Until further notice, ISU is enabling electronic submission of submittals (e-bidding). New electronic submittal regulations and instructions are noted below. We will also be opening this solicitation to accept physical paper submissions from vendors with pending IPG number, or no IPG number.

ISU will continue to maintain and follow all Illinois Procurement Code Regulations and Rules. Any submittals received after the identified due date and time will not be accepted or evaluated.

Either electronic submissions OR paper submissions will be accepted for this solicitation.

IMPORTANT- If electronic submission is preferred, please read the attached E-Bidding instructions for critical information. (E-BiddingVendorInstructions.pdf)

MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING:

Thursday, January 19th, 2023 at 10:00 AM local time.

The pre-bid meeting will be virtual using the Zoom app.

The Zoom meeting call in information will be included with an addendum posted with this solicitation.

Mandatory Site Visit- Following the pre-bid meeting, a site visits will be offered during a 2-hour timeslot, on Thursday, January 19th, 2023 - 2:00-4:00pm. More information about the site visit will be shared during the pre-bid meeting.

Interested Prime bidders must attend this meeting and your company's name must appear on the official attendance log. This log will be used in the bid opening process, and if your company's name does not appear on the log, your bid will not be opened. Both the pre-bid meeting and the site visit are mandatory.

PARTICIPATION IN A U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR APPROVED AND REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP & TRAINING PROGRAM IS REQUIRED ON PUBLIC WORKS BY PROCUREMENT CODE (30 ILCS 500/30-22). Illinois State University requests that you submit a Certificate of Registration in an approved Apprenticeship and Training Program issued by the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, with your bid.

This bulletin is the only official source of documents for this bid. Clarifications or modifications to drawings or specifications will be posted via addendum. To give questions appropriate consideration and to give bidders time to respond to the resulting clarifications, the University requires that all questions be submitted no later than 4:30pm January 24th, 2023 to Jackie Gunderson at jnmaste@ilstu.edu.

*BEP Utilization Information*

A list of University-supplied NIGP commodity codes has been included in Part III of this solicitation's BEP Utilization Plan. Per the Utilization Plan's instructions, vendors who request a waiver from the goal on the basis of good faith efforts must exhaustively contact each vendor certified with the University-supplied commodity codes and document that contact in the Utilization Plan's Good Faith Efforts Contact Log. Waiver requests cannot be granted without exhausting outreach efforts in accordance with the Utilization Plan. For current and official BEP resources go to: https://cms.diversitycompliance.com.

If the list of University-supplied NIGP commodity codes excludes a code that a prospective respondent or BEP-certified vendor believes should be included with the solicitation, additional codes may be requested and must be submitted by the question deadline for this solicitation. These requests should be made through a commodity code addition form supplied by the University buyer assigned to this solicitation. Email the buyer to obtain this form. If requested, additional University-supplied commodity codes may be added to the Utilization Plan by addendum at the University's discretion.

Subcontractors must meet the same requirements as prime contractors to do business with Illinois State University.

• Submit 1 copies of the response as defined in the specifications.
  
• Sealed envelopes containing the bids have the bid number and project title on the envelope.
• Bid security (see complete bid for details).
• A letter from a surety company in substantially the form set forth in the Instructions to Bidders assuring the issuance of the performance and payment bonds.
• There is a 30 percent BEP goal for this procurement. See solicitation documentation for details.
  
• The contract(s) for this solicitation could exceed $50,000 annually.