotiations. Document Your Negotiations. Never Start Work Before Finalizing the Deal.