(a)

1. (1) The best value approach to contract award selects the proposal in which the combination of technical, quality, operating, and pricing factors most closely meet or exceed the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s requirements.
2. (2) The best value approach could be represented by a simple, straightforward solution with a relatively low cost, or a more complex solution with greater benefits, but a higher cost, being selected.
3. (3) The lowest price proposal may not be the lowest cost solution to the department when maintenance, operations, and replacement costs are considered.
4. (4) The highest price proposal may include technical innovations that the department would value very highly.
5. (5) One of the most difficult parts of selecting a best value proposal relates to establishing a method of evaluating the technical content and price in a way that accurately determines the best value between competing short-list proposers.
6. (6) A clear definition of quality, which could be based on more quantity, type of materials, higher strength, less inconvenience to the public, component life, serviceability of the final product, etc., must be specified in advance and included in the RFP.

(b)

1. (1) The goal of the procurement process is to select the proposal that represents the best value for the project.
2. (2) Best value is determined by a comparison of each proposal’s adjusted price which is determined through a formula established for the project that combines the proposer’s technical score with the FMP.
3. (3) The adjusted price is equivalent to the lowest responsive bidder in a traditional DB-B project.
4. (4) The best value proposal may not be the lowest priced proposal but should be the proposal with the lowest adjusted price.

5. (5) The following three (3) items describe the general steps required to determine the best value for the project:

   1. (A)

(i) The PET should complete the evaluation of the technical proposals prior to opening the price proposals.

1. (ii) The scores must remain confidential until they are combined with the price proposal information;

   1. (B) The PET should open the sealed price proposals and an adjusted price should be calculated for each proposal based on the formula to combine the fixed maximum price (FMP) with the technical score; and

   2. (C)

      1. (i) The formula utilized to combine the technical score and the FMP to determine the adjusted price will be different for each project as the formula will reflect the department vision for the importance of the price versus the technical aspect of each particular project.
      2. (ii) One simple formula for calculating the adjusted price is to divide the FMP in the price proposal by the technical score (as a percentage).
      3. (iii) The proposal that exhibits the best value will be the proposal with the lowest adjusted price.
      4. (iv) An example of a best value selection is included below: BEST VALUE SELECTION EXAMPLE

         Proposer	Technical Score	Fixed Maximum Price	Adjusted Price
         A	90	$66.9 million	$74.33 million
         B	79	$66.3 million	$83.92 million
         C	84	$66.8 million	$79.52 million

      5. (v) In the above example, Proposer A is determined to exhibit the best value for the project.