All clarification questions are to be prepared by the evaluation team and submitted to the Project Director to approve and send the Respondent/Proponent. The clarification question process will follow the same process as the Question and Answer from the Respondent/Proponent. In order that the evaluation teams fully understand the information submitted by Proponents, clarification questions will be sent to Respondents or Proponents as necessary. To the extent possible, clarification questions will adhere to the following guidelines:
• Respondents/Proponents will be required to respond to clarification questions in writing (including fax or email).
• Respondents to the RFQ should not be asked to submit substantial, new information.
• Clarification questions should ask Respondents/Proponents to confirm whether the insufficient, ambiguous or inconclusive information meets the requirement according to the RFQ/RFP. In the event where the evaluation teams could not locate specific information for the evaluation, clarification questions should ask Proponents to point out where such information is located, rather than providing new information.
• Clarification questions may require Proponents to provide additional information for the technical submissions when the original information submitted was deemed insufficient.
• Clarification questions should refer to specific sections in the RFQ/RFP to reiterate the requirements of the RFQ/RFP.
• Clarification questions should be consistent particularly when similar questions are posed to different Respondents/Proponents. If one Proponent is asked to clarify on a particular issue, another Respondents/Proponent with the same or similar issue should be asked the same clarification question.
All evaluation teams will determine whether clarification questions are needed and draft the clarification questions they need to pose to the Respondents/Proponents.
Respondents/Proponents need to have a reasonable amount of time (generally two business days) to prepare their responses to clarification questions. The amount of time may vary depending on the nature and complexity of the clarification questions. The evaluation teams may reduce the response time if the clarification questions are deemed sufficiently simple. If Respondents/Proponents request additional time, the evaluation teams will need to be prepared to address such requests from the fairness perspective.
For convenience, questions from the evaluation teams will be batched prior to issuance to Respondents/Proponents.
The processing of sending clarification questions to Respondents/Proponents and receiving clarification answers from Respondents/Proponents should follow these procedures:
1. The evaluation teams will send clarification questions to the Project Director, who will review them with the Process Consultant. The Process Consultant will receive, review and file those questions. The Process Consultant will assign a number to each clarification question indicating which evaluation team asks the clarification question, which Respondent/Proponent each clarification question is for, when each clarification question is sent to Respondents/Proponents and when the clarification answer is received from Respondents/Proponents. If a clarification question is not sent, this fact is to be noted and the reason for not sending the clarification question specified.
2. The Process Consultant will, on a frequent basis as determined appropriate:
• Prepare a consolidated set of clarification questions for each Respondent/Proponent, using the numbers assigned in step (1).
• Propose any necessary changes to wording to ensure fairness and consistency.
3. The Project Director will distribute the clarification questions to Respondents/Proponents by e-mail to the Designated Respondent/Proponent Contact Person
4. The e-mail will clearly specify the deadline to provide answers to the Project Director.
5. Respondents/Proponents will be given two business days to provide clarification answers in writing by fax or e-mail to the Project Director. In the event that Respondents/Proponents request additional time, the Project Director will consult with the department Consultants to ensure that the project objective and process probity are not materially compromised by granting the request.
6. Answers received by the Project Director will be distributed to the evaluation teams that posed the clarification questions.
7. The evaluators will incorporate the clarification answers into the evaluation process.
8. In the event that the clarification answers are deemed insufficient, follow-up clarification questions will be sent according to the same procedures.
9. If a Respondent/Proponent fails to provide clarification answers by the specified deadline, the Project Director will contact the Respondent/Proponent to confirm whether the clarification answers should be expected.
10. If the Respondent/Proponent confirms that it has no intention of providing the clarification answers, the Project Director will notify the evaluation teams that clarification answers from the Respondent/Proponent will not be included in the evaluation process. In this case, the evaluation teams will continue the evaluation process based on information already available.