4. Communications during response period—Assessor Guidance Document—Supply Arrangement Requirements
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4.01 Requests for clarification/responses
All requests for clarification and questions submitted by potential Suppliers and the subsequent responses must be supplied to all Suppliers invited to respond to the bid solicitation.
- Treasury Board (TB) Contracting Policy (sub-section 10.7.2(b))
- Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Supply Manual (sub-section 4.80.5)
Assessment guidance and notes
The Contracting Authority may, during the response period, receive requests for clarification or questions from potential Suppliers. If the response to such requests could have an impact on the offer submitted or affect the decision of a Supplier to respond to the bid solicitation, the request for clarification/question itself along with the response must be provided to all Suppliers or, if applicable, issued directly to the Suppliers as an addendum/amendment to the bid solicitation. The Contracting Authority must retain on file documentation that confirms that all suppliers initially invited and any suppliers, which were part of the initial search results, who requested a copy of the bid solicitation were sent all requests for clarification or questions and the corresponding responses.
Note
- In some cases, the response to a clarification request/question would not have an impact on offers submitted and, therefore, the response does not need to be provided to all Suppliers. An example of this is a request by a Supplier to extend the response period
- The Contracting Authority shall not provide information that could jeopardize the bid solicitation process nor shall it impart information about the Supplier who initiated the request
| Type | Description | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Major non-conformance—policy (documentation) | Copy of the documentation (i.e. email) that confirms that a response to requests for clarification was sent is not on file and the Contracting Authority is unable to provide it. | Without a copy of the required documentation it is not possible for the Assessor to confirm whether or not all suppliers were sent the clarification responses. (Contravention of TB Contracting Policy sub-section 12.3.1.) |
| Major non-conformance—policy (documentation) | Response to request for clarification or question was not provided to all Suppliers. Clarification or answer provided could have impacted on the response process. | TB Contracting Policy requires that all potential Suppliers be provided the same information. (Contravention of TB Contracting Policy sub-section 10.7.2(b)) |
| Observation (documentation) | Compliance to this requirement cannot be determined because a copy of either the initial or the final search results is not on file. | If either the initial or final search results are not on file, then a Major non-conformance would already have been raised against a previous element (i.e. element 2.01: Search Results - Documentation).
Note: Recurrence of this finding may result in the issuance of a Major non-conformance. |
| Observation (other) | One or more Suppliers not identified in the search were sent the response to clarification requests. | A Major non-conformance has already been raised against a previous element (i.e. element 3.17—Supplier’s list).
Note: Recurrence of this finding may result in the issuance of a Major non-conformance. |
| Observation (other) | Requests for clarification from the suppliers invited to bid are not on file. Based on the complexity of the file being assessed, it is extremely unlikely that no requests for clarification were received. | The Assessor does not have the necessary subject matter expertise or information to assign a Major or Minor non-conformance.
Note: Recurrence of this finding may result in the issuance of a Major non-conformance. |
| Observation (other) | Copy of the response to a request for clarification and covering email is on file. Compliance to this requirement cannot be determined because it could not be determined who the response to a request for clarification was sent to. | This situation occurs when, for example, the email addresses of the suppliers invited to bid were placed in the bcc field of the email. In such cases, the printed copy of the email will not display the email addresses.
The Assessor does not have the necessary subject matter expertise or information to assign a Major or Minor non-conformance. Note: Recurrence of this finding may result in the issuance of a Major non-conformance. |
| Observation (insufficient info) | Request for clarification or question was not provided to all Suppliers. It is not clear whether or not the clarification or answer provided would have impacted on the bid solicitation document. | The Assessor does not have the necessary subject matter expertise or information to assign a Major or Minor non-conformance.
Note: Recurrence of this finding may result in the issuance of a Major non-conformance. |
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