SECTIONS 12125-12129 - California Statutes

PUBLIC CONTRACT CODE

SECTION 12125-12129

12125. There is hereby established the Alternative Protest Process
to be administered by the Department of General Services.

12126. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
department or agency may use the solicitation and alternative protest
procedures outlined in this chapter for solicitations authorized
under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290) or Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 12100). The Department of General Services
shall develop procedures and guidelines for the implementation of
this alternative protest process.
(b) To be eligible for this alternative protest process, the
contracting department shall agree to participate in the Alternative
Protest Process and the Department of General Services shall indicate
that the proposed solicitation shall be conducted as part of the
Alternative Protest Process prior to release of the solicitation.
Submission of a bid constitutes consent for participation in the
Alternative Protest Process. Any protests filed in relation to the
proposed contract award shall be conducted under the procedures set
forth by the Department of General Services for the Alternative
Protest Process.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
any bid protest conducted under this chapter shall include one or
more of the following alternative procedures:
(1) The Alternative Protest Process shall not prevent the
commencement of work in accordance with the terms of any other
contract awarded pursuant to this chapter. A contract may be entered
into pending a final decision on the protest.
(2) The Department of General Services shall review the protest
within seven days of the filing date to determine if the protest is
frivolous. If determined to be frivolous, the protest shall not
proceed under this chapter until the bidder posts a protest bond in
an amount not less than 10 percent of the estimated contract value,
as determined by the Department of General Services in the
solicitation.
(3) The Director of General Services shall issue a decision within
a period not to exceed 45 days from the date the protest is filed.
(4) Arbitration, as defined and established by the Department of
General Services, shall be the resolution tool.
(d) Authority to protest under this chapter shall be limited to
participating bidders.
(1) Grounds for major information technology acquisition protests
shall be limited to violations of the solicitation procedures and
that the protestant should have been selected.
(2) Any other acquisition protest filed pursuant to this chapter
shall be based on the ground that the bid or proposal should have
been selected in accordance with selection criteria in the
solicitation document.

12127. Major information technology acquisitions subject to this
chapter shall meet the following criteria:
(a) The agency or department has stated its business needs and not
detailed specification in the solicitation.
(b) The agency or department has stated the criteria and the
weight to be given to each criterion by which it will evaluate all
proposals.
(c) The contract shall be awarded based on "value effective
acquisition," as that term is defined in Section 12100.7, competitive
negotiation, an alternative procurement, or performance-based
solicitations.

12127.5. All other procurements subject to this chapter shall meet
one or more of the following criteria:
(a) The agency or department has stated its business needs and not
detailed specification in the solicitation.
(b) The agency or department has stated the criteria and the
weight to be given to each criterion by which it will evaluate all
proposals.
(c) The contract shall be awarded based on "value effective
acquisition," as that term is defined in Section 12100.7, competitive
negotiation, an alternative procurement, performance-based
solicitations, or other methodologies as established by the
Department of General Services.

12128. (a) The Alternative Protest Process shall continue until
December 31, 2011. The Department of General Services shall apply
this chapter to the following categories:
(1) Information technology and ancillary services.
(2) Material, supplies, equipment, and ancillary services.
(b) This chapter shall be operative until December 31, 2011, and
as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is
enacted before December 31, 2012, deletes or extends that date.

12129. The Department of General Services shall electronically
submit a report and recommendations to the Legislature regarding the
Alternative Protest Process on or before January 1, 2007, and on or
before January 1, 2010. The report shall include the following:
(a) The percentage of bids with values under five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000), under one million dollars ($1,000,000), and over
one million dollars ($1,000,000) or more that were not subject to
the Alternative Protest Process that were protested.
(b) The percentage of bids with values under five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000), under one million dollars ($1,000,000), and over
one million dollars ($1,000,000) that were subject to the
Alternative Protest Process that were protested.
(c) The number of protests determined to be frivolous by the
Department of General Services, subject to this chapter, with
corresponding data for solicitations issued pursuant to existing
procedures.
(d) The percentage of contracts awarded under the Alternative
Protest Process that were subsequently challenged in a court of law
with corresponding data for solicitations issued pursuant to existing
procedures.
(e) The length of time to resolve protests pursuant to this
chapter and the corresponding data for solicitations issued pursuant
to existing procedures.