Frequently Asked Questions
The Bureau of Planning
and Research is committed to working with you, our ITQ partners, in meeting
your needs. There are currently ninety-one
(91) pre-qualified vendors under the ITQ contract and we are continually reaching
out to those vendors to assist them in their endeavors to attain awarded projects
in the PennDOT Research Program. We’d like to remind
our vendors to please read each and every RFQ in order to ensure your company’s
quotation is evaluated and potentially selected by PennDOT.
Below is a list of common questions.
1.
What would cause my quotation to be rejected?
The most common reasons to reject vendor quotations are:
- Insufficient or no DBE allocation stated in the quotation
- Quotation not received prior to the deadline stated in the RFQ
- Cost quotations are not sealed separately from the technical quotations
- The submitting vendor is not pre-qualified under the ITQ
- The absence in the quotation of a signature from an official of your
organization binding your organization to the provisions stated in the quotation
2.
I’ve received an RFQ that I’m interested in preparing a bid for submission.
I need to have some questions answered before submitting my quote. What is
the best way to get answers to my questions?
Questions regarding the
proposed project will be accepted during the Question and Answer time period,
which is approximately 7 business days in length, starting at the day of
release of the RFQ. The procedure for the submission of questions is explained
in the RFQ. Answers to the questions will be gathered and will be distributed
to all pre-qualified vendors for the project’s research category.
3.
How important is the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) allocation
in my quotation?
PennDOT is committed to
promoting the fair and equal opportunity of disadvantaged businesses, and is
very much interested in sharing its research business opportunities to those
businesses who are DBE certified. Each RFQ will contain a stated DBE goal as a
percentage of total costs for that project. It is the responsibility of the
submitting vendor to attain that DBE goal and to declare that goal as a
percentage in the submitted quotation. If the goal cannot be attained, the
vendor is expected to explain the reason for not attaining the DBE goal.
Failing to attain the goal or to adequately explain why the goal cannot be
reached can result in the rejection of the quotation.
4.
How do I locate a listing of certified DBE vendors?
Please refer to the PA
UCP website at www.paucp.com for a list of
certified DBEs. All firms listed on the website
are certified and are eligible to participate as a DBE on PENNDOT’s
federally funded projects. A copy of the PA UCP DBE Directory is
available by contacting any of the certifying participants.
For more information
regarding the PA UCP or DBE Certification, please contact PENNDOT’s
Bureau of Equal Opportunity 717-787-5891 or 1-800-468-4201.
5.
How do I declare the DBE allocation in my quotation?
The requirement is to
state in the quotation the DBE allocation for the project in terms of the
percentage of total costs.
6.
How do I become a pre-qualified vendor?
Contact PennDOT’s Bureau of Office Services at 717-787-2491.