La. Admin. Code tit. 4 § XV-701

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section XV-701 - General Provisions

A. Electronic bid is to be an alternative, rather than exclusive, method to a paper bid.

B. In addition to including the information required for paper bidding, when accepting bids electronically, the advertisement must:

1. specify any special condition or requirement for the submission;

2. contain the electronic address of the public entity.

C. Online service provider minimum requirements:

1. compliance with applicable law and rules:

a. Public Works contract law, R.S. 38:2212;

b. materials and supplies contract law, R.S. 38:2212.1;

c. the Louisiana Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, R.S. 9:2601-2619, particularly R.S. 9:2619(A) which provides that the commissioner of administration shall encourage and promote consistency and interoperability with similar requirements adopted by other governmental agencies of this state, other states, federal government, and nongovernmental persons interacting with governmental agencies of this state [R.S. 9:2619(A)] while recognizing that, if appropriate, standards may specify differing levels of standards from which governmental agencies of this state may choose in implementing most appropriate standard for particular application. [R.S. 9:2619(B)];

d.Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 4, Part XV, Chapter 7, Implementation of Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act- P.L. 106-229;

e. security standards promulgated by the Office of Technology Services of the state's Division of Administration;

2. be accessible over the internet via a modem or a network connection;

3. be available daily, 7 days a week, 24 hours daily, except for maintenance, and be reliable with better than 99.95 percent uptime with backup;

4. provide two-way service-publishes on the internet public works bid-related information from the political subdivision to the contracting community, and allows online, secure public works bid submission from the contracting community to the political subdivision;

5. automatically send bid receipt to bidder whenever a bid is submitted to the provider, with the receipt digitally signed by the provider and using the same technology used by the bidder to sign the bid;

6. have accurate retrieval or conversion of electronic forms of such information into a medium which permits inspection and copying;

7. ensure that bid cannot be read by anyone until the public bid opening. When bid is submitted to the provider, bid must be encrypted before sending using the political subdivision's key. Encryption level must ensure security;

8. ensure that if a bidder requests that an electronic bid be withdrawn before the bid deadline, it will not be passed on, or be accessible, to the political subdivision;

9. ensure that only the last electronic bid submission from a person is kept and passed on, or made accessible, to the political subdivision;

10. ensure that bid is not passed on, or accessible, to political subdivision until the public bid opening;

11. enable electronic bid bond submission and verification with at least two participating surety agencies;

12. ensure secure digital signature;

13. uses public/private key pair technology for encrypting and digitally signing documents;

14. provide telephone support desk, at a minimum, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for legal holidays. Provides voice mail after business hours with messages being addressed the next business day. Email and fax support addresses are available 24 hours a day and be answered the next business day.

La. Admin. Code tit. 4, § XV-701

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of Information Technology, LR 32:2052 (November 2006), Amended by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of Technology Services, LR 4148 (1/1/2015).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with Act 831 of the 2003 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature and Act 203 of the 2006 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature.