Washington Administrative Code

(1) Any notice, objection or information that is required or allowed by these rules may be served or delivered to the department as follows:(a) By courier delivery:Department of Enterprise Services1500 Jefferson Street S.E.Olympia, WA 98504-1466Attn: Office of the Director(b) Or,…

Under RCW 41.06.142, agencies may competitively contract for services that state employees have customarily and historically provided. The law directs the department of general administration to adopt rules to ensure that the submittal and evaluation of bids are fair and objectiv…

This chapter applies to all services customarily and historically provided by state employees, except:(1) As described in RCW 41.06.142(3) and 41.06.070;(2) In the case of emergency purchases, which may be made in response to unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the age…

The following words, terms, and phrases, used in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.(1) "Agency" means an office, department, board, commission, institution of higher education, or other separate unit or division, howeve…

(1) Under the law, an agency that considers contracting for services historically and customarily performed by state employees shall determine whether a competitive market exists for the service.(2) For the purposes of this chapter, a competitive market exists when there are two …

As required by RCW 41.06.142 (4)(a), the agency shall provide written notice to all potentially displaced employees of the agency's intent to solicit bids. The notice shall include at a minimum:(1) A statement that the agency will pursue competitive contracting of specified servi…

If potentially displaced employees want to use state resources other than those offered by the agency to develop alternatives pursuant to WAC 236-51-110(5), they shall submit a written resource plan to the agency for consideration. No state resources other than those offered by t…

(1) An agency shall respond in writing to all potentially displaced employee alternatives.(2) If no potentially displaced employee alternatives are accepted, the agency shall notify in writing all potentially displaced employees of:(a) Its intent to proceed with soliciting bids o…

(1) Potentially displaced employees that decide to compete by forming an employee business unit shall notify the agency in writing before the agency's intended day to solicit bids pursuant to WAC 236-51-110 and provide the following information:(a) A list of those potentially dis…

(1) An agency shall respond, in writing, to an employee business unit resource plan prior to soliciting bids. The response will either approve of the resource plan in its entirety, or modify it based on available state resources and the needs of the agency to meet its mission.(2)…

If an agency intends to require the use of state standards it shall identify them in the solicitation document. State standards may include, but are not limited to: Financial, accounting, audit, payroll, human resources, procurement, record retention, or other systems, methods, i…

Pursuant to RCW 41.06.142 (4)(e), an employee business unit's bid shall include the fully allocated cost of the service. These fully allocated costs include, but are not limited to:(1) Direct costs; which are costs that the service consumes or expends and thus are chargeable to t…

The employee business unit leader or their designee from within the employee business unit shall represent the employee business unit membership in the competitive contracting process. Representation includes, but is not limited to:(1) Authority to contractually obligate the empl…

An employee business unit awarded a contract by an agency shall not perform or bid on solicitations for services not contained in its contract unless their agency approves in writing.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-225, filed 11/17/11, effe…

The department of general administration may establish formats, guidelines, procedures, or instructions concerning solicitation, determining fully allocated costs, or submittal and evaluation of bids for use by agencies, employee business units, and other bidders.[Statutory Autho…

Employees whose work or positions may be displaced and potential bidders may provide technical assistance in the preparation of the solicitation document and performance work statement provided that their assistance does not create an unfair advantage over other bidders. Potentia…

Solicitations shall include:(1) Complete bidder instructions;(2) Submittal requirements;(3) Performance work statement;(4) Cost and noncost evaluation criteria;(5) Name and address of the person designated to receive complaints and appeals;(6) Agency's plan for publication and no…

(1) An agency shall compare its current service cost against the total cost of contracting with the most responsive employee business unit and nonemployee business unit as part of its evaluation process.(2) The total cost of contracting shall not include solicitation related cost…

An agency may amend or change a solicitation provided the change is issued prior to the specified bid opening date and time. Any material information that an agency provides to one potential bidder shall be provided to all potential bidders consistent with WAC 236-51-320. Oral in…

(1) Agencies shall post or otherwise publicize competitive contracting solicitations, amendments, notice of intent to award, notice of award, or notice of cancellation using methods and/or systems established by the department of general administration.(2) In addition to using me…

(1) Bidders shall submit sealed bids in writing. Electronic submittal systems and processes may be utilized provided the submittal meets the definition of a sealed bid and the other requirements of this section.(2) The agency shall ensure that bids remain sealed until the opening…

Upon submission, all bids become the property of the agency and, except for purposes of evaluation, shall not be released or otherwise distributed until after the agency completes the evaluation and issues its notice of intent to award. Evaluation team members shall maintain conf…

(1) RCW 41.06.142 (4)(d)(i) prohibits employees who prepared the employee business unit's bid or who perform any of the services to be contracted from participating in the bid evaluation process.(2) Members of an EBU or others who provided technical assistance to the EBU in the d…

Bidders or potential bidders may file complaints regarding the bidding process.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-500, filed 11/17/11, effective 11/17/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.142. WSR 04-07-104, § 236-51-500, filed 3/17/04, effectiv…

Complaints shall be filed with the contracting agency head or designee identified in the solicitation prior to the expected date of award.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-502, filed 11/17/11, effective 11/17/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.0…

