OAR 125-247-0430: Addenda to Solicitation Document

(1) Issuance; Receipt. The Authorized Agency may change a Solicitation Document only by Written Addenda. An Offeror must provide Written acknowledgment of receipt of all issued Addenda with its Offer, unless the Authorized Agency otherwise specifies in the Addenda. (2) Notice and Distribution. The Authorized Agency must notify prospective Offerors of Addenda in a manner intended to foster competition and to make prospective Offerors aware of the Addenda. The Solicitation Document must specify how the Authorized Agency will provide notice of Addenda and how the Authorized Agency will make the Addenda available before Closing, and at each subsequent step or Phase of evaluation if the Authorized Agency will engage in a Multistep Competitive Sealed Bidding process in accordance with OAR 125-247-0255, or a Multi-tiered or Multistep Competitive Sealed Proposals process in accordance with 125-247-0260. (3) Timelines; Extensions. (a) The Authorized Agency must issue Addenda within a reasonable time to allow prospective Offerors to consider the Addenda in preparing their Offers. The Authorized Agency may extend the Closing if the Authorized Agency determines prospective Offerors need additional time to review and respond to Addenda. Except to the extent justified by a countervailing public interest, the Authorized Agency must not issue Addenda less than 3 Business Days before the Closing unless the Addendum also extends the Closing. (b) Despite Subsection (3)(a) of this Rule, an Addendum that modifies the evaluation criteria, selection process or procedure for any step or Phase of competition under a Multistep Sealed Bidding or Multistep Sealed Proposals, issued in accordance with OAR 125-247-0255 or 125-247-0260, must be issued no fewer than five (5) Days before the beginning of that step or Phase of competition, unless the Authorized Agency determines that a shorter period is sufficient to allow the Offerors to prepare for that step or Phase of competition. The Authorized Agency must document the factors it considered in making that determination, which may include, without limitation, the Scope of the changes to the Solicitation Document, the location of the remaining eligible Proposers, or whether shortening the period between issuing an Addendum and the beginning of the next step or Phase of competition favors or disfavors any particular Proposer or Proposers. (4) Request for Change or Protest. Unless a different deadline is set forth in the Addendum, an Offeror may submit a Written request for change or protest to the Addendum, as provided in OAR 125-247-0730, by the close of the Authorized Agency's next business day after issuance of the Addendum, or up to the last day allowed to submit a request for change or protest under 125-247-0730, whichever date is later. If the date established in the previous sentence falls after the deadline for receiving protests to the Solicitation Document in accordance with 125-247-0730, then the Authorized Agency may only consider an Offeror's request for change or protest to the Addendum, and the Authorized Agency must not consider a request for change or protest to matters not added or modified by the Addendum. Despite any provision of this subsection (4) of this Rule, an Authorized Agency is not required to provide a protest period for Addenda issued after initial Closing during or multistep Procurement Process conducted according to ORS 279B.055 or 279B.060 and their respective rules.