3. Discussions may be conducted with responsible 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. Offerors must be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and revisions may be permitted after submissions and before award for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In conducting discussions, there may be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors.

The following provisions must be followed by any actual or prospective bidder or offeror that is aggrieved in connection with a solicitation:
1. The aggrieved party shall submit a protest to the procurement officer in written form, clearly identifying the solicitation and the details of the nature of the protest.
2. When the solicitation contains a deadline for submission of questions and requests for clarifications, protests of the solicitation will not be allowed if these faults have not been brought to the attention of the procurement officer before the specified deadline. If no deadline for questions is specified, protests based on defects in the solicitation must be made at least seven calendar days before the deadline for receipt of bids or proposals.
3. The procurement officer has seven calendar days to review the protest and to render a written decision. The procurement officer may extend the protest review period by no more than seven days and will send written notice to the aggrieved party of the extension.
4. The procurement officer has the authority to cancel or amend a solicitation prior to the opening date and to delay the subsequent opening date.
5. During the time the protest and appeals are being considered, the solicitation period will be extended if not resolved before the opening date.
6. The aggrieved party has seven calendar days to appeal the decision of the procurement officer.

17. “Responsive bidder or offeror” means a vendor who has submitted a bid or proposal that conforms in material respects to the requirements stated in the solicitation.

1. The procurement officer, at any time, may make a supplementary investigation as to the responsibility of any bidder or offeror, even though the bidder or offeror may be on the bidders list for the commodity or service being purchased.
2. This may include investigation of financial responsibility, insurability, effective equal employment opportunity, capacity to produce, sources of supply, performance record in the business or industry, and other matters relating to the bidder’s or offeror’s probable ability to deliver in the quantity and at the time required under the contract if it is awarded to the bidder or offeror.
3. The procurement officer may require the submission of written statements from the bidder or offeror or other persons concerning any related matter. If it is concluded on the basis of all available information that a particular bidder or offeror appears not to be sufficiently responsible to assure adequate performance if the contract were awarded to the bidder or offeror, the bid or proposal will be rejected even if it is the lowest bid or the best offer.
4. If a vendor is determined to be not responsible, that vendor may be debarred or suspended from the bidders list.

The Procurement Officer responsible for the procurement determines the number and makeup of the evaluation committee. Committees are usually comprised of three to five members, but they can be any size and an odd number is not required. The majority of members are usually State employees or public officials. The Procurement Officer may include a mixture of members from several departments of diverse backgrounds or include members who are not State employees or public officials.

Role of the Procurement Officer. The Procurement Officer will be the evaluation committee chairman, and may or may not award points for proposals. The Procurement Officer has overall responsibility for all matters involving the procurement and its procedures, and they are responsible for seeing that applicable state laws, rules, and policies are followed.

The office of management and budget shall purchase or lease or otherwise arrange for the procurement, for all state agencies and institutions in the executive branch of state government, all materials, furniture, fixtures, printing, insurance, services, and other commodities. The International Peace Garden may participate in the procurement authorized by this section. The following commodities and services, however, are not subject to the procurement requirements of this chapter:
1. Land, buildings, space, or the rental thereof.
2. Telephone and telegraph service and electrical light and power services.
3. Public books, maps, periodicals, and technical pamphlets.
4. Department of transportation materials, equipment, and supplies in accordance with section 24-02-16.
5. Procurements by the industrial commission for energy-related programs under chapters 17-05, 54-17.5, 54-17.6, 54-17.7, and 54-63 and under those statutes in title 38 authorizing the industrial commission to perform well and hole pluggings, reclamation work, equipment removal, leak prevention, and similar work.
6. Services for the maintenance or servicing of equipment by the manufacturer or authorized servicing agent of that equipment when the maintenance or servicing can best be performed by the manufacturer or authorized service agent, or when such a contract would otherwise be advantageous to the state.
7. Emergency purchases the office of management and budget cannot make within the required time and which involve public health or public safety, or when immediate expenditures are necessary for repairs of state property to protect it against further loss or damage, or to prevent or minimize serious disruption in state services. Emergency purchases must be made with the level of competition practicable under the circumstances, and a written determination of the basis for the emergency and for the selection of the particular contractor must be included in the contract file.
8. Commodities and services costing less than a specified amount as determined by written directive by the director of the office of management and budget.
9. Specified commodities and services as determined by written directive by the director of the office of management and budget.
10. Employee benefit services, trust-related services, and investment management services obtained by an agency with a fiduciary responsibility regarding those services.
All purchases made by the office of management and budget or a state agency or institution to which authority to purchase has been delegated by the office of management and budget must be made in accordance with this chapter, rules adopted under this chapter, and written policies of the office of management and budget.

1. For purposes of this chapter, specification means a description of all required physical, design, performance, functional, and other characteristics of a commodity or service the purchaser requires and, consequently, what a bidder must offer. The office of management and budget and institutions of higher education shall develop similar specifications for purchases of commodities and services of high common usage. State agencies and institutions shall provide such assistance as may be requested by the office of management and budget and the institutions of higher education in the development of specifications. The office of management and budget and the institutions of higher education shall implement such procedures as are necessary for the inspection, testing, and acceptance of commodities or services to determine that those received are in conformity with contract specifications.
2. When it is determined to be impractical to initially prepare a purchase description to support an award based on price, a solicitation may be issued requesting the submission of unpriced offers to be followed by a competitive bidding or competitive proposal process limited to those bidders or offerors found to be qualified under the criteria set forth in the first solicitation.

1. The aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the procurement officer to the director or designee within seven calendar days after receiving notice of the decision.
a. The director or designee has seven calendar days to review the protest and render a decision in writing. If the appeal is submitted on a weekend or state holiday, the seven-day period will commence on the first working day after the appeal was submitted.
b. During the time the appeal is being considered, the award will be stayed, unless a written determination is made that award without delay is necessary to protect the interests of the state.
c. If the protest is not resolved by mutual agreement, the director or designee will promptly issue a decision in writing stating the reasons for the action taken and informing the protestant of its right to judicial or administrative review, if any, as provided by the laws of North Dakota.
d. A decision under this subsection is final and conclusive.
2. If the protest is sustained, the director or designee has the authority to resolve the protest in the best interests of the state.
a. Remedies may include cancellation and reissue of a solicitation, amendment of a solicitation and evaluation criteria, and cancellation of a contract award.
b. When a protest is sustained and the protesting bidder or offeror should have been awarded the contract under the solicitation but is not, a bidder or offeror may not recover profits that it anticipates would have been made if that party had been awarded the contract. Any other settlement of relief must be referred to the office of the attorney general.
3. Frivolous protests may be cause for suspension or debarment from consideration of contract award for a period of up to three years. A written determination by the state procurement manager is required for this action.
4. Nothing in this section is intended to affect the power of the attorney general to settle actions pending before the courts.