April 16, 2012 - Cabarrus County

g. The execution process for contracts (order of obtaining signatures) shouldbe:1) Vendor/Contractor2) County Attorney, if applicable3) Finance Director or Assistant Finance Director4) County Manager or Board of Commissioners ChairpersonB. Request for Proposal (RFP)An “RFP” is a written request issued with a scope of work, general terms andconditions, and selection criteria. Requests for Proposal are typically used forservice or technology contracts; or, where specifications cannot be easilydescribed in concrete terms and/or factors other than price need to be considered.1. Legal Requirements/Policiesa. RFPs can legally be used for contracts that are subject to statecompetitive bidding statutes as long as the statutory procedures areincorporated into the RFP process. If an RFP is used for a contractsubject to the competitive bidding requirements, it must be:1) Advertised;2) Proposals must be sealed; and,3) No negotiations may be conducted after the proposals areopened.b. RFPs can also be used for contracts that are not subject to thecompetitive bidding requirements, particularly service contracts.For these contracts, the RFP procedure can be structured to includenegotiations following receipt of the proposals, or a separate sealedbid procedure based on new specifications developed after reviewinginitial proposals.Page 20 of 48Attachment number 1F-6Page 92