Section 6981 - Electronic bidding(a) Any state contract for which an agency is a party with probable fees, including reimbursable expenses and amendments, greater than the threshold amount(s) established by the Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council pursuant to § 6913 of this title for the completed job will be subject to the provisions of this subchapter. Agencies may, alternately, at their discretion, procure services which include materiel other than professional services in accordance with § 6924 of this title.(b) Each agency shall publicly announce, not less than once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or circulated in each county of the State, when professional services are required except:(1) In case of critical needs so certified pursuant to § 6907 of this title; or(2) Where professional services are determined by the agency to be necessary during the course of completion of a previously awarded contract and: a. The agency determines that it would be in the best interest of the State to procure such additional or supplemental professional services from a firm already under contract for which the supplemental and additional professional services are required; andb. Such additional or supplemental professional services are within the scope of the contract.(c) Subject to the exceptions of subsection (b) of this section, each agency shall publicly announce each professional services contract subject to subsection (a) of this section by electronic publication accessible to the public in a manner prescribed pursuant to § 6902(10) of this title for 2 consecutive weeks.(d) Such announcement shall include: (1) The project identification;(2) General description and scope of the project;(4) Deadline for submission of brief letters of interest;(5) Criteria for selection of professionals including any special criteria required for any particular project;(6) Indication of how interested professionals can apply for consideration;(7) The agency's intention to award to more than 1 firm, if applicable; and(8) A description of the selection process to be used, as defined in § 6982 of this title.(e) Additional advertising shall be at the discretion of the agency.(f) Each agency shall establish written administrative procedures for the evaluation of applicants. These administrative procedures shall be adopted and made available to the public by each agency before publicly announcing an occasion when professional services are required. One or more of the following criteria may be utilized in ranking the applicants under consideration:(1) Experience and reputation;(2) Expertise (for the particular project under consideration);(3) Capacity to meet requirements (size, financial condition, etc.);(4) Location (geographical);(5) Demonstrated ability;(6) Familiarity with public work and its requirements; or(7) Distribution of work to individuals and firms or economic considerations.(g) In addition to the above, other criteria necessary for a quality, cost-effective project may be utilized.(h) Each project shall be given individual attention, and a weighted average may be applied to criteria according to its importance to each project.(i) For the selection process described in § 6982(b) of this title, price may be a criteria used to rank applicants under consideration. (j) If the Office or an agency determines that an electronic submission is beneficial, the Office or the agency may use this method to obtain proposals for non- professional services contracts. (1) The solicitation must designate that the procurement method will be an electronic submission, a schedule of bid activities, and an electronic mail account to which the responses must be sent.(2) The Office's or the agency's representative and a witness shall open the electronic mail account immediately after the closing date and time; record the names of the vendors that responded and the date and time submitted; and prepare a tabulation of all responsive vendors for review.Amended by Laws 2021, ch. 56,s 37, eff. 6/30/2021.Amended by Laws 2017, ch. 298,s 5, eff. 7/1/2018. 70 Del. Laws, c. 601, § 9; 78 Del. Laws, c. 288, § 4.;