Complaints shall be submitted in writing and shall include the following:(1) Complainant's name, address, and telephone number;(2) Identification of the specific grounds for filing the complaint; and(3) The relevant facts, arguments, exhibits, and supporting evidence known to the…

Complaints must be based on the bidding process, which includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following factors:(1) The manner in which the solicitation was conducted;(2) Undue constraint of competition by requirements of the solicitation;(3) Inadequate and/or improp…

The agency shall respond to all complaints in writing prior to the award of the contract. If necessary, an agency shall extend the date of award to respond to all complaints.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-515, filed 11/17/11, effective 11/…

(1) An agency shall issue a notice of intent to award after concluding negotiations authorized under WAC 236-51-605, if any, and prior to the date of award. This notice shall also include a statement that any complaints must be filed prior to the expected date of award.(2) Agenci…

The agency may enter into negotiations exclusively with the apparent successful bidder for the purpose of, but not limited to:(1) Determining if the bid may be improved;(2) Clarifying elements of the bid that are not sufficiently precise or direct; or(3) Securing better terms and…

(1) On the date of award, the agency shall send an award notice to all bidders in accordance with WAC 236-51-320.(2) The award notice shall include the right to appeal, the appeal deadline, and the address for submitting an appeal. See WAC 236-51-700.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c …

An agency may cancel a solicitation or reject all bids after the bid opening, but before the award, if the agency determines that:(1) The award will not achieve anticipated cost savings or efficiency improvements as required by RCW 41.06.142 (1)(e);(2) The solicitation did not in…

If an agency cancels a competitive contracting solicitation, the agency shall post a notice of cancellation in writing pursuant to WAC 236-51-320. The notice shall include the specific reason for cancellation.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320…

An appeal shall be filed after contract award with the contracting agency head or designee as identified in the solicitation. The appeal shall be filed within twenty calendar days after the date of the award. An administrative law judge does not have jurisdiction to consider an a…

An appeal may only be filed by the following parties with regard to the respective specified grounds:(1) Unsuccessful bidders with regard to elements of the bid submittal and evaluation process;(2) Complainants with regard to an agency response to their complaint; or(3) Displaced…

Appeals shall be submitted in writing to the head of the agency that awarded the contract or to that person's designee. An appeal shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:(1) Appellant's name, contact person, and/or representative with respective address, a…

An agency may stay award decisions or actions pending resolution of an appeal.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-720, filed 11/17/11, effective 11/17/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.142. WSR 04-07-104, § 236-51-720, filed 3/17/04, effective…

(1) An appeal shall be transmitted by the agency to the office of administrative hearings within five business days after receipt.(2) The agency shall provide the office of administrative hearings with the following information:(a) The name of the agency contact in the matter and…

(1) The office of administrative hearings shall issue the notice of hearing to the appellant, the agency, and other bidders.(2) Bidders may intervene as a party to the appeal if they file a petition for intervention with the office of administrative hearings and all parties withi…

All costs incurred by the office of administrative hearings in conducting the hearing shall be borne by the agency, and the office of administrative hearings shall bill the agency for the hearing costs incurred. Each party is responsible for its own costs of representation.[Statu…

The burden of proof is on the appellant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the contract was not properly awarded.[Statutory Authority: 2011 c 43. WSR 11-23-093, recodified as § 200-320-740, filed 11/17/11, effective 11/17/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.142. WSR …

(1) If the administrative law judge finds against the appellant, the agency's decision to award stands.(2) If the administrative law judge finds for the appellant, the administrative law judge shall:(a) Remand back to the agency for reconsideration or action if the appeal was fro…

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a model procedure for use by state agencies, local governments and the municipal research and services center when awarding contracts under the small works roster process established in RCW 39.04.151. Use of the model procedure by state…

As used in this chapter the terms:(1) "Contracting agency" means all agencies and political subdivisions of the state with public works contracting authority.(2) "Independent roster" means a small works roster established by a contracting agency either by itself or with another c…

(1) Small works rosters. Contracting agencies may use the statewide roster or an independent roster when contracting for small works. Contracting agencies are encouraged to use the statewide roster to promote administrative efficiency for both contracting agencies and contractors…

(1) Small works bid process. In lieu of a formal public works bidding process, contracting agencies may use the following small works competitive contracting process to invite contractors from the small works roster to submit bids for small works contracts. To use the competitive…

(1) Direct contracting process. In lieu of a formal public works bidding process and the small works competitive contracting process provided in WAC 200-330-040, contracting agencies may enter into direct contracts with a contractor by soliciting a quote from a single selected co…

The department of enterprise services will develop and make publicly available templates for bid invitations, bidding, and contracting using the direct contracting process for the use of all contracting agencies.[Statutory Authority: RCW 39.04.155. WSR 24-07-090, § 200-330-060, f…

The purpose of this chapter is to provide several suggested model design, construction, and location standards to aid counties, cities, and towns in constructing curb ramps to allow reasonable access to the crosswalk for physically handicapped persons without uniquely endangering…

The design construction and location standards set forth in chapter 236-60 WAC are suggestions only, and must be read in conjunction with the requirements of RCW 35.68.075 and any applicable code.If these suggested standards are followed they should be used as a guide and not as …