1. (a) “Aggrieved in connection with the award of a contract” means the condition of being an actual bidder, offeror, or contractor who has been denied the award of a contract as the result of the improper or unlawful award of the contract.
2. (b) “Aggrieved in connection with a solicitation” means the condition of being an actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor interested in submitting a bid, offer, or qualifications, as applicable, in response to a solicitation, but who is denied the opportunity to compete fairly for award of a contract because of improper or unlawful solicitation terms or conduct.
3. (c) “Anticipation to award a contract” means the state’s identification of the person or persons it anticipates contracting with as the result of a solicitation.

4. (d)

   1. (1) “Award of a contract” means the state’s process for formally accepting a responsive bid, proposal, or qualifications as the basis for a contract with the state.
   2. (2) Award of a contract is generally preceded by notice of the state’s anticipation to award a contract.

5. (e)

   1. (1) “Constructive knowledge”, as used in this part, means knowledge or information that a protestor would have by a given date if the protestor had exercised reasonable care or diligence, regardless of whether the protestor actually had the knowledge or information.

   2. (2) It includes knowledge of:

      1. (A) Applicable provisions of Arkansas Procurement Law, Arkansas Code § 19-11-201 et seq., and other applicable law and administrative rules;
      2. (B) Solicitation instructions, criteria, deadlines, and requirements contained in solicitation documents or otherwise available to persons interested in the solicitation or provided in a mandatory presolicitation meeting;
      3. (C) Available public records kept in connection with a solicitation or award of a contract;
      4. (D) Communications or actions regarding the solicitation to any person whose knowledge is imputed to the protestor under the law of agency, fiduciaries, partnership, respondant superior, or otherwise;
      5. (E) Facts not subject to reasonable dispute that are generally known or ascertained by resort to readily available sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned; and
      6. (F) Any other applicable information discoverable by the exercise of reasonable care or diligence, such as a request for information.
6. (f) “Grounds” of the protest are as defined in Arkansas Code § 19-11-244(a)(4).

7. (g)

   1. (1) “Interested party”, when used in relation to a protest in connection with a solicitation, means any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor actually or prospectively participating in a solicitation.
   2. (2) When used in relation to a protest in connection with the award of a contract, it means a bidder, offeror, or contractor who actually submitted a bid or offer or who holds a contract to provide the commodities or services solicited.

8. (h) “Protest” means a written objection from a person setting forth facts showing that the person is an interested party who has been aggrieved in connection with the:

   1. (1) Solicitation of a contract; or
   2. (2) Award of a contract.
9. (i) “Solicitation” means an instance of soliciting bids, proposals, or qualifications for a contract for commodities or services, and includes “competitive bidding,” “competitive sealed bidding,” “competitive sealed proposals,” and “request for qualifications,” as those terms are defined in the Arkansas Procurement Law.

10. (j)

    1. (1) “Submitted” means a protest that conforms to the formal requirements as defined in this part, that has been received by the State Procurement Director or the head of the relevant procurement agency.

    2. (2)

       1. (A) It is not sufficient for a protestor to merely claim a protest was submitted.
       2. (B) Evidence of actual receipt of the protest must be obtained, whether return receipt, confirmation email by the director or the head of the relevant procurement agency, or other adequate evidence of receipt.

Codification Notes: This section was promulgated as R1:19-11-244 of the Procurement Rules prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules.