R354-9-103. Protest -- Time for Filing -- Basis of Protest -- Authority to Resolve Protest

(1) A protest may be filed with the Procurement Officer by a person who: (a) has standing; and (b) is aggrieved in connection with a Procurement or an award of a Contract. (2)(a) A protest may not be filed after: (i)(A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a Procurement under a Bidding Process; or (B) the deadline for submitting responses to the Solicitation, for a protest relating to another Standard Procurement Process; or (ii) the closing of the Procurement stage that is the subject of the protest: (A) if the protest relates to a multiple-stage Procurement; and (B) notwithstanding Subsections (2)(a)(i)(A) and (B); or (b) the day that is seven days after the day on which the person knows or first has constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest, if: (i) the Protestor did not know and did not have constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest before: (A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a Procurement under a Bidding Process; (B) the deadline for submitting responses to the Solicitation, for a protest relating to another Standard Procurement Process; or (C) the closing of the Procurement stage that is the subject of the protest, if the protest relates to a multiple-stage Procurement; or (ii) the protest relates to a Procurement process not described in Subsection (2)(a). (3) A deadline under Subsection (2) for filing a protest may not be modified. (4) A Protestor shall include in a protest: (i) the Protestor's mailing address and email address; and (ii) a concise statement of the facts and evidence: (A) leading the Protestor to claim that the Protestor has been aggrieved in connection with a Procurement and providing the grounds for the Protestor's protest; and (B) supporting the Protestor's claim of standing. (b) A protest may not be considered unless it contains facts and evidence that, if true, would establish: (i) a violation of this Procurement Procedure or other applicable law; (ii) the CRAU's failure to follow a provision of a Solicitation; (iii) an error made by an evaluation committee or conducting Procurement unit; (iv) a bias exercised by an evaluation committee or an individual committee member, excluding a bias that is a preference arising during the evaluation process because of how well a Solicitation Response meets criteria in the Solicitation; (v) a failure to correctly apply or calculate a scoring criterion; or (vi) that Specifications in a Solicitation are unduly restrictive or unduly anticompetitive. (5) A protest may not be based on: (a) the rejection of a Solicitation Response due to a Protestor's failure to attend or participate in a mandatory conference, meeting, or site visit held before the deadline for submitting a Solicitation Response; (b) a vague or unsubstantiated allegation; or (c) a person's claim that: (i) the CRAU that complied with Section R354-1-105 did not provide individual notice of a Solicitation to the person; or (ii) the person received late notice of a Solicitation for which notice was provided in accordance with Section R354-1-105. (6) A protest may not include a request for: (a) an explanation of the rationale or scoring of evaluation committee members; (b) the disclosure of a protected record or protected information in addition to the information provided under the disclosure provisions of this chapter; or (c) other information, documents, or explanations not explicitly provided for in this rule. (7) A person who fails to file a protest within the time prescribed in Subsection (2) may not: (a) protest to the Procurement Official a Solicitation or award of a Contract; or (b) file an action or appeal challenging a Solicitation or award of a Contract before an appeals panel, a court, or any other forum. (8) Subject to the applicable requirements of Section 1-10-403, the Procurement Officer may enter into a settlement agreement to resolve a protest.