REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) | RFP Number: 19-067-C

TO ESTABLISH A CONTRACT FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF OFFICE SUPPLIES FOR

ALL THE INSTRUMENTALITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF PUERTO RICO

Date Initial RFP Issued: November 2, 2018

Proposals Due Date: December 7, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. AST

Contact Person: Jacqueline Lozada Nieves, Procurement Assistant Administrator

Issued By:

Administración de Servicios Generales (ASG)

Request for Proposals for Office Supplies RFP # 19-067-C

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Definitions/Acronyms................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Background ................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 The Puerto Rico General Services Administration ....................................................... 2

1.4 Contract Term ............................................................................................................... 2

1.5 RFP Timeline ................................................................................................................ 3

1.6 Request for Clarification............................................................................................... 3

1.7 Proposal Submission ..................................................................................................... 3

1.8 Registered Proposers .................................................................................................... 4

1.9 Unregistered Proposers ................................................................................................. 4

1.10 Proposer Point of Contact & Signature ........................................................................ 5

2.0 Scope ...................................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Pricing (No page limit. Please submit Pricing Worksheet) .......................................... 5

2.2 Technical Approach (Maximum of six (6) pages) ........................................................ 6

2.3 Past Performance (Maximum of three (3) pages) ......................................................... 6

2.4 Additional Information (Maximum of four (4) pages) ................................................. 7

3.0 RFP Response Proposal Format Requirements ..................................................................... 8

3.1 Cover Letter (One (1) page) ......................................................................................... 8

3.2 Acknowledgment to Request for Clarification Response (No page limit) ................... 8

3.3 Pricing (No page limit. Submit Pricing Worksheet) ..................................................... 9

3.4 Technical Approach (Maximum of six (6) pages) ........................................................ 9

3.5 Past Performance (Maximum of three (3) pages) ......................................................... 9

3.6 Additional Information (Maximum of four (4) pages) ................................................. 9

4.0 Evaluation, Selection, and Award.......................................................................................... 9

4.1 Round 1: Initial Evaluation ........................................................................................... 9

4.1.1 Pricing Proposal Evaluation .............................................................................. 9

4.1.2 Technical Approach Evaluation ...................................................................... 10

4.2 Round 2: Best and Final Offer Evaluation ................................................................. 10

4.3 Selection ..................................................................................................................... 10

4.4 Award ......................................................................................................................... 11

5.0 Other Terms & Conditions .................................................................................................. 11

5.1 Review board period ................................................................................................... 11

5.2 Rejection of Proposals; Cancellation of RFP ............................................................. 11

5.3 Waiver Informalities ................................................................................................... 12

5.4 Errors and Omissions in Proposal............................................................................... 12

5.5 Cost of Preparing Proposal ......................................................................................... 12

5.6 Prohibited Communications ....................................................................................... 12

5.7 Public Announcements ............................................................................................... 12

5.8 Deposit and Guarantees .............................................................................................. 12

6.0 Proposer’s Certifications...................................................................................................... 12

7.0 Confidentiality of Responses & Proprietary Information .................................................... 13

7.1 Redacted Copy ............................................................................................................ 13

7.2 Ownership of Submitted Proposal .............................................................................. 13

8.0 General Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................ 14

Request for Proposals for Office Supplies RFP # 19-067-C

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8.1 Distribution ................................................................................................................. 14

8.2 Quoted Prices .............................................................................................................. 14

8.3 Storage ........................................................................................................................ 14

8.4 Purchase Quantity ....................................................................................................... 14

8.5 Invoicing ..................................................................................................................... 14

8.6 Payments ..................................................................................................................... 14

8.7 Breach ......................................................................................................................... 14

8.8 Code of Ethics............................................................................................................. 15

8.9 Anti-Discrimination Clause ........................................................................................ 15

9.0 Local Preference .................................................................................................................. 15

10.0 FOMB Contract Review ...................................................................................................... 15

List of Tables

Table 1.5-1. RFP General Timeline. ............................................................................................... 3

Table 2.2-1. Technical Approach Requirements. ........................................................................... 6

Table 4.1-1. Evaluation Guide. ..................................................................................................... 10

Table 4.1-2. Evaluation Scale. ...................................................................................................... 10

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1.0 Introduction

1.1 Definitions/Acronyms

“ASG” means the Puerto Rico Administración de Servicios Generales (or the Puerto Rico General

Services Administration).

“Auction Board” shall mean the Auction Board of the Administración de Servicios Generales (or

General Services Administration) of the Government of Puerto Rico.

