Solicitation FAQs
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Buyer Information
How can I receive alerts about expiring Master Agreements or Statewide Purchasing Agreements?
To receive CORE alerts about expiring Master or Statewide Purchasing Agreements, Buyers will need to complete two steps in the transaction creation process. These steps may be recreated after an agreement has been Finalized as a Modification, creating a new transaction version.
First, Buyers will need to assign themselves as the Buyer to the Agreement. A recap of how to complete this may be found here.
Second, Buyers must be sure to add the desired number of renewal lines to the Agreement transaction. This can be done by inserting new lines on the Renewal Period page, as seen below:
Note: Renewal Period Length and Unit should reflect the standard term of your agreement. Notification Days Prior to Expiration can be customized to the desired timeline.
With these two steps completed in a finalized transaction, a routine batch-job will automatically create CORE alerts for the listed Buyer. This batch job runs nightly, Monday through Thursday and Buyers will receive alerts directly in CORE once they log in. The alert can be accessed by clicking on the bell icon at the top of the page.
Solicitation Notifications
How will I know if a specific Solicitation has been published?
Email notifications
In order to receive email notifications, you will want to create and register a VSS account and set up commodity codes.
Browsing Solicitations by logging into a registered VSS account.
If you do not have a VSS account, you can browse solicitations by using the Public Access link.
Wildcard Keyword Search by logging into your VSS Account or using the Public Access link.
You will want to make sure you're using an asterisk (*) before and after the keywords that you're entering in order to maximize you search results.
Advanced Keyword Search in addition to a Wildcard Keyword by logging into your VSS account or using the Public Access link.
You will want to select Advanced Search next to the Keyword Search field. There you will be able to narrow your search by category (ex. Furnishings), Status and Type (ex. Documented Quote, Request for Bids).
Utilizing the Solicitation Navigation menu.
How do I determine which Vendors received my Solicitation notification emails?
For instruction on determining which vendors received your solicitation notification emails, visit the Vendor Solicitation Notification Emails Job Aid on the Procurement page.
How do I send email notifications to Vendors that are not registered for the Commodity Codes on my Solicitation?
For instructions on how to send email notifications to vendors that are not registered for the commodity codes on your solicitation, visit the Commodity Email Push Job Aid that is located on the Procurement page.
If I use the Q & A section when responding to a vendor's inquiry, will there be an email notification that is generated to vendors?
Although CORE allows for a buyer to respond to a Vendor’s questions using this functionality when responding to these inquiries, it is recommended to do so in the form of a Question and Answer attachment on a new version of your Solicitation in the CORE system, because responses generated in the Q & A section do not generate email notifications to Vendors, but creating a new version of your Solicitation with an attachment containing questions with answers to them will.
When I publish or modify a solicitation does it automatically appear on VSS for vendors to see, or is there a delay time?
When you enter a solicitation in CORE, it will be processed via a batch process that occurs every hour on the half hour from 6:30 a.m. through 5:30p.m. There will be a slight lag between when you first post a solicitation in CORE and when it will appear in Vendor Self Service (VSS).
A vendor reported to me that they are not receiving any email notifications when I publish a solicitation, why?
The vendor will need to make sure they have added commodity codes to their VSS account. Commodity codes are what drive email notifications to be sent to a vendor when a solicitation is published on ColoradoVSS.
How do I resolve “modification” errors on a new version of a Solicitation Response (SR)?
The following errors will appear after attempting to validate an updated Solicitation Response (SR) transaction, if the Solicitation has already closed.
To address these errors, you will need to navigate to the “Modification Authorization” section of your SR.
How do I update incorrect values entered on a Solicitation Response (SR) transaction?
A severe error is returned when a Buyer attempts to cancel a Solicitation Response transaction after the associated Solicitation has closed.
This error cannot be overridden. Since most SR’s are entered AFTER a Solicitation has closed, canceling it to correct the error isn’t going to be an option. The best course of action to make your correction depends on the type of action that is needed.
Wrong Bid Amount
If the wrong bid amount was entered on the Solicitation Response, a new version of the Solicitation Response can be created with the right amount(s). If the original response amount was pulled into an Evaluation (EV) transaction, that EV draft will have to be discarded and a new EV will need to be created to pull the new SR information into it. Visit "How do I resolve 'modification' errors on a new version of a Solicitation Response (SR)?" for more information regarding the creation of a modified SR.
Wrong Vendor Entry
CORE will not allow a Vendor entry to be updated on a finalized SR. Attempting to do so will yield the following error:
If you have created an SR using the wrong Vendor code, a new SR will need to be created with the correct Vendor code and both entries will need to be loaded into the Evaluation (EV) transaction. When adding Evaluator Comments to each vendor entry on the EV, a comment will need to be applied to the SR with the incorrect Vendor entry stating that the transaction was created in error.
