Utah Admin. Code R354-9-103 - Protest - Time for Filing - Basis of Protest - Authority to Resolve Protest

(1) A protest may be filed with the Procurement Officer by a person who:

(a) has standing; and

(b) is aggrieved in connection with a Procurement or an award of a Contract.

(2)

(a) A protest may not be filed after:

(i)

(A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a Procurement under a Bidding Process; or

(B) the deadline for submitting responses to the Solicitation, for a protest relating to another Standard Procurement Process; or

(ii) the closing of the Procurement stage that is the subject of the protest:

(A) if the protest relates to a multiple-stage Procurement; and

(B) notwithstanding Subsections (2)(a)(i)(A) and (B); or

(b) the day that is seven days after the day on which the person knows or first has constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest, if:

(i) the Protestor did not know and did not have constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest before:

(A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a Procurement under a Bidding Process;

(B) the deadline for submitting responses to the Solicitation, for a protest relating to another Standard Procurement Process; or

(C) the closing of the Procurement stage that is the subject of the protest, if the protest relates to a multiple-stage Procurement; or

(ii) the protest relates to a Procurement process not described in Subsection (2)(a).

(3) A deadline under Subsection (2) for filing a protest may not be modified.

(4) A Protestor shall include in a protest:

(a)

(i) the Protestor's mailing address and email address; and

(ii) a concise statement of the facts and evidence:

(A) leading the Protestor to claim that the Protestor has been aggrieved in connection with a Procurement and providing the grounds for the Protestor's protest; and

(B) supporting the Protestor's claim of standing.

(b) A protest may not be considered unless it contains facts and evidence that, if true, would establish:

(i) a violation of this Procurement Procedure or other applicable law;

(ii) the CRAU's failure to follow a provision of a Solicitation;

(iii) an error made by an evaluation committee or conducting Procurement unit;

(iv) a bias exercised by an evaluation committee or an individual committee member, excluding a bias that is a preference arising during the evaluation process because of how well a Solicitation Response meets criteria in the Solicitation;

(v) a failure to correctly apply or calculate a scoring criterion; or

(vi) that Specifications in a Solicitation are unduly restrictive or unduly anticompetitive.

(5) A protest may not be based on:

(a) the rejection of a Solicitation Response due to a Protestor's failure to attend or participate in a mandatory conference, meeting, or site visit held before the deadline for submitting a Solicitation Response;

(b) a vague or unsubstantiated allegation; or

(c) a person's claim that:

(i) the CRAU that complied with Section R354-1-105 did not provide individual notice of a Solicitation to the person; or

(ii) the person received late notice of a Solicitation for which notice was provided in accordance with Section R354-1-105.

(6) A protest may not include a request for:

(a) an explanation of the rationale or scoring of evaluation committee members;

(b) the disclosure of a protected record or protected information in addition to the information provided under the disclosure provisions of this chapter; or

(c) other information, documents, or explanations not explicitly provided for in this rule.

(7) A person who fails to file a protest within the time prescribed in Subsection (2) may not:

(a) protest to the Procurement Official a Solicitation or award of a Contract; or

(b) file an action or appeal challenging a Solicitation or award of a Contract before an appeals panel, a court, or any other forum.

(8) Subject to the applicable requirements of Section 1-10-403, the Procurement Officer may enter into a settlement agreement to resolve a protest.

Notes

Utah Admin. Code R354-9-103

Adopted by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-02, effective 12/28/2021