EVALUATION TEAM CONFIDENTIALITY &
CONFLICT OF INTEREST AGREEMENT
Name of Evaluation Committee Member: _______________________________
Duties of the RFP EVALUATION Team
Understand Fair and Equal Treatment:
Contract A (the Bid Contract) promises that all proponents will be evaluated fairly
according to the same criteria and process; none will be given a special
advantage or benefit denied to the others; and all proponents will have an equal
opportunity to be the successful proponent. This means no switching criteria in
mid-evaluation and no hidden preferences. The evaluation team must stick to the
process, criteria and weighting as set out in the RFP document.
Act Independently and Fairly
An evaluator must be independent and free from bias and conflict of interest.
Stick to the Information Submitted:
Evaluators must act objectively and consider only the information received via
the RFP process, from references, or personal experience.
Evaluator Team Members with the Right Skills and Experience:
RFP requirements must be matched with the skills, background and training of
the committee members. Why? Before developing a team consensus, the
evaluation process requires an individual evaluator to score each response by
him or herself. So each evaluation committee member must possess a
“reasonable level” of expertise in the subject area. In addition, each evaluator
should have a “reasonable understanding” of common practices and standards in
the industry. An evaluator must use his or her base of knowledge to discriminate
between a more than adequate, an adequate and an inadequate response.
Considerations
o It would be unwise to make any statement that would indicate whether you
agree or disagree with any aspect of the proposal during the presentation.
o Reserve your evaluation, comments and judgements on the proposal until
debriefing time with the evaluation panel or committee
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o After a presentation, keep in mind you are simply asking the presenter(s)
questions in order to clarify proposal content and intent (this also applies
to interview question).
o Your team will discuss the relative merit of the clarifying information,
comments on the presentation and any comparisons later when the
presentations have been completed and the presenters have departed.
Cautions
o Do not answer questions as to how the proponent is doing relative to other
proponents.
o Do not indicate to any proponent a ranking (number one, two or three, for
example).
o Proponents should understand that the competition is still on and although
the field may have been narrowed, the best-valued proposal has not yet
been determined.
o Word your questions so that the proponent does not assume the question
is a way of pointing out a perceived weakness in the proposal. If the
proponent answers are inappropriate, do not comment on the response
during the session. You should now have the clarifying information
required on which to evaluate.
Conflict of Interest
Committee members must declare any potential conflicts of interest or perceived
conflicts of interest. Conflict of interest can occur when a member of the
evaluation committee:
• Has a friendship or familial relationship with one of the proponents;
• Has been in the employment of prospective vendors within one year prior to
the publication date of the bid document;
• Has a strong bias for or against one of the proponents;
• Has a direct or indirect financial interest in a proponent’s business;
• Has assisted in preparation of a proposal; or
• Has received a gift from one of the proponents.
Situations that can result in a conflict of interest are not limited to the examples
provided.
GENERAL
During the evaluation it is important to treat all proponents fairly and equally, and
to evaluate their proposals in accordance with the process described in the RFP.
Care must be taken throughout the process not to take any actions or make any
decisions that could be construed as providing an unfair advantage to any
proponent(s).
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CONFIDENTIALITY
As they will be entrusted with or have access to information governed by the
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act committee members must
be aware of the need for confidentiality. Evaluation committee members will be
expected to:
a) keep the proposals, and any notes they might make relating to them, in a
secure place where others will not have access to them;
b) not discuss financial or business aspects of the proposals to anyone other
than their fellow Evaluation Team members. It is expected and
acceptable that evaluators may discuss the product’s efficacy, quality and
appropriateness with peers in order to form a well rounded opinion of the
proposals;
c) retain copies of all notes and memoranda in accordance with the
requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
d) keep all notes, discussions, and point ratings confidential and not disclose
their substance or details to anyone;
e) evaluate the proposals strictly in accordance with the evaluation criteria as
stated in the Request for Proposals;
f) score proposals strictly in accordance with the established points ratings.
READING SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED:
Each committee member will need time to read through all proposals and make
notes as to the extent they meet the evaluation criteria. All proposals must be
reviewed and independently evaluated by each evaluation committee member.
EVALUATION PROCESS:
Evaluation Team members will review and individually score the proposals on a
separate Individual Scoring Form prior to meeting as a Team. This is not a
comparative review, with proponents being scored against each other. All
proposals are to be scored against the established criteria and award table.
CLINICAL EVALUATION FORMS THAT ARE INCOMPLETE WILL NOT BE
ACCEPTED FOR SCORING.
Please sign below acknowledging that you have received and read this
information. Return this document to the RFP Team lead from Purchasing. If
you have a conflict or a potential conflict, return this acknowledgement for and
information about the conflict.
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I have read and understand the provisions related to conflict of interest and
to my responsibilities when serving on RFP Evaluation Committees. If any
such conflict of interest arises during the Committee’s review of this
project, I will immediately report it to the RFP Team lead from Supply
Chain, Health Shared Services BC.
Signed:
________________________
Dated:
________________________
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