Can I create a new version of a finalized Evaluation (EV) transaction?
CORE will allow you to create a new version of an Evaluation (EV) transaction if you have finalized the most recent version of your EV and need to create new Solicitation awards. CORE will not allow new Solicitation Response (SR) transactions to be loaded into the new version of the EV transaction; only SR transactions loaded into the initial EV can be used.
Why won’t my Evaluation (EV) transaction validate and submit?
EV transactions can only be validated and submitted to a “Final” status once any awards created via the EV have been validated and submitted to a status of “Final”
Why won’t validating and submitting my Evaluation (EV) transaction create my awards?
Solicitation Awards are not created by validating and submitting an Evaluation. This is done by awarding commodity lines from the EV.
How do I correct a Solicitation award made to the wrong Vendor?
You will first need to cancel any Award(s) made to the wrong vendor. View instructions at: Canceling a Solicitation Prior to the Closing Date. Canceling any Awards created in error will remove any Notice of Intent to Award/Notice of Award identifiers from the associated Solicitation in ColoradoVSS.
Notice of Intent to Award:
Notice of Award:
Once any erroneously generated awards have been canceled, you will then need to create new awards using the Evaluation (EV) transaction to generate new notification emails to Vendors and Notice of Intent to Award/Notice of Award identifiers in ColoradoVSS. Please note, this will only work if the EV transaction is still in Draft.
Will CORE allow me to cancel Finalized Evaluation (EV) transaction?
CORE will not allow for a finalized EV transaction to be canceled.
I recently published a solicitation, how do I know that the Vendors are able to submit an Online Solicitation Response?
While in CORE, you will want to open up your solicitation and click on Publishing from the horizontal 3-dot menu.
Once you are reviewing the Publishing section, you will want to note the selection for Prohibit Online Responses. If it is "Yes" vendors will not be able to submit online solicitation responses through ColoradoVSS.
Please note: A Vendor must be registered on ColoradoVSS in order to submit Online Solicitation Responses.
How can I determine if there were solicitation responses received from Vendors for my solicitation?
You will open your solicitation transaction in CORE and click on Procurement Folder located in the vertical 3 dot menu.
Select View from the vertical 3 dot menu on the line item.
On the Transactions tab, you can view the Solicitation Responses, if any
Will I need to retroactively update all ColoradoVSS awards generated with an encumbrance transaction after the MAE2 transaction goes live?
No. All ColoradoVSS awards made from an Evaluation Transaction (EV) with an Encumbrance Transaction before the MAE2 award transaction was activated will not need to be cancelled or modified in any way. However, all ColoradoVSS awards created from an EV after the MAE2 transaction is activated will need to be created using an MAE2 transaction, with the exception of the State Price Agreement (SPA1) transaction.
Why is the Public Bid Reading tab on the ColoradoVSS website visible to vendors?
This is caused by selecting the "Publish" button within the EV transaction. Even if you unselect this button later, the tab on the ColoradoVSS website will remain, so be cautious when selecting this on an EV transaction. There is a Solicitation Glossary that will describe the various tabs along with their definitions seen on ColoradoVSS when a vendor is reviewing a published solicitation or submitting an Online Solicitation Response. To view the Solicitation Glossary navigate to the Solicitation Instructions, found on the ColoradoVSS website.
Commodity Codes
Why should I use a 5-digit commodity code instead of a 3-digit commodity code on my Solicitation?
Although CORE will allow you to publish a Solicitation with 3-digit commodity codes, these commodity lines will only send notification emails to Vendors registered for those specific 3-digit codes. If however, you use a 5-digit commodity code on a Solicitation, the notification emails will be sent to Vendors registered for that specific 5-digit code as well as to Vendors registered for the first 3 digits of those Commodity codes. To ensure your Solicitation emails reach a broader Vendor base, make sure that you use 5-digit commodity codes on your Solicitations.
Can I change a commodity code after a solicitation has closed?
No, a solicitation cannot be edited once it has closed.
Solicitation Errors
How do I address the following error on a Solicitation Response: “A response was previously submitted for this Vendor's TIN (A3596)”?
This Solicitation Response error: A response was submitted for this Vendor's TIN (A3596).
Is the result of selecting the "Restrict Multiple Responses per Vendor TIN" (optional) entry on a Solicitation, then creating two or more Solicitation Responses using Vendors that share a TIN (Tax Identification Number).
The only way to address this error once a Solicitation with this selected has closed is to coordinate an override with the CORE Help Desk. The proactive way to address the problem is to not select the “Restrict Multiple Responses per Vendor TIN” checkbox on your Solicitation before publishing it.
How do I resolve the "Vendor is Required" error I receive when I try to validate a DQ1?
You will want to make sure there is not an empty line on the Vendor list that has been added to the DQ1. If there an empty line, you will want to edit the DQ1, click on Vendor List on the left, delete the empty