a) A vendor intending to submit a proposal in response to an advertised RFP, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:34–6 et seq., and finding cause to challenge a specification contained within the RFP, may submit a written protest to the Director, setting forth, in detail, the grounds for such protest.
(b) The written protest shall be submitted to the Director only after the Division has formally responded to questions posed during the RFP-established question and answer period and in sufficient time to permit a review of the merits of the protest and to take appropriate action as may be necessary, prior to the scheduled deadline for proposal submission.
1. A protest of a specification of any proposal solicitation document issued by the Director shall contain the following items:
i. Identification of the Division’s solicitation number for the particular procurement;
ii. The specification(s) at issue and the specific grounds for challenging the cited specification(s), including all arguments, materials, or other documentation that may support the protester’s position that the specification should be changed; and
iii. A statement as to whether the protester requests an opportunity for an in-person presentation and the reason(s) for the request.
2. The Director may disregard a protest not containing all of the items set forth in (b)1 above.
3. In order to provide sufficient time for full assessment of the issue(s) of the challenge and, if merited, to effect changes to the RFP and public notice of such changes, the Director may disregard any protest of specifications filed fewer than seven business days prior to the scheduled deadline for proposal submission.
(c) The Director shall, upon receipt of a timely protest of a specification contained in an advertised RFP, issue a final written decision on the protest prior to the public opening and reading of proposals received in response to that RFP.
(d) The Director may resolve a protest of a specification by amending the RFP and extending the deadline for proposal submission, by canceling the procurement, or by any other appropriate means.
(e) The Director has sole discretion to determine if an in-person presentation by the protester is necessary to reach an informed decision on the matter(s) of the protest. In-person presentations are fact-finding for the benefit of the Director. The Director has the discretion to limit attendance at an in-person presentation to those bidders likely to be affected by the outcome of the protest.
(f) The Director, or the Director’s designee from within or outside the Division, may perform a review of the written record or conduct an in-person presentation. In the case of a review or an in-person presentation being handled by a hearing officer designee from outside the Division, the determination of such designee shall be in the form of a report to the Director, which shall be advisory in nature and not binding on the Director. All parties shall receive a copy of the hearing officer’s report and shall have 10 business days to provide written comments or exceptions to the Director. Subsequent to the 10- business-day period for comments/exceptions, the Director shall make a final written decision on the matter. In the case of a review or in-person presentation being handled by a designee from within the Division, the determination shall be issued by the Director, or the Director’s designee, and such determination shall be a final agency decision pursuant to N.J.A.C. 17:12–3.1(b).

“Responsive proposal” refers to a proposal that is deemed by the Division and/or evaluation committee to have adequately addressed all material provisions of an RFP’s terms and conditions, specifications, and other requirements.

“Responsible bidder” refers to a bidding entity deemed by the Division to have integrity and to be reliable and capable of performing all contract requirements.

It shall be the responsibility of parties contracting with the State to promptly notify the State in writing of any situation or occurrence which may potentially result in the submission of a claim against the State. Except as otherwise provided in section 6,1 no notice of claim for breach of contract, either express or implied in fact, shall be filed with the contracting agency later than 90 days after the accrual of such claim. A notice of claim shall include the following information: the name of the claimant, the nature of the claim, specific reasons for making the claim, and the total dollar amount of the claim if known. After the expiration of 90 days from the date the notice of claim is received by the contracting agency, the claimant may file suit in a court of competent jurisdiction of the State of New Jersey.
In all contract claims against the State, the claimant shall be forever barred from recovering against the State if:
a. he fails to notify the appropriate contracting agency within 90 days of accrual of his claim except as otherwise provided in section 6 hereof; or
b. he fails to file suit within 2 years of accrual of his claims or within 1 year after completion of the contract giving rise to paid claim, whichever may be later; or
c. the claimant accepts personally or through his agent or legal representative any award, compromise or settlement made by the State of New Jersey.

a) The Division of Purchase and Property (Division), in and of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, provides centralized procurement and related services to agencies of the Executive Branch of State government. Within its statutory framework, the primary mission of the Division is to procure, in a timely and effective manner, contracts for the goods and services necessary for the daily operation of State government.
The Division includes the Procurement Bureau, the Contract Compliance and Audit Unit, and the Distribution and Support Services Unit. This chapter sets forth the rules that apply to the Division, State agencies and other public entities, and vendors participating in the State’s procurement and contracting processes.

NJ ADC 5:34-5.6
(a) A local unit may only utilize a reverse auction for purchases of energy and commodities.(b) If the local unit is utilizing an electronic procurement platform with a reverse auction format, the local unit shall publish all required notices and advertisements in one or more newspapers pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law or Public School Contracts Law, as applicable. In addition to the content required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:34–5.5(a)1, the advertisement shall also include the period when bids will be accepted and reference the local unit’s right to reject all bids pursuant to law. Bidding must either take place, or close, no earlier than 10 days after the date of newspaper publication.
(c) Bidders shall not be able to view the identity of other bidders in the reverse auction while the auction is in progress.
(d) Unless otherwise specified under this subchapter, all bidders shall upload, to the platform, any documents or information that are required to accompany a bid pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law or the Public School Contracts Law by no later than when a bidder places its first bid.
(e) The Director shall have the sole discretion to establish a pilot program evaluating the feasibility of reverse auctions for other goods and services procurements.
NJ ST 40A:11-4.9
“Electronic procurement” means the use of computer technology and the Internet for the advertising and submission of public bids, providing notice of revisions or addenda to advertisements or bid documents, the receipt of proposals and quotations, competitive contracting, the use of reverse auctions, and related practices to assist in determining the lowest responsible bidder or proposer who is most advantageous, price and other factors considered, as appropriate, for goods and services, the sale of personal property, and other public procurement-related activities and services as may be determined appropriate by the director;