1. Requirement
The City of Ottawa, (the “City”) is requesting standing offer submissions from Offerers qualified to Supply and deliver Bus Shelter Maps, (the Goods) on an as and when requested basis, in accordance with the specifications, Terms, and Conditions of this Request for Standing Offer (RFSO).
2. Standing Offer Closing Date
All Offer submissions must be addressed to the attention of the Administrative Authority, identified herein, and uploaded to the MERX online tendering system no later than 3:00 P.M. local time on Monday February 1, 2021. Late Offer submissions will not be accepted. Offers submitted by email or facsimile will not be accepted.
13. Inquiries and Addenda
13.1 All inquiries regarding this RFSO are to be directed to the Administrative Authority specified herein. Inquiries must be received in writing via MERX not later than Thursday January 21, 2021 @ NOON. Should the MERX system not accept the inquiry, the Offerer may contact the Administrative Authority by email. Both the questions and answers will be distributed to all potential Offerers by way of written addendum, published in MERX, without identifying the source(s) of the inquiry. The City is not obligated to respond to an inquiry or question received after this time period has elapsed. The Offerer shall not be entitled to rely on any response or interpretation received from the City unless that response or interpretation is provided by the Administrative Authority by way of addendum.
15. Offer Validity
15.1 Offers shall remain open for acceptance by the City for a period of no less than ninety
(90) calendar days from the RFSO Closing Date.
24. Equivalents
24.1 Where specific materials, products, systems or brand names are identified in the
Specifications and are followed by the words, “or equivalent”, it is for the purpose of establishing a base standard of acceptance.
24.2 Offerer’s may submit an offer based on the use of an “equivalent” material, product, system or brand name to those described in the Specifications. Offerer’s shall ensure the submission includes a description of the proposed equivalent and a direct comparison between the properties of the materials, products, systems or brand names specified in the Specifications and the properties of the proposed equivalent.
24.3 The approval or rejection of a proposed “or equivalent” will be made after the Closing Date during the evaluation of the offer at the sole discretion of the City. Should the proposed “or equivalent” be rejected by the City, the Supplier will not be considered for contract award for the supply and delivery of Bus Shelter Maps. To mitigate this risk, Offerer’s are permitted to submit two separate offers, one based on the use of the material, product, system or brand name specified in the Specifications and one based on the use of a proposed equivalent.
