S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-1530 – Competitive sealed proposals

(1) Conditions for Use. If a purchasing agency determines in writing that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the State, a contract may be entered into by competitive sealed proposals subject to the provisions of Section 11-35-1520 and the ensuing regulations, unless otherwise provided in this section. The board may provide by regulation that it is either not practicable or not advantageous to the State to procure specified types of supplies, services, information technology, or construction by competitive sealed bidding. Contracts for the design-build, design-build-operate-maintain, or design-build-finance-operate-maintain project delivery methods specified in Article 9 of this code must be entered into by competitive sealed proposals, except as otherwise provided in Sections 11-35-1550 (Small purchases), 11-35-1560 (Sole source procurements), and 11-35-1570 (Emergency procurements).
(2) Public Notice. Adequate public notice of the request for proposals must be given in the same manner as provided in Section 11-35-1520(3).
(3) Receipt of Proposals. Proposals must be opened publicly in accordance with regulations of the board. A tabulation of proposals must be prepared in accordance with regulations promulgated by the board and must be open for public inspection after contract award.
(4) Request for Qualifications.
1. (a) Before soliciting proposals, the procurement officer may issue a request for qualifications from prospective offerors. The request must contain at a minimum a description of the scope of the work to be solicited by the request for proposals and must state the deadline for submission of information and how prospective offerors may apply for consideration. The request must require information only on their qualifications, experience, and ability to perform the requirements of the contract.
2. (b) After receipt of the responses to the request for qualifications from prospective offerors, rank of the prospective offerors must be determined in writing from most qualified to least qualified on the basis of the information provided. Proposals then must be solicited from at least the top two prospective offerors by means of a request for proposals. The determination regarding how many proposals to solicit is not subject to review pursuant to Article 17.
(5) Evaluation Factors. The request for proposals must state the relative importance of the factors to be considered in evaluating proposals but may not require a numerical weighting for each factor. Price may, but need not, be an evaluation factor.
(6) Discussion with Offerors. As provided in the request for proposals, and under regulations, discussions may be conducted with offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award for the purpose of clarification to assure full understanding of, and responsiveness to, the solicitation requirements. All offerors whose proposals, in the procurement officer's sole judgment, need clarification must be accorded that opportunity.
(7) Selection and Ranking. Proposals must be evaluated using only the criteria stated in the request for proposals and there must be adherence to weightings that have been assigned previously. Once evaluation is complete, all responsive offerors must be ranked from most advantageous to least advantageous to the State, considering only the evaluation factors stated in the request for proposals. If price is an initial evaluation factor, award must be made in accordance with Section 11-35-1530(9) below.
(8) Negotiations. Whether price was an evaluation factor or not, the procurement officer, in his sole discretion and not subject to review under Article 17, may proceed in any of the manners indicated below, except that in no case may confidential information derived from proposals and negotiations submitted by competing offerors be disclosed:
1. (a) negotiate with the highest ranking offeror on price, on matters affecting the scope of the contract, so long as the changes are within the general scope of the request for proposals, or on both. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the highest ranking offeror, negotiations may be conducted, in the sole discretion of the procurement officer, with the second, and then the third, and so on, ranked offerors to the level of ranking determined by the procurement officer in his sole discretion;
2. (b) during the negotiation process as outlined in item (a) above, if the procurement officer is unsuccessful in his first round of negotiations, he may reopen negotiations with any offeror with whom he previously negotiated; or
3. (c) the procurement officer may make changes within the general scope of the request for proposals and may provide all responsive offerors an opportunity to submit their best and final offers.
(9) Award. Award must be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the State, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals, unless the procurement officer determines to utilize one of the options provided in Section 11-35-1530(8). The contract file must contain the basis on which the award is made and must be sufficient to satisfy external audit. Procedures and requirements for the notification of intent to award the contract must be the same as those provided in Section 11-35-1520(10).