“Best Value Trade Off Selection” or “Best Value” refers to the expected outcome of an

acquisition that, in the Government’s estimation, provides the greatest overall benefit to the

Government in response to the requirements.

“Discounts” refer to the reduction on an item's price included in the Tail Spend and other

incentives offered by the Proposer quoted in the ‘Discounts and Incentives’ Tab in the Pricing

Worksheet.

“Electronic Signature” refers to a digital image of a hand-written signature that serves as an

official signature on binding legal documents

“Financial Oversight Management Board” or “FOMB” refers to the Board created under the

Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act of 2016 (“PROMESA”).

“Government” means the Government of Puerto Rico. It is inclusive of but not limited to other

government branches, municipalities and instrumentalities.

“Government Entity” refers to any department, agency, board, commission, body, bureau, office,

public corporation or instrumentality of the Executive Branch, whether existing or to be created in

the future.

“Instrumentality” means any entity, agency, or public corporation of the Government of Puerto

Rico.

“Market Basket” refers to the list of items provided in the Pricing Worksheet for which item-

specific pricing is requested.

“Office Supplies” refers to a range of consumable materials that are used on a regular, daily basis

by government offices and instrumentalities in an office environment to perform daily work

assignments. Office Supplies examples include but are not limited to Pens, Pencils, Markers, Note

Pads, Paper, etc.

“Pricing Worksheet” or “Worksheet” is the excel file used to provide price proposals for this

RFP.

“Proposer” or “Respondent” means a(n) (i) natural person, (ii) legal person, (iii) joint venture,

or (iv) partnership, or (v) consortium of individuals, and/or partnerships, and/or companies or other

entities that submit a response to this RFP that is not currently debarred in any Federal, State and/or

Local jurisdictions.

“Price Reasonableness” or “Fair and Reasonable Price” refers to an assessment by the

Government on any price proposed by a respondent to the Office Supply items included in the

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Market Basket. The prices will be assessed for fairness and reasonable by applying one or more

statistical price analysis techniques that identify outlier prices.

“RFP” means this Request for Proposals and addenda issued by ASG.

“Tail Spend” is spend by the Government on Office Supplies on items not listed in the Market

Basket.

“Vendor” or “Awarded Proposer” or “Selected Proposer” means a Proposer or Respondent

awarded a contract resulting from this RFP.

1.2 Background

The Government of Puerto Rico (“Government”) is responsible for administering public

resources and for providing all necessary public services to the Puerto Rican general public,

approximately 3.3 million people. The Executive Branch is the largest employer in Puerto Rico

with more than 150,000 workers.

The Government’s current Fiscal Plan calls for “Financial Control Reforms” to improve budget to

cash and overall financial reporting and controls. Procurement reform has been identified as one

of the key enablers of this financial reform. To pursue these procurement reforms, the Government

is implementing modern practices to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement

operations. The Government is currently going through a procurement reform which includes

strategic sourcing of categories of goods and services identified as essential to achieve

government-wide savings and significantly reduce the cost of purchased goods and services.

ASG is issuing this government-wide Request for Proposals ("RFP") to invite interested suppliers

("Proposers") to submit proposals to provide office supplies for all Government instrumentalities.

The current estimated government-wide annual spend for office supplies is approximately $15

million dollars.

1.3 The Puerto Rico General Services Administration

In 2011, the Reorganization Plan Number 3 (Reorganization Plan) was enacted in order to

restructure the Government of Puerto Rico’s procurement process and to establish the

Administración de Servicios Generales (or General Services Administration) as the governmental

entity in charge of implementing Puerto Rico Government procurement policy the public policy.

ASG covers the purchase and acquisition process of non-professional goods and services for the

Government of Puerto Rico.

Under the Reorganization Plan, ASG has the authority to act as the procuring and negotiating entity

for all Government entities. This includes the authority to procure the purchase and acquisition of

goods and services on behalf of all Government entities.

1.4 Contract Term

The term of the contract(s) expected to be awarded at the end of this RFP process will commence

upon ASG’s execution of the contract as per ASG’s and government-wide contracting guidelines

and will be in effect for one year after execution, with two one-year options, exercisable at the

Government’s discretion. ASG reserves the right to cancel the contract before expiration under

several contract breach circumstances from the selected Proposer, cancel contract work upon

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finalization of duties under the scope of work, or not extend the contract term, and re-bid the scope

of work after term expiration.

ASG may award a contract to one or more Proposers.

The main purpose of the RFP and resulting contract is to achieve government-wide savings on the

purchase of Office Supplies.

1.5 RFP Timeline

The timeline for this RFP is presented below in Table 1.5-1. All items must be received by the

stated deadline.

Table 1.5-1. RFP General Timeline.

Target Date Event

11/02//2018 Release of RFP

11/14/2018 Last Day to Submit Questions (Request For Clarifications) – 1:00 p.m. (Atlantic):

rfpquestions@asg.pr.gov

11/20/2018 Issuance of Answers to Questions by ASG – 1:00 p.m. (Atlantic)

12/07/2018 Proposal Submission Deadline – 1:00 p.m. (Atlantic): procurement@asg.pr.gov

12/17/2018 Submission of Best And Final Offer - 1:00 p.m. (Atlantic): procurement@asg.pr.gov

12/27/2018 Last day to submit RUL registration application to be considered for award.

01/09/2019 Award Announcement – 1:00 p.m. (Atlantic)

Please note that the RFP timeline includes target dates that are subject to change. It is the

responsibility of Proposers to periodically review their emails and the ASG website

(www.asg.pr.gov/ReformaCompras/Pages/default.aspx) for all information and updates related

to this RFP.

1.6 Request for Clarification

Request for Clarifications and Questions relating to this RFP must be submitted via email to

rfpquestions@asg.pr.gov no later than 1:00 pm on November 14th. Submitted questions should

make reference to the RFP number and provide the point of contact for the prospective Proposer.

ASG will compile all questions and issue answers to all questions to prospective Proposers by

November 20th on its website (www.asg.pr.gov/ReformaCompras/Pages/default.aspx).

Proposers are expected to download from the ASG website the document containing all the

answers to the Request for Clarification. This document must be submitted along with the RFP

response. Proposers should acknowledge that they have read the answers to the questions by

including the acknowledgment language in the Cover Letter as identified in section 3.1.

Please do not call with questions as they will not be answered by phone.

1.7 Proposal Submission

Proposals are to be submitted via email to procurement@asg.pr.gov by December 7th, 2018 no

later than 1:00 PM Atlantic Standard Time. Responses to the RFP submitted after the prescribed

deadline will not be accepted.

Proposals will not be opened before 1:00 pm, December 7th (proposal due date).

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The Proposer shall submit the response via email to the Auction Board Secretary. The email subject

line must contain the following:

Attention: Auction Board Secretary: Response to RFP 19-067-C from <Proposer Name>

The naming convention for the submissions is as follows:

Cover Letter: <Proposer Name>_19-067-C_Cover Letter_<MMDDYYYY>.docx

Acknowledgement to Request for Clarification Response: <Proposer Name>_19-067-

C_Acknowledgement to Request for Clarification Response_<MMDDYYYY>.pdf

Pricing Worksheet: <Proposer Name>_19-067-C_Pricing

Worksheet_<MMDDYYYY>.xlsx

Technical Approach: <Proposer Name>_19-067-C_Technical

Approach_<MMDDYYYY>.docx

Past Performance: <Proposer Name>_19-067-C_Past

Performance_<MMDDYYYY>.docx

Additional Information: <Proposer Name>_19-067-C_Additional

Information_<MMDDYYYY>.docx

All Proposers are required to submit a redacted electronic copy of their proposal as outlined in

Section 7.0 (Confidentiality of Responses & Proprietary Information). If no identifiable redacted

copy of the proposal is included with the submission, ASG will consider the submitted copy as

both the redacted and un-redacted copy of the proposal.

If the proposal is submitted multiple times, ASG will only accept the latest version submitted

before the deadline.

1.8 Registered Proposers

Any Proposer interested in contracting with the Government must be registered in the “Registro

Unico de Licitadores” (RUL) in accordance with the specifications provided in the RUL

Registration Requirements included in this RFP.

Registration in the RUL must be active and all documents required for active registration must be

up to date. If the documents need to be updated for any reason before the adjudication of this RFP,

the proposer shall have ten (10) calendar days starting the next day after the Best and Final Offer

date in Table 1.6-1 to submit all required documents in order to update the registration status.

1.9 Unregistered Proposers

Any Proposer interested in contracting with the Government must be registered in the “Registro

Unico de Licitadores” (RUL) in accordance with the specifications provided in the RUL

Registration Requirements included in this RFP.

Proposals from Proposers not registered or inactive in the RUL will not be rejected for such reason.

Nonetheless, the proposer shall have ten (10) calendar days starting the next day after the Best and

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Final Offer date in Table 1.6-1 to submit all required documents and application to become a

registered supplier in the RUL.

