§ 2-199. Competition.

(a)

Open competition. All procurements will be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition consistent with the standards of this article. In order to ensure objective contractor performance and eliminate unfair competitive advantage, contractors that develop or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work, invitations for bids, RFPs, RFQs, or RFIs, or any part of any procurement or selection methods or documents, are excluded from competing for the applicable procurement. Some of the situations considered to be restrictive of competition include but are not limited to:

(1)

Placing unreasonable requirements on firms in order for them to qualify to do business;

(2)

Requiring unnecessary experience and excessive bonding;

(3)

Noncompetitive pricing practices between firms or between affiliated companies;

(4)

Noncompetitive contracts to consultants that are on retainer contracts;

(5)

Organizational conflicts of interest;

(6)

Specifying only a brand name product instead of allowing an equal product to be offered and describing the performance or other relevant requirements of the procurement; and

(7)

Any arbitrary action in the procurement process.

(b)

Technical specifications and evaluation requirements. All county procurement solicitations will:

(1)

Incorporate a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for the material, product, or service to be procured. Such description must not, in competitive procurements, contain features which unduly restrict competition. The description may include a statement of the qualitative nature of the material, product or service to be procured and, when necessary, must set forth those minimum essential characteristics and standards to which it must conform if it is to satisfy its intended use. Detailed product specifications should be avoided if at all possible. When it is impractical or uneconomical to make a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements, a brand name or equivalent description may be used as a means to define the performance or other salient requirements of procurement. The specific features of the named brand which must be met by offers must be clearly stated; and

(2)

Identify all requirements which the respondents must fulfill and all other factors to be used in evaluating bids or proposals.

(c)

Bidder lists. The county will ensure that all prequalified lists of persons, firms, or products, if any, which are used in acquiring goods and services are current and include enough qualified sources to ensure maximum open and free competition. Also, the county will not preclude potential bidders from qualifying during a procurement solicitation period.

(Ord. No. 2018-005 , § 2, 10-2-2018)