We are having an ongoing debate about RFP's and their use in the contract process. My stance is that they are a procurement document and while a company can add their contract checklist and certain clauses that are expected in a contract and even state that the RFP will be an appendix to the contract, they are not a legally binding document. And if an RFP were to be considered a legally-binding document we would never get an RFP or its responses out of the legal department. Has anyone had any success in tying an RFP to a contract? Does anyone see an RFP as anything other than a procurement document? Does anyone have any information about their status in a court of law? Saving Changes...
Given that the RFP is a Request for Proposal, I don't see how this can be seen as a contractual document that defines what you will deliver. Your response to the RFP will normally state the capabilities that you have, and probably the approach you would take to move those capabilities closer to the client's needs. However, any response will almost certainly contain caveats that any solution will require further definition through a requirements document, gap analysis, or similar, with the right to vary the deliverables and price as a result of that exercise
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Anonymous
As a city government IT division, we consistently include the RFP/Offer as one of the contract documents. It is generally second in precendence behind the master agreement.
In submitting a proposal, Offerors agree that:
I hereby certify, by my signature below, that I have read and understand the terms and conditions stated herein, as well as its Appendix, and any referenced documents. I further certify that the company I represent will accept such terms and conditions in a resulting contract if selected by the city.
I certify that I am an officer or duly authorized agent of the Offeror named below with full power and authority to submit binding offers for the goods or services as specified herein.
Of course, the RFP does not define all that a company will deliver, but it is still a binding document. If it wasn't, how could we evaluate the proposal adequately? We could select your company based on response X and then, once selected, you could give us Y.
As far as status in a court of law, we've never been challenged on this. Our city attorney has reviewed our language and process many times and fully supports it. Saving Changes...
My advice takes part of the line of Richard's and the latter correspondent's advice.
The RFP is not strictly a contract document, however it is an important business and technical precedent to the contract.
I believe that for basic commercial credibility an organisation needs to ensure absolute consistency between the RFP and the ultimate contract. There are enough exceptions to this out there - but it really just proves there are plenty of corporate cowboys. Above all it is unethical practice.
I believe that an organisation places itself at risk for business (if not legal) objections when it does not follow the line of the RFP in the contract.
Regards, David Hudson, Brisbane, OZ Saving Changes...
