(a)

1. (1) A short-list proposer that will develop a proposal will require a clear understanding of the project to be successful.
2. (2) Project understanding can be derived from the information provided by the Arkansas Department of Transportation in the RFP and through the one-on-one meeting process as a formal interaction with the DPT, Arkansas Department of Transportation staff, and other groups involved in the project development.
3. (3) The accepted industry understanding is the technical score awarded to a short-list proposer is proportional to the information gained and reflected in the proposal.
4. (4) Potential proposers will start researching the project understanding very early in the life of the project development.

(b)

1. (1) Prior to initial advertisement of the project, the project information released to interested parties should be documented and released in a consistent form to all that inquire about the project.

2. (2) A policy must be established early in the project development to determine:

   1. (A) How the Arkansas Department of Transportation will provide unsolicited project information;
   2. (B) How to respond to information requests; and
   3. (C) What types of information will be released.
3. (3) Once a department project office (DPO) is formed, all communications should be shifted to the DPO and any other Arkansas Department of Transportation offices should refrain from accepting or responding to any nongovernment communications about the project.
4. (4) When a PD is assigned to the project, all communication should be focused through the PD, or any authorized designee, and all nongovernmental correspondence should be released through the PD.

(c)

1. (1) During the development of the proposal, the short-list proposer will submit a request for clarification (RFC) to the DPT requesting additional information to obtain a better vision of the project requirements to assist with the preparation of the proposal.
2. (2) Some RFC can be simple clarification of terms, timelines, or wording.
3. (3) However, some requests will be more complicated and require a considerable amount of effort to research and respond.
4. (4) The DPT should be prepared to address and formally respond to the RFC by a preapproved process to facilitate the investigation and response to such requests in a timely manner.
5. (5) The DPT should define the formal process to be adopted for the project and it should be included in the RFP.

(d)

1. (1) The development of proposals is very competitive in nature and the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the DPT, and the PET should maintain confidentiality during this process.
2. (2) Any response to an RFC generated based on a confidential communication regarding a short-list proposer’s process or as part of a one-on-one meeting should be documented and the response provided only to that particular short-list proposer.
3. (3) Responses to RFC provided in a public forum, meeting, or occurring early in the process prior to initiating private communications with the short-list proposers should be released to all short-list proposers.
4. (4) Any RFC that identifies an error in the RFP documents should be released to all short-list proposers regardless of how the RFC is provided.

(e)

1. (1) Website communication with stakeholders during the project development and advertisement is an effective tool to provide available information and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
2. (2) The FAQs should be posted on the project website and should be maintained throughout the project development.
3. (3) A project website could also be used during the selection process to post short-list proposer questions and Arkansas Department of Transportation responses to nonconfidential questions as well as to provide addenda to any publicly released documents.