New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 17 - TREASURY - GENERAL › Chapter 9 - STATE HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM › Subchapter 10 - PROCUREMENT OF STATE HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM CONTRACTS › Section 17:9-10.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, as used in this subchapter,
				  shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Auctioning" means, in a negotiated procurement, the practice
				  of promoting price bidding between bidders by disclosing other bidders' prices
				  and/or holding repeated rounds of best and final offers.
"Best and final offer" or "BAFO" means a price timely
				  submitted by a bidder upon invitation by the Division after proposal opening,
				  with or without prior discussion or negotiation.
"Bidder" means a vendor who has offered a proposal in
				  response to the solicitation of proposals by the Division, on behalf of the
				  Commission.
"Bid proposal" refers to the bidder's offer to furnish
				  services in response to a Request for Proposal.
"Bid list" refers to a list of vendors maintained by the
				  Division of Pensions and Benefits who have expressed an interest in submitting
				  bid proposals in response to future Requests for Proposals.
"Bid security" means a guarantee, in a form acceptable to the
				  Division, acting on behalf of the Commission, that the bidder, if selected,
				  will accept the contract as bid; otherwise, the bidder or, as applicable, its
				  guarantor will be liable for the amount of the loss suffered by the State,
				  which loss may be partially or completely recovered by the State in exercising
				  its rights against the instrument of bid security.
"Business registration" means the formal certification by the
				  Department of the Treasury's Division of Revenue that a business entity, upon
				  its application to the Division of Revenue, has attained and maintained status
				  as a registered business in accordance with the provisions of
				  52:32-44.
"Bypass" means a contract award made to a proposal other than
				  the lowest priced responsive proposal from a responsible bidder. A bypass
				  occurs when the Commission determines that the responsive proposal that is most
				  advantageous to the State is not the lowest priced responsive proposal.
"Commission" means the State Health Benefits
				  Commission.
"Competitive range" means the group of responsive proposals
				  that are among the most highly rated proposals.
"Contract" means a mutually binding legal relationship
				  obligating the contractor to furnish goods and/or services and the purchaser to
				  pay for them, subject to appropriation where the using agency derives its
				  annual budget by means of appropriation from the State Legislature. For
				  publicly advertised contracts, the contract consists of standard terms and
				  conditions, the RFP, the responsive proposal, the notice of acceptance or
				  award, any subsequent written document memorializing the agreement, any
				  amendments or modifications to any of these documents and any attachments,
				  addenda, or other supporting documents, or other agreed-upon writings
				  describing the work to be performed.
"Contract documentation" refers to paperwork verifying that
				  the selected bidder has satisfied the conditions precedent to contract
				  execution. Examples include, but are not limited to: evidence of compliance
				  with State Affirmative Action requirements, N.J.S.A. 10:5- 31 et seq.; evidence
				  of compliance with the MacBride principles of nondiscrimination in employment,
52:34-12.2
; evidence of
				  business registration with the Division of Revenue; required certificates of
				  insurance; and required performance security.
"Contract execution" refers to the signing of the contract by
				  the selected bidder and the Director following Commission approval and the
				  selected bidder's submission of contract documentation.
"Contractor" refers to a business entity awarded a
				  contract.
"Day" or "business day" means any weekday, excluding
				  Saturdays, Sundays, State legal holidays, and State-mandated furlough
				  days.
"Director" refers to the Director of the Division of Pensions
				  and Benefits or the Director's designee.
"Division" refers to the Division of Pensions and
				  Benefits.
"Evaluation committee" refers to a formal selection committee
				  established by the Director to evaluate bid proposals received in response to a
				  Request for Proposal on the basis of price and other factors, as set forth in
				  the Request for Proposal.
"Evaluation criteria" refers to factors set forth within the
				  Request for Proposal, usually weighted, specifying the basis for the technical
				  evaluation of bid proposals received.
"Filed" means received by the Director or the Director's
				  Division representative.
"Hearing officer" means the Commission's representative from
				  within or outside the Division, but independent of the procurement process,
				  appointed by the Commission to review the written record of an advertised
				  procurement, and/or, in the discretion of the Commission, to preside over an
				  in-person presentation or informal hearing in response to a vendor's challenge,
				  in accordance with
52:34-10.10
.
"Negotiation" refers to discussions conducted with responsive
				  bidders whose bid proposals are determined to be within the competitive
				  range.
"Negotiation component" refers to an RFP provision that
				  establishes the intent of the Division, on behalf of the Commission, to
				  negotiate with bidders pursuant to the provisions of
52:34-12(f)
, the codified generic procedures set forth at
17:12-2.7
, and the
				  specified provisions for negotiation set forth in the RFP.
"Notice of Intent to Award" refers to the Director's
				  correspondence to all bidders advising of the Commission's contract award
				  decision.
"Performance security" means a guarantee, executed subsequent
				  to award, in a form acceptable to the Division, on behalf of the Commission,
				  that the successful bidder will complete the contract as agreed and that the
				  State will be protected from loss in the event the contractor fails to complete
				  the contract as agreed.
"Protest" refers to a timely filed challenge to a
				  specification in an advertised RFP, to a rejection of a proposal declared
				  non-responsive, or to a contract award decision.
"Request for Proposal" or "RFP" refers to all documents,
				  whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for a publicly advertised
				  procurement process that solicits proposals or offers to provide the goods
				  and/or services specified therein.
"Responsible bidder" refers to a bidding entity deemed to
				  have integrity and to be reliable and capable of performing all contract
				  requirements.
"Responsive bidder" refers to a bidder whose bid proposal
				  conforms to all material requirements of the RFP.
"Responsive proposal" refers to a proposal that is deemed to
				  have adequately addressed all material provisions of an RFP's terms and
				  conditions, specifications, and other requirements.
"Sealed bidding" means bidding in which the contents of
				  proposals cannot be opened or viewed before the formal opening of proposals,
				  without leaving evidence that the document has been opened or viewed.
"Signed" means a physical or electronic signature evincing a
				  bidder's intent to be bound.
"State" refers to the State of New Jersey.
"Technical leveling" means, in a negotiated procurement,
				  helping a bidder bring its bid proposal up to the level of other bid proposals
				  through successive rounds of negotiations by pointing out the weaknesses that
				  remain in the bid proposal due to the bidder's lack of diligence, competence or
				  inventiveness.
"Technical transfusion" means, in a negotiated procurement,
				  the disclosure of the contents of one bidder's bid proposal to another bidder
				  to help the other bidder improve its bid proposal.