The purpose of this Invitation for Bids is to obtain pricing from Vendors to furnish and deliver Corrugated
Polypropylene Pipe for the NC Department of Transportation. Bids shall be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of this IFB and any addenda issued hereto. It shall be the Vendor's responsibility to read the Instructions to Vendors, the North Carolina General Terms and
Conditions, all relevant exhibits and attachments, and any other components made a part of this IFB and comply with
all requirements and specifications herein. Vendors also are responsible for obtaining and complying with all Addenda
and other changes that may be issued in connection with this IFB. If Vendors have questions, issues, or exceptions regarding any term, condition, or other component within this IFB,
those must be submitted as questions in accordance with the instructions in the BID QUESTIONS Section. If the
State determines that any changes will be made as a result of the questions asked, then such decisions will be
communicated in the form of an IFB addendum. The State may also elect to leave open the possibility for later
negotiation and amendment of specific provisions of the Contract that have been addressed during the question and
answer period. Other than through this process or negotiation under 01 NCAC 05B.0503, the State rejects and will
not be required to evaluate or consider any additional or modified terms and conditions submitted with Vendor's bid.
This applies to any language appearing in or attached to the document as part of the Vendor's bid that purports to
vary any terms and conditions or Vendors' instructions herein or to render the bid non-binding or subject to further
negotiation. Vendor's bid shall constitute a firm offer that shall be held open for the period required herein ("Validity
Period" above).
Questions received prior to the submission deadline date, the State's response, and any additional terms deemed
necessary by the State will be posted in the form of an addendum to the Interactive Purchasing System (IPS),
and shall become an Addendum to this IFB. No information, instruction or advice provided orally or informally by
any State personnel, whether made in response to a question or otherwise in connection with this IFB, shall be considered
authoritative or binding. Vendors shall rely only on written material contained in an Addendum to this IFB. 2.6 BID SUBMITTAL
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an absolute requirement. Vendor shall bear the risk of late submission due to
unintended or unanticipated delay. It is the Vendor's sole responsibility to ensure its bid has been received as
described in this IFB by the specified time and date of opening. The date and time of receipt will be marked on each
bid when received. Any bid or portion thereof received after the bid submission deadline will be rejected. North Carolina G.S. 143-52 provides a general list of criteria the State shall use to award contracts, as supplemented
by the additional criteria herein. The Goods or Services being procured shall dictate the application and order of
criteria; however, all award decisions shall be in the State's best interest. All responsive bids will be reviewed, and award or awards will be based on the responsive bid(s) offering the lowest
price that meets the specifications set out herein. While the intent of this IFB is to award a Contract(s) to a single Vendor for all line items the State reserves the right
to make separate awards to different Vendors for one or more-line items, to not award one or more line items or to
cancel this IFB in its entirety without awarding a Contract, if it is considered to be most advantageous to the State to
do so. If a Vendor selected for award is determined by the State to be a non-resident of North Carolina, all responsive bids
will be reviewed to determine if any of them were submitted by a North Carolina resident Vendor who requested an
opportunity to match the price of the winning bid, pursuant to Executive Order #50 and G.S. 143-59 (for more
information, please refer to ATTACHMENT H: VENDOR REQUEST FOR EXECUTIVE ORDER #50 PRICE
MATCHING. If such bid(s) are identified, the State will then determine whether any such bid falls within
the price match range, and, if so, make a Contract award in accordance with the process that implements.
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