j. “Best value” means the basis for awarding contracts for services to the offerer which optimizes quality, cost and efficiency, among responsive and responsible offerers. Such basis shall reflect, wherever possible, objective and quantifiable analysis. Such basis may also identify a quantitative factor for offerers that are small businesses, certified minority- or women-owned business enterprises as defined in subdivisions one, seven, fifteen and twenty of section three hundred ten of the executive law or service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises as defined in subdivision one of section three hundred sixty-nine-h of the executive law to be used in evaluation of offers for awarding of contracts for services.

(a) Proper filing of an initial protest depends on whether the public contracting entity has its own bid protest procedure and has provided bidders with proper notice of such. Where the public contracting entity has a written protest procedure and has provided notice of such procedure in the solicitation, a protest shall be filed initially with the public contracting entity. However, an interested party may file an initial protest with the Bureau of Contracts in accordance with section 24.4 of this Part, after the public contracting entity has made a contract award, if:
(1) the public contracting entity has not provided notice of its protest procedure in the solicitation; or
(2) the facts that would give rise to a protest are not known to, and could not reasonably have been known to, an interested party prior to the date by which a protest was required to be filed with the public contracting entity.

d. “Responsive” means a bidder or other offerer meeting the minimum specifications or requirements as prescribed in a solicitation for commodities or services by a state agency.

c. “Responsible” or “responsibility” means the financial ability, legal capacity, integrity, and past performance of a business entity and as such terms have been interpreted relative to public procurements.

It is the policy of New York State Procurement Services, a division of the Office of General Services, to
provide Interested Parties, as that term is defined herein, with an opportunity to administratively resolve
disputes related to Procurement Services bid solicitations, contract awards or contract administration…

The number and selection of evaluators should be based on many factors including the complexity of the procurement and the level of knowledge possessed by the potential evaluators available to analyze the proposals. There may be rare instances where a single evaluator must be used for the entire technical evaluation, or a portion of it, such as when available expertise for evaluating the technical considerations is limited. ; Technical Proposal Review Team – This team is typically comprised of program and technical experts, and may conduct its evaluation under the direction of a technical evaluation manager or a team leader.; Cost Proposal Review Team – The cost proposal review team is typically comprised of one individual, but may be a team of people, responsible for evaluating and scoring the cost proposals submitted in response to the RFP. The cost team works under the direction of a procurement director or coordinator.

3. General provisions for purchasing commodities.
a. State agency procurement practices for commodities shall
incorporate the following:
(i) The purchase of commodities by state agencies including the office
of general services shall be conducted in a manner which accords first
priority to preferred sources in accordance with the provisions of this
article, second priority to centralized contracts, third priority to
agency or multi-agency established contracts and fourth priority to
other means of contracting.
(ii) Commodities contracts shall be awarded on the basis of lowest
price to a responsive and responsible offerer; or, in the case of
multiple awards, in accordance with paragraph c of subdivision ten of
this section.
(iii) The commissioner shall be responsible for the standardization
and centralized purchase of commodities required by state agencies in a
manner which maximizes the purchasing value of public funds.
(iv) The commissioner is authorized to permit purchases of commodities
and services for authorized users through the office of general
services’ centralized contracts. Such authorized users so empowered
shall accept sole responsibility for any payment due with respect to
such purchases.
(v) Consistent with guidelines issued by the state procurement
council, state agencies may competitively purchase commodities procured
in accordance with this article in lieu of using centralized contracts
when the resultant price is less than the centralized contract price.

(a) Time to file an appeal.
(1) An interested party may file an appeal of a public contracting entity’s protest determination with the Bureau of Contracts within 10 business days of receiving the public contracting entity’s protest determination.
(2) In its appeal, the interested party shall set forth the basis on which it challenges the public contracting entity’s protest determination. The interested party shall also include, as an exhibit to its appeal, a copy of the initial bid protest submitted to the public contracting entity and the determination of such bid protest issued by the public contracting entity.
(b) Service and delivery.
(1) The protesting party must simultaneously deliver a copy of the appeal to the public contracting entity and the successful bidder, and shall provide evidence of such delivery, either by showing that an electronic copy has been provided, or by attaching to the appeal an affirmation in writing as to such delivery.
(2) Where the public contracting entity upholds the protest and the initial successful bidder files the appeal, a copy of the appeal shall be served on the original protesting party.
(3) In the case of an appeal related to a procurement that resulted in contract awards to multiple successful bidders, the Bureau of Contracts shall determine, in its sole discretion, whether any or all of the successful bidders should be provided with a copy of the appeal and an opportunity to respond.
(c) Answers to the appeal.
(1) The public contracting entity may file an answer to the appeal with the Bureau of Contracts simultaneously with the delivery of the contract to the Bureau of Contracts for its review, or within seven business days of the filing of the appeal, whichever is later. A copy of the public contracting entity’s answer shall be simultaneously delivered to the protesting party and the successful bidder, and the public contracting entity must provide evidence of such delivery, either by showing that an electronic copy has been provided, or by attaching to the answer an affirmation in writing as to such delivery.
(2) If there are multiple successful bidders, the public contracting entity shall deliver a copy of its answer to the successful bidders at the direction of the Bureau of Contracts.
(3) The successful bidder (or, where the public contracting entity upholds the agency level protest, the original protesting party) may file an answer to the appeal with the Bureau of Contracts no later than the date that the public contracting entity is required to file its answer. If the successful bidder chooses to file an answer, it must simultaneously deliver a copy of such answer to the public contracting entity and the protesting party, and it must provide evidence of such delivery, either by showing that an electronic copy has been provided, or by attaching to the answer an affirmation in writing as to such delivery.
(d) The answers to the appeal, if submitted, shall constitute the final submission permitted as of right under this section. The Bureau of Contracts is not required to consider any additional filings or any materials submitted beyond those filings specifically set forth in this section in rendering its determination of the appeal.
(e) The Bureau of Contracts may, in its sole discretion and for good cause shown, waive any deadline set forth in this section.
(f) Where appropriate, the Bureau of Contracts may require the public contracting entity, the protesting party, the successful bidder, or any other interested party, to address additional issues identified by the Bureau of Contracts and submit further information regarding the procurement.
(g) Nothing herein shall preclude the Bureau of Contracts from obtaining information relevant to the procurement from any outside source, as it deems appropriate. Reliance on outside source information, if any, will be identified by Bureau of Contracts in its written determination.
(h) The Bureau of Contracts shall issue a written determination, contemporaneously with its final action on the contract, addressing the issues raised by the appeal. The Bureau of Contracts shall provide a copy of the determination to all interested parties. The determination shall be made part of the procurement record.

1. Prior to awarding any
procurement contract, each agency shall submit to the commissioner
information sufficient to enable publication of the notices of
procurement contract opportunities described in subdivision two of
section one hundred forty-two of this article. Such information shall be
submitted to the commissioner in sufficient time to allow a minimum of
fifteen business days between publication of such notice and the date on
which a bid or proposal is due, except where a shorter period is
specifically authorized by law.