Unless otherwise authorized by law, all State procurement contracts shall be awarded by one of the following methods, at the procurement officer’s discretion, where applicable: Competitive sealed bidding under COMAR 21.05.02; Competitive sealed proposals under COMAR 21.05.03 ; Negotiated award after unsatisfactory competitive sealed bidding; Noncompetitive negotiations: Sole source under COMAR 21.05.05; Emergency and expedited under COMAR 21.05.06; Small procurement procedures under COMAR 21.05.07; Noncompetitive negotiated procurement under COMAR 21.05.12.04; Intergovernmental cooperative purchasing under COMAR 21.05.09; Architectural, engineering, and land surveying services qualification based selection under COMAR 21.12; Master contracting under COMAR 21.05.13; Auction bids under COMAR 21.05.14; or Pay-for-success contracting under COMAR 21.05.15. If there is a reasonable basis for believing that collusion has occurred among any persons for any reason, the procurement officer shall send a written notice of this belief to the Office of the Attorney General. All documents involved in any procurement in which there is a reasonable basis for believing that collusion has occurred shall be retained by the procurement agency until the Office of the Attorney General gives notice that they may be destroyed. These documents shall be made available to the Office of the Attorney General immediately on request. Definitions. In this regulation, the following terms have the meanings indicated. “Preference” means: A percentage preference; An employee residency requirement; or Any other law, policy, or practice that favors a resident over a nonresident. “Resident business” means a business whose principal office or principal base of operations is located in the State. “Services” means services, construction-related services, or energy performance contract services. Conditions. A procurement agency may give a preference to a resident business if: The resident business is a responsible: Bidder, under a competitive sealed bid; Offeror, under a competitive sealed proposal; or Provider of architectural or engineering services; A responsible bidder or offeror whose principal office or principal base of operations is in another state submits the lowest responsive bid or the most advantageous offer; The state in which the nonresident's principal office is located or the state in which the nonresident has its principal operation through which it would provide the goods or services gives a preference to its residents through law, policy, or practice; and The preference does not conflict with a federal law or grant affecting the procurement contract. Application. A preference under this regulation shall be identical to the preference that the other state, through law, policy, or practice, gives to its residents. Definitions. In this regulation, the following terms have the meanings indicated. “Nonresident firm” means a business entity that: Has one office that is a principal office for the entity and is not located in the State; or For an entity that has offices in multiple states, has not had a principal office located in the State for at least 6 months immediately before the date of a request for proposals. “Preference” means: A percentage preference; An employee residency requirement; or Any other law, policy, or practice that favors a resident-firm offeror over a nonresident-firm offeror. Principal Office. “Principal office” means a primary place of business that is staffed on a regular basis to provide the services that are requested by a unit in a request for proposals. “Principal office” does not include a satellite office or an office that is minimally staffed and is not open on a regular basis to provide the services that are requested by a unit in a request for proposals. “Request for proposals” means a request for architectural services or engineering services that is issued in accordance with State Finance and Procurement Article, §13-112, Annotated Code of Maryland. Resident Firm. “Resident firm” means a business entity that is licensed or otherwise authorized to provide architectural or engineering services in the State, and: For an entity that has one office, the office is located in the State; or For an entity that has offices in multiple states, has had a principal office located in the State for at least 6 months immediately before the date of a request for proposals. “Resident firm” includes a joint venture that was entered into before the date of the request for proposals for which the joint venture submits a proposal and includes one party that holds at least a 51 percent interest in the joint venture and meets the definition in §A(6)(a) of this regulation. Conditions. A procurement agency shall apply a preference to a proposal from a resident firm if: A nonresident firm is a responsible offeror determined to be the most qualified person to submit a proposal in accordance with State Finance and Procurement Article, §13-112, Annotated Code of Maryland, and the state in which the principal office of the nonresident firm is located has a preference that favors an offeror from that state to the disadvantage of an offeror from the State of Maryland; A resident firm is a responsible offeror that certifies it meets the requirements for a resident firm at the same time that it submits the proposal for which the preference would apply; and The nonresident firm’s state’s preference does not conflict with a federal law or grant affecting the procurement contract. Application. At the request of a unit, a nonresident firm shall provide the following documentation for the state in which the principal office of the nonresident firm is located: A copy of the current statute, resolution, policy, procedure, or executive order that establishes a preference that favors an offeror from that state to the disadvantage of an offeror from the State of Maryland; or A certification that the other state does not have a preference that favors an offeror from that state to the disadvantage of an offeror from the State of Maryland. If a resident firm qualifies for a preference established under this section and for another preference established under State Finance and Procurement Article, Division II, Annotated Code of Maryland, the unit: May not apply more than one preference to the proposal from the resident firm; and Shall apply the preference to the proposal from the resident firm that is most advantageous to the resident firm. If, when making a determination of qualification under a qualification-based selection, a unit determines that a proposal from a resident firm and a proposal from a nonresident firm are equally qualified, the unit may apply a preference to the proposal from the resident firm. A unit may not apply a preference to a proposal submitted by a resident firm if the resident firm does not submit the certification required under §B(2) of this regulation at the same time that it submits the proposal. After a solicitation for bids under COMAR 21.05.02 or for proposals under COMAR 21.05.03 or 21.12.02—21.12.05 is issued and until a procurement officer makes a recommendation for award, a procurement officer may disclose to a person outside the Board of Public Works and the Executive Branch only: Whether a decision has been made regarding a solicitation; and Information that is available to the public under the Public Information Act, General Provisions Article, Title 4, Annotated Code of Maryland. After a solicitation for bids under COMAR 21.05.02 or for proposals under COMAR 21.05.03 or 21.12.02—21.12.05 is issued and before contract award, a procurement officer shall record and include in the procurement file the following information from any inquiry originating from any source outside the Executive Branch: The date and time of the inquiry; The name and affiliation of the person making, or initiating, the inquiry; and The substance and nature of the inquiry. The procurement file on each procurement under COMAR 21.05.02 and 21.05.03 or 21.12.02—21.12.05 may be kept electronically and shall include: A record of all inquiries required to be recorded under Regulation .06 of this chapter; A listing of every bidder or offeror solicited; All bids or offers received; All internal and external correspondence regarding the procurement; Written documentation from the procurement officer describing efforts to confirm the information in the affidavits submitted by the successful bidder or offeror, including, at a minimum, verification that the business has not been suspended or debarred by the State or federal government; and The final contract. In this chapter, “bundle” means the consolidation of two or more procurement requirements for supplies or services previously provided or performed under separate contracts into a single solicitation seeking offers for a single contract that is unlikely to be accessible for award to a small business or minority business enterprise. For the purpose of precluding or limiting participation by a minority business enterprise or a small business, a unit may not: Bundle a procurement; Limit the number of competitive bidders or offerors; or Limit participation to a predetermined group of bidders or offerors. Application. This regulation does not apply if a unit bundles a procurement to conduct a small business reserve procurement under COMAR 21.11.01.06. : State Finance and Procurement Article, §§11-201, 11-205, 12-101, 13-102, 13-110, 13-202, and 14-401, Annotated Code of Maryland; Ch. 216, Acts of 2009; Chs. 633 and 624, Acts of 2018; Ch. 356, Acts of 2019 Effective date: July 1, 1981 (8:13 Md. R. II-5) Regulation .01D amended effective May 6, 1985 (12:9 Md. R. 815) Regulation .01F adopted effective July 29, 1985 (12:15 Md. R. 1526) Regulation .02 amended effective July 29, 1985 (12:15 Md. R. 1526) Chapter revised effective January 9, 1989 (15:27 Md. R. 3138) Regulation .01 amended effective October 5, 1998 (25:20 Md. R. 1533); March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310); September 18, 2023 (50:18 Md. R. 800) Regulation .01F amended effective January 2, 2017 (43:26 Md. R. 1449) Regulation .01H amended effective June 29, 2020 (47:13 Md. R. 643) Regulation .02 repealed effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310) Regulation .02A amended effective February 24, 1997 (24:4 Md. R. 293) Regulation .04 adopted effective October 12, 1996 (23:20 Md. R. 1425) Regulation .04 amended effective January 24, 2000 (27:1 Md. R. 77); July 15, 2019 (46:14 Md. R. 623) Regulation .04-1 adopted effective July 15, 2019 (46:14 Md. R. 623) Regulations .05—.07 adopted effective October 2, 2000 (27:19 Md. R. 1729) Regulation .05 amended effective April 7, 2008 (35:7 Md. R. 751) Regulation .05B amended effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310) Regulation .07 amended effective June 29, 2020 (47:13 Md. R. 643) Regulation .08 adopted effective January 14, 2010 (37:1 Md. R. 16)