1.10 Proposer Point of Contact & Signature

All submitted proposals must provide a clear point of contact that includes:

Name of point of contact

Address

Email address of point of contact

Proposals that do not identify a point of contact and contact information may be rejected.

The cover letter of the proposals must be signed with indelible ink or blue pen by an authorized

agent of the Proposer. Electronic signatures that comply with this requirement are accepted.

2.0 Scope

This RFP seeks to receive responses for Proposers who want to be considered for providing office

supplies to all the instrumentalities of the Government of Puerto Rico under a contract with ASG

resulting from this RFP. The Government has requirements in the following four areas: 1) Pricing,

2) Technical Approach, 3) Past Performance (not evaluated), and 4) Additional Information (not

evaluated).

The proposals shall be clear, concise, and include sufficient detail for an effective evaluation, and

for substantiating the validity of stated claims. Proposals shall not simply rephrase or restate the

Government’s requirements, but rather shall provide a convincing rationale to address how the

Proposer intends to meet the requirements. Proposers shall assume that the Government has no

prior knowledge of their experience or best practices, and that qualifications and past performance

reviews will be based only on the information presented in the Proposer’s proposal.

2.1 Pricing (No page limit. Please submit Pricing Worksheet)

The Pricing Worksheet must be submitted as a separate file in electronic form via email. The

Pricing Worksheet has instructions on how to provide pricing information.

The Pricing Worksheet contains the product description (and other relevant information) needed

to provide price proposals. It is made up of representative products families (sub-categories) of

office supplies consumed across the entire Government and has an annual spend of approximately

$15.0 million ($12.0 million in Market Basket and $3.0 million in Tail Spend).

The Pricing Worksheet asks Proposers to provide unit price proposals for items that meet the item

descriptions. Proposers are also asked to provide alternate items that are the functional equivalent

but may be offered at a lower price (e.g., generic products with same functional characteristics). If

the Proposer leaves any price proposal for an item or its alternate item blank, ASG will assume

that such information is not available.

The “Discount and Incentives” Tab contains discount structures that can be offered by Proposers

for Tail Spend items at a product family level for which specific pricing by item is not provided

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as part of the Worksheet. It also lists various incentive structures that the supplier is willing to

provide.

All pricing submitted in the Pricing Worksheet must include freight.

2.2 Technical Approach (Maximum of six (6) pages)

The Technical Approach must detail the Proposer’s approach for meeting each of the technical

requirements, and must reflect a practical and feasible method to accomplish them. The technical

requirements are as follows:

Table 2.2-1. Technical Approach Requirements.

Performance

Areas

Name Requirement

I Tail Spend

Management

1. Please describe the program or approach your organization uses to manage Tail

Spend for your customers. Tail Spend is spend by the Government on office

supplies items that are not included in the Pricing Worksheet.

2. For items not listed in the “Market Basket Items” tab of the “Pricing

Worksheet”, Proposers should provide a list of items that they supply in Puerto

Rico. This should be provided via an online catalogue link, or an electronic

version of the catalogue via email.

II Reporting

1. The Government of Puerto Rico will require Proposers who are awarded a

contract to provide a monthly line-item usage report in electronic format (e.g.

Excel or CSV, etc.) with the following fields: Manufacturer Name,

Manufacturer Part Number, Item Description, Unit Price, Order Quantity, Order

Date, Invoice Date, and Invoice Amount for all items that are contracted as well

as all Tail Spend items. Please describe your approach for meeting this

requirement.

III Ordering & Invoicing

1. Please describe your organization's process for communicating back orders.

2. The Government would like to have the option to place orders through the

internet using a vendor-provided website that contains a Government-specific

catalog containing pre-negotiated prices. Please describe your approach for

meeting this requirement, and the timeline for making such a website available

after award.

IV Account Management

& Customer Service

1. Describe ongoing account servicing approach and address the following:

Background, and responsibilities of the primary person that will be

servicing the account

Frequency of turnover on the account management team

Transition plan if not the incumbent

2. Please describe your organization's ability to provide customer service support

during the hours of 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Atlantic Standard Time.

2.3 Past Performance (Maximum of three (3) pages)

Proposers must provide contact information (name, title, company, address, phone number, and

email address) for at least three references (public sector clients preferred) where the Proposer has

executed work that is similar to the work requested in this RFP. References shall be dated within

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the past three (3) years of the RFP closing date. Proposers must provide the following details for

each of the three references:

• Description of the scope and services provided

• Dollar amount of the contract/purchases over the course of a year

• Reporting provided to each of the references (type of reports and how often)

ASG may contact these references to verify this information.

Responses to Past Performance will be taken into consideration to understand vendor capabilities,

but will not be evaluated or scored.

2.4 Additional Information (Maximum of four (4) pages)

In a maximum of four (4) pages, Proposers shall submit answers to the additional questions listed

in Table 2.4.1 for each of the Performance Areas of the Additional Information: Price and Catalog

Item Changes, Vendor Performance, General Services. Table 2.4.1

Performance

Area

Name Question

I

Price and

Catalog

Item

Changes

1. What is your process for communicating price decreases or increases?

2. Please describe your organization's process for notifying customers when items are

discontinued. How are replacement items communicated?

II Vendor

Performance

1. What is your organization's current overall order accuracy rate?

2. What are your current delivery lead-time options with your current clients in Puerto Rico

(e.g., next day, 2 days)?

3. What is your organization's current overall line item fill rate?

4. What is your organization's on-time delivery rate?

III General

Service

1. Vendors may be required to participate in quarterly business reviews with the Government.

Will your organization agree with this requirement?

2. Please describe your organization’s ability to send invoices and receive orders placed

through online enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms.

3. Please describe your organization's return policy for orders incorrectly processed by your

company.

4. Assuming your organization is awarded the business contained in the “Market Basket

Items” tab, approximately what percentage of your revenue would the Government

represent?

5. Assuming your organization is awarded the business for all items contained in the ‘Market

Basket Items’, please describe your capacity to fulfill all the annual volume projections of

those items. If you are unable to meet the volume commitments of one or more items,

please list it here.

6. Is your organization capable of processing purchase orders, order receipt confirmations,

and invoices via EDI?

7. Most of the orders are expected to be delivered in San Juan’s Metropolitan Area (see Zone

#3, highlighted in red on the map below), however, there will be some orders outside this area.

Please describe your organization's ability to fulfill orders to the entire island of Puerto Rico.

Please indicate whether your organization is not able to deliver to a particular region.

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Performance

Area

Name Question

Responses to Additional Information will be taken into consideration to understand vendor

capabilities, but will not be evaluated or scored.

3.0 RFP Response Proposal Format Requirements

The proposal submissions must contain the sections below and respect page limits stated for each

section. Pages submitted in excess of the stated page limitations will not be taken into consideration

and will not be evaluated. Pages must be single-spaced on 8½ by 11inch paper, with a minimum

one-inch margin all around. Pages shall be numbered consecutively and use a 12-point font of

Times New Roman.

Respondent’s proposal shall be formatted as follows:

3.1 Cover Letter (One (1) page)

Proposers must submit a one (1) page cover letter that includes the following:

• Full Name of the Proposer’s Organization

• Name of Contact Person

• Contact Information (phone, e-mail, and postal address) for technical and cost issues or

questions

• RFP Number

• RFP Release Date and Time

• Signature of Contact Person

Please include the following language in the Cover Letter:

“I hereby acknowledge that I have received and read the responses to the Proposer questions

summarized in the Acknowledgement to Request for Clarification Response document”.

3.2 Acknowledgment to Request for Clarification Response (No page limit)

Proposers must download from the ASG website the document containing all the answers to the

Request for Clarification. It is expected that the proposer will review the answers and provide an

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acknowledgement of the same in the Cover letter. Further, proposers must rename the downloaded

document (as instructed in Section 1.7) and attach it along with the their RFP response.

3.3 Pricing (No page limit. Submit Pricing Worksheet)

Proposers shall provide pricing for the items listed in the Pricing Worksheet, which must be

submitted as a separate file in electronic form via email.

Proposers should use the format provided and follow the Worksheet Instructions to populate the

Worksheet. If any Proposer makes substantial omissions or format changes to the Worksheet, ASG

reserves the right to deduct points from the Proposer’s score or reject the entire proposal.

3.4 Technical Approach (Maximum of six (6) pages)

In a maximum of six (6) pages, the Proposers should provide answers to the questions listed for

each of the Performance Areas of the Technical Approach: Tail Spend Management, Reporting,

Ordering & Invoicing, and Account Management & Customer Service.

3.5 Past Performance (Maximum of three (3) pages)

In a maximum of three (3) pages, Proposer should provide responses to the information requested

in Section 2.3 (Past Performance (Maximum of three (3) pages)).

Responses to Past Performance will be taken into consideration to understand vendor capabilities,

but will not be evaluated or scored.

3.6 Additional Information (Maximum of four (4) pages)

In a maximum of four (4) pages, Proposers shall submit answers to the additional questions listed

in Table 2.4.1 for each of the Performance Areas of the Additional Information: Price and Catalog

Item Changes, Vendor Performance, General Services.

Responses to Additional Information will be taken into consideration to understand vendor

capabilities, but will not be evaluated or scored.

4.0 Evaluation, Selection, and Award

4.1 Round 1: Initial Evaluation

The Government expects to award one or multiple contracts for the requirements outlined in this

RFP to the proposers that present the Best Value to the Government. The Auction Board will

evaluate the Pricing Proposal and Technical Approach and decide on an award scenario.

At any point during the evaluation period, ASG reserves the right to contact Proposers for

clarifications about their Proposals. The answers to these clarifications will not aim to obtain

additional information not originally submitted in the proposal, but aim to obtain general

clarification on its content.

4.1.1 Pricing Proposal Evaluation

Prices will be evaluated for reasonableness and fairness. Prices will be evaluated on an item-by-

item basis. However, it is possible that an award for any given item may not go to the Proposer

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with the lowest price if in the judgement of the Government, the higher-priced Proposer offers the

best overall value to the Government when also considering the technical requirements.

4.1.2 Technical Approach Evaluation

The Technical Approach will be evaluated to determine the extent to which it demonstrates the

Proposer’s ability to fulfill the technical requirements. Each of Performance Areas listed in the

Technical Approach: Tail Spend Management, Reporting, Ordering & Invoicing, and Account

Management & Customer Service, will be evaluated based on the evaluation guide detailed below

in Table 4.1-1. A Proposer that achieves the highest rating for the four Performance Areas will

obtain a maximum score of one-hundred (100) points for the Technical Approach.

Table 4.1-1. Evaluation Guide.

Performance Area Maximum Points

Tail Spend

Management 40

Reporting 20

Ordering & Invoicing 25

Account Management

& Customer Service 15

The score obtained for a particular Performance Area is dictated by the ability of the Proposer to

satisfactorily meet the requirements of that Performance Area. Responses to questions in each

Performance Area will be scored based on the Evaluation scale detailed below in Table 4.1-2.

Table 4.1-2. Evaluation Scale.

Outstanding

(100% of Maximum Score for a

Performance Area)

Response indicates an exceptional approach and understanding of the requirements

and contains multiple strengths.

Good

(75% of Maximum Score for a

Performance Area)

Response indicates a thorough approach and understanding of the requirements and

contains at least one strength.

Acceptable

(50% of Maximum Score for a

Performance Area)

Response indicates an adequate approach and understanding of the requirements.

Unacceptable

(0% of Maximum Score for a

Performance Area)

Response does not meet requirements of the RFP, and thus, contains one or more

deficiencies and is thereby un-awardable.

4.2 Round 2: Best and Final Offer Evaluation

Based on the responses from Round 1, if the objectives of the RFP are not met a Best and Final

Offer will be requested from the Proposers to allow them the opportunity to submit their last and

most attractive pricing.

4.3 Selection

The pricing received in the Best and Final Offer will be re-evaluated to find an optimal scenario

that meets the objectives of the RFP. The Auction Board will examine all proposals submitted

before making an award, taking into considerations evaluators’ recommendations.

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4.4 Award

Upon adjudication of the award(s) by the Auction Board, the Secretary of the Board will notify all

Proposers. The notification of the award of the RFP will not constitute the formal agreement

between the parties. It will be necessary to execute the corresponding contract.

a. Commitment by Award: No Proposer is authorized to deliver merchandise or offer services

without a contract being awarded, therefore, no Government Agency or Instrumentality will

guarantee payment without a contract. After the contract is executed, the Government can place

purchase orders for merchandise or services.

Upon award issuance, the selected Proposer must procure the guarantees required under the

General Terms and Conditions of the Contract, meet all the requirements set forth in those General

Terms and Conditions, and provide proof of such guarantees to ASG to establish the contract. If

the selected Proposer refuses to enter into such contract or does not sign said contract within the

time specified in the Notice of Award or specified by the Procurement Contracts Unit of ASG, and

has not submitted reasonable prior justification, the Proposer shall not be considered to have

entered into a contract with ASG. In such a situation, ASG’s Administrator may apply the

provisions of Article 76 of Regulation 5 (3380) "Auction Rules".

5.0 Other Terms & Conditions

5.1 Review board period

Any party adversely affected by a final decision or adjudication of the Auctions Board, may file a

Request for Review with the Puerto Rico Procurement Review Board, within twenty calendar days

(20) after the date on which notice of the adjudication is mailed.

If a Request for Review is filed, the Procurement Board shall deliver a copy of the RFP’s

administrative file to the Puerto Rico Procurement Review Board within 5 days after receipt of the

notice of review.

On the same day that the Notice of Reconsideration is filed, the party requesting review shall notify

the Auctions Board, and all proposers and interested parties according to the requirements

approved under Chapter VIII of the Puerto Rico General Services Reorganization Plan, Num. 3,

2011.

5.2 Rejection of Proposals; Cancellation of RFP

Issuance of this RFP does not constitute a commitment to award a contract. ASG reserves the right

to accept or reject, in whole or part, and without further explanation, any or all proposals submitted

and/or cancel this RFP and reissue it or another version of it, if ASG deems that doing so is in the

best interest of the Government.

Additionally, the Government reserves the right to make investigations as it deems necessary as to

the qualifications or perceived conflicts of interest of any and all Proposers submitting proposals

in response to this RFP. Any appearance of a conflict of interest shall constitute sufficient cause

for the outright rejection of a proposal(s). In the event that any or all proposals are rejected, the

Government reserves the right to re-solicit proposals.

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5.3 Waiver Informalities

The Government reserves the right to waive any minor format non-compliance and/or informalities

of submitted proposals if doing so is in the best interest of the government.

5.4 Errors and Omissions in Proposal

ASG reserves the right to reject a proposal that contains a substantial error or omission. ASG also

reserves the right to request correction of any errors or omissions and/or to request any clarification

or additional information from any Proposer, without opening up clarifications for all Proposers.

5.5 Cost of Preparing Proposal

All costs associated with the response to this proposal are the sole responsibility of the Proposer.

5.6 Prohibited Communications

Communications with other representatives of the Government regarding any matter related to the

contents of this RFP are prohibited during the submission and selection processes. Failure to

comply with these communications restrictions may result in rejection of the proposal. Proposers

should rely only on representations, statements, or explanations contained in this RFP, in

documents that ASG provides to Proposers and in any formal written addenda as may be issued

by ASG at any time during this RFP process.

5.7 Public Announcements

Any information or public announcement related to this RFP will be made by ASG through its

website (www.asg.pr.gov/ReformaCompras/Pages/default.aspx). Any information or other

public announcements related to this RFP shall not be made by any party, including Proposers,

without the prior written approval of ASG.

5.8 Deposit and Guarantees

Performance Bond: This deposit will be backed by the Proposer whereby the Proposer assures

the Government that it will comply with the terms of the contract arising from this RFP. The

deposit (payable at the time of award notification) will ensure that the supplier fulfills its

obligations according to the terms and conditions of its proposal. Failure to comply and having to

go to the next supplier, the price difference will be covered by this guarantee. This guarantee must

be original. For this RFP, a performance bond of twenty-five percent (25%) of the Proposer’s

proposal value is required.

6.0 Proposer’s Certifications

By the act of submitting a proposal, the person signing on behalf of the Proposer certifies, under

the penalty of perjury, that, to the best of the Proposer's and such person's knowledge and belief:

The Pricing and Technical Approach in the proposal have been arrived at independently without

collusion, consultation, communication, or agreement, for the purpose of restricting competition,

as to any matter relating to such Pricing, Technical Approach, and Past Performance with any other

Proposer or with any other competitor who is not a Proposer.

Unless otherwise required by law, the Pricing and Technical Approach that have been proposed

have not been knowingly disclosed by the Proposer and will not knowingly be disclosed by the

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Proposer prior to the proposal submission deadline, directly or indirectly, to any other Proposer or

to any other competitor who is not a Proposer.

No attempt has been made or will be made by the Proposer to induce any other person, partnership,

corporation, or Government Entity to submit or not submit a proposal for the purposes of affecting

competition.

The Proposer is not in arrears to the Government upon any debt or contract, has not defaulted upon

any obligation to the Government, and has not been declared "not responsible" or been disqualified

to do business by the Government, any other State in the Union or the federal government, nor is

there any proceeding pending relating to the responsibility or qualification of the Proposer to

receive public contracts.

The Proposer is aware of, and agrees to abide by, all the terms and conditions of this RFP.

7.0 Confidentiality of Responses & Proprietary Information

Upon completion of this RFP process and after the award has been announced, ASG will make

public its report regarding the selection process, which shall contain specific information included

in the proposal and related to the process. ASG will not divulge information designated by the

Proposer in the proposal as confidential, proprietary or privileged because it is related to trade

secrets, pricing, and proprietary or privileged information. All information considered by the

Proposer as confidential, proprietary and privileged needs to be designated as such in the proposal.

ASG may reject proposals containing substantial contents marked as confidential, proprietary or

privileged. Provision of any information marked as confidential or proprietary shall not prevent

ASG from disclosing such information if required by law. The ultimately awarded contract(s) and

all prices set forth therein shall not be considered confidential or proprietary, and such information

may be made publicly available.

7.1 Redacted Copy

All Proposers are required to submit a redacted copy of their proposal that excludes all confidential

information not to be public. ASG reserves the right to make public the redacted copies of the

proposals at the conclusion of the RFP process. If a Proposer does not submit a redacted copy,

ASG will assume that the original copy of the proposal can be made public.

Hence, the un-redacted copy of the proposal should identify all confidential information and the

redacted copy of the proposal should exclude all confidential information not to be public as

outlined in section 7.0 of this document. Any information not identified as confidential in the un-

redacted proposal will be deemed as not confidential.

7.2 Ownership of Submitted Proposal

All materials submitted in response to this RFP shall become the property of ASG. Selection or

rejection of a proposal does not affect this provision.

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8.0 General Terms and Conditions

8.1 Distribution

The proposed prices include freight and handling expenses until the final delivery of the items,

designated by the requesting instrumentality, with no separate invoice line-item for shipping cost.

8.2 Quoted Prices

The prices offered will remain fixed during the term of the contract that is granted, unless mutually

agreed to by the Vendor and ASG.

8.3 Storage

Neither the Government, its entities nor ASG will be responsible for any costs associated with the

storage of inventory that is warehoused by the awarded suppliers in order to comply with the

requirements of this RFP, or subsequent contractual obligations.

8.4 Purchase Quantity

A contract resulting of this RFP does not guarantee any number of purchases of the goods under

such contract. The purchase order will indicate exact quantities; instrumentalities must comply

with quantity limits.

8.5 Invoicing

Any invoice submitted to the Government must contain the following certification:

Under penalty of absolute nullity, I certify that no public servant of ASG is a party or has any

interest in the profits or benefits of the contract or purchase order of this invoice; if the public

servant is a party or has interest in the profits or benefits of the contract, the servant has mediated

a prior exemption. The only consideration for supplying the goods or services of the contract has

been the payment agreed with the authorized representative of ASG that issues the purchase order.

8.6 Payments

The instrumentalities will process the payment in accordance with the provisions of Circular Letter

1300-02-10 of the Department of the Treasury that states: "It shall be the responsibility of the

agencies to require the supplier to deliver the invoices in no more than ten (10) days after the end

of the period or date of delivery of the good or service."

8.7 Breach

If the Proposer fails to comply with any of the terms and conditions once a contract is signed, ASG

will cancel the contract immediately, execute the performance bond and may exclude the Vendor

from the RUL for no less than one (1) year and no more than three (3) years, as stipulated in

Regulation 6 (3381) "Regulation of Procurement" of the Administración de Servicios Generales,

as amended. In addition, ASG reserves the right to apply any other sanctions as provided by

existing regulations and those agreed in the contract.

The measures taken in case of non-compliance shall be imposed only by ASG, after investigation

of facts, upon communication, and giving the Vendor an opportunity to be heard.

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8.8 Code of Ethics

Every Vendor and their employees must observe the highest principles of excellence, integrity,

and honesty, both in relation to competitors and the Government of Puerto Rico The Code is

available at http://www2.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/leyesreferencia/PDF/C%C3%B3digos/84-

2002/84-2002-.pdf

8.9 Anti-Discrimination Clause

ASG do not discriminate because of race, color, gender, origin or social status, political or religious

beliefs, age, national origin, for being a victim or being perceived as a victim of domestic violence

or sexual harassment, veteran status, identity or sexual orientation (real or perceived), physical,

mental or sensory impairment.

9.0 Local Preference

In accordance with Article 34 of the Puerto Rico General Services Administration Reorganization

Plan Num. 3, 2011, The Administration shall condition the approval and validation of any purchase

order, public bid, acquisition of goods or nonprofessional services to compliance with the

preferential acquisition policy set forth in Act 14-2004, as amended, known as the “Investment in

Puerto Rican Industry Act,” Act 129-2005, as amended, known as the “Government of the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Procurement Reserve Act,” and Act 253-2006, and compliance

with those measures that ensure compliance with such policy.

10.0 FOMB Contract Review

All contracts resulting from this RFP are subject to review by the FOMB in accordance with

FOMB contract review policy and related amendments. Please refer to the FOMB Contract

Review Policies available at https://juntasupervision.pr.gov/documents/.