(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.   (1) Board--The board of directors of the department.   (2) Department--The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.   (3) Protest--A written objection submitted to the department by any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation, evaluation, or award of a contract by the department. (b) Procedures. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, or contractor who is aggrieved in connection with the solicitation, evaluation, or award may formally protest to the department's Purchasing Officer. Such protests shall be in writing and received in the Purchasing Officer's office within ten working days after such aggrieved person knows, or should have known, of the
occurrence of the action which is protested. Formal protests must conform to the requirements of this subsection and subsection (c) of this section, and shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure set forth in subsections (d)-(g) of this section. Copies of the protest must be mailed or delivered by the protesting party to other interested parties. For the purposes of this section, "interested parties" means all vendors who have submitted bids or proposals for the contract involved. A list of these is available upon request from the department. (c) A formal protest must be sworn and contain:   (1) a specific identification of the statutory or regulatory provision(s) that the action complained of is alleged to have violated;   (2) a specific description of each act alleged to have violated the statutory or regulatory provision(s) identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection;   (3) a precise statement of
the relevant facts;   (4) an identification of the issue or issues to be resolved;   (5) argument and authorities in support of the protest; and   (6) a statement that copies of the protest have been mailed or delivered to other identifiable interested parties. (d) The Purchasing Officer shall have the initial authority to settle and resolve the dispute concerning the solicitation or award of a contract. The Purchasing Officer may solicit written responses to the protest from other interested parties. (e) If the protest is not resolved by mutual agreement, the Purchasing Officer will provide a written recommendation to the executive director. (f) The executive director shall issue a final determination on the protest within 15 days after receipt of the Purchasing Officer's recommendation. (g) In the alternative, the executive director may, in his
discretion, refer the matter to the board for their consideration at a regularly scheduled open meeting. The decision of the board, or of the executive director under subsection (f) of this section shall be final. (h) All documents collected by the Department as part of a solicitation, evaluation, and/or award of a contract shall be kept on file at the Department for a period of two years, and in remote storage for an additional one year.


Source Note: The provisions of this §1.4 adopted to be effective January 29, 1998, 23 TexReg 544.