Chapter 29 - Award and Post-Award of IT Contracts

For agency-specific and VITA-delegated IT contracts, the procuring agency is responsible for finalizing their contract and announcing their award. VITA is responsible for finalizing contracts and announcing awards for statewide and non-VITA-delegated IT and telecommunications contracts. Once a contract is ready for award, the following activities should be coordinated by the procurement lead/sourcing specialist:

• Finalize the contract.

• Post the award(s) through publication in eVA and, if elected (refer to § 2.2-4303), a newspaper of general circulation. See section 29.5 below for additional guidance on award notices.

• Send two executable originals of the final contract to the supplier for signature. The supplier must always sign the final contract before it is signed by the agency.

• Once the supplier has signed and returned the two originals, review the contract documents to ensure the supplier has not made any changes that need to be addressed, present the contract originals to the appropriate VITA or agency executive for signature, depending on the dollar level or authority. Any award document can only be signed and issued by an authorized official of the agency. Return a fully executed original to the supplier.

• Issue letters or e-mails to all non-awarded suppliers to thank them for participating and encourage future interest. It is important to formally acknowledge the efforts of the non-selected suppliers.