§ 143-129.8. Purchase of information technology goods and services. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143‑129.8.  Purchaseof information technology goods and services.

(a)        In recognition ofthe complex and innovative nature of information technology goods and servicesand of the desirability of a single point of responsibility for contracts thatinclude combinations of purchase of goods, design, installation, training,operation, maintenance, and related services, a political subdivision of theState may contract for information technology, as defined in G.S. 147‑33.81(2),using the procedure set forth in this section, in addition to or instead of anyother procedure available under North Carolina law.

(b)        Contracts forinformation technology may be entered into under a request for proposalsprocedure that satisfies the following minimum requirements:

(1)        Notice of therequest for proposals shall be given in accordance with G.S. 143‑129(b).

(2)        Contracts shall beawarded to the person or entity that submits the best overall proposal asdetermined by the awarding authority. Factors to be considered in awardingcontracts shall be identified in the request for proposals.

(c)        The awardingauthority may use procurement methods set forth in G.S. 143‑135.9 indeveloping and evaluating requests for proposals under this section. Theawarding authority may negotiate with any proposer in order to obtain a finalcontract that best meets the needs of the awarding authority. Negotiationsallowed under this section shall not alter the contract beyond the scope of theoriginal request for proposals in a manner that: (i) deprives the proposers orpotential proposers of a fair opportunity to compete for the contract; and (ii)would have resulted in the award of the contract to a different person orentity if the alterations had been included in the request for proposals.

(d)        Proposals submittedunder this section shall not be subject to public inspection until a contractis awarded. (2001‑328,s. 3; 2004‑199, s. 36(b); 2004‑203, s. 10.)