This compares with the nearly 40 percent of sole-source contacts that are let without any public notice. But we still maintain that such contracts should not be included with competitive contracts when quoting the level of competitiveness. Our 1999 chapter identified that departments improperly used ACANs and only six percent of the 50 ACANs were posted on MERX for the required 15 calendar days. The decision to sole-source was in accordance with one of the four exceptions in the regulations. The award notice is posted only after arrangements with the chosen supplier are substantially complete.
All qualified suppliers are welcome.
We've made our decision that no one else can do this, challenge it, if you will. The time varies with the complexity of the situation, but all bidders have the same amount of time to prepare and submit their bids. The selected supplier has no formal constraint on the time it has to prepare its offer. The tendering documents contain a detailed statement of requirements and specify how parties' requirements are to be presented. All parties receive the same information.