Rhode Island General Laws Title 37. Public Property and Works § 37-2-13.1. Procurement regulations--Request for proposal

(a) No request for proposal shall change to a master-price agreement unless the request for proposal is cancelled and reissued as a master price agreement.

(b) No vendor, parent corporation, subsidiary, affiliate, or subcontractor of any state vendor may bid on a request for proposal if that person or entity has a conflict of interest as defined in chapter 14 of title 36 with any official, officer, or agency in charge of the request or if they materially participated or were consulted with respect to the requirements, technical aspects, or any other part of the formation and promulgation of the request for proposals except for in the situations outlined in subsection (f) of this section.

(c) Further, no person or entity who or that acts as an operator or vendor for the state may participate in any request for proposal relating to any audit, examination, independent verification, review, or evaluation of any of the person's or entity's work, financials or operations performed for or on behalf of the state, or any official, officer, or agency.

(d) Persons or entities certified as “sole source” providers under § 37-2-21 shall be exempt from the requirements of subsection (b) of this section.

(e) Any person or entity submitting a proposal in response to a request for proposal shall make a written certification attesting under the penalty of perjury that the terms of subsection (b) of this section have been complied with or that the person or entity is exempt under subsection (d) of this section.

(f) Requests for information formally issued by the division of purchases and emergency procurements as defined in § 37-2-21 shall be exempt from subsection (b) of this section. Feasibility studies and preliminary evaluations shall also be exempt from subsection (b) of this section if the purchasing agent certifies in writing to the director of administration that a request for feasibility studies or preliminary evaluations resulted in no responsive bids. However, the division of purchases shall publicly disclose any final prior feasibility studies and/or evaluation reports completed in a subsequent procurement regarding a project.

(g) All potential suppliers shall be given a fair opportunity to present their capabilities and products. Reasonable effort shall be made to provide fair bidding opportunities to all qualified and interested suppliers.