Rhode Island

Key Agency(ies):

• The Division of Purchases (DOP) within the Department of Administration is led by the Chief Purchasing Officer, who is the central authority for state procurement, responsible for managing public contracts, setting procurement policy and overseeing the Rhode Island Vendor Information Program (RIVIP) and Ocean State Procures (OSP) e-procurement systems.

Key Statute:

• Rhode Island Title 37, Chapter 2 is the key statute that governs centralized procurement, authority and duties of the Chief Procurement Officer, and procurement regulations.
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Key Regulations:

• The DOP Procurement regulations are found at § 220-30-00 in the Code of Rhode Island Rules (R.I. Code R.).
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Procurement Types/Highlights:

• Competitive sealed bidding
  • Default method for state contracts
• Competitive Negotiation
• Small Purchases
• Reverse Auctions
• Noncompetitive Negotiations

Bid Protests:

Regs Governing Bid Protests:

• I. Gen. Laws §§ 37-2-51 to 37-2-53 are the primary sources of bid protest procedures.

Eligible Protesters:

• Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor aggrieved by the solicitation or award of a public contract may file a protest with the Chief Purchasing Officer.

Timeliness Rules:

• Protest or notice of controversy must be filed in writing within two calendar weeks of when the aggrieved party knows or should have known of the facts giving rise to the protest.

Protest Process:

• A written protest must be filed to the Chief Procurement Officer within two weeks of knowledge of the issue.
• The officer will issue a prompt written decision
• However, the state may continue procurement if substantial state interest is documented.
• Aggrieved parties may also bypass the DOP protest process and proceed directly to court, but using the DOP process can delay the project and provide time to seek injunctive relief.
  • Civil actions to enjoin awards may be filed in Superior Court (if > $5,000) or district court (< $5,000)
  • Taxpayers may also seek injunctions against municipal officers or unlawful expenditures.

Appeals

• If an award is brought before a court, the court will rarely overturn the award due to a statutory “presumption of correctness” for official decisions. Only compelling or unusual circumstances (corruption, bad faith, palpable abuse of discretion) justify intervention.
• Rhode Island Supreme Court cases reaffirm the high degree of deference to public officials in procurement decisions.
• Bid preparation costs may be recoverable in rare circumstances.

Claims: 

• Contract claims against the state must be brought within three years of project completion, and damages are limited to double the original contract amount.
• Most public works contracts require mandatory arbitration for disputes, with a default process for selecting arbitrators and binding written decisions.
• Appeals from arbitration awards follow standard civil arbitration procedures in Rhode Island courts, but orders and judgments are rarely overturned.

Suspension & Debarment:

• DOP may suspend or debar suppliers, contractors, or subcontractors for criminal offenses, fraud, material nonperformance, federal debarment, business integrity issues, or other serious violations.
• Debarment removes the entity from the bidder lists and excludes it from future procurements. Suspension on the other hand is for a limited period.
• Debarment/suspension may apply to all divisions of a corporation, and improper conduct by individuals may be imputed to the entity.
• Contractors may also be penalized for knowingly engaging with suspended or debarred subcontractors.

Interesting/Distinctions: 

• The State must justify project labor agreements with objective, reviewable criteria for complex projects.
• Major public facilities must meet LEED green building standards. However, lesser standards are allowed if LEED is impractical.
• Rhode Island centralizes procurement through DOP and has adopted its Ocean State Procures platform to facilitate transparency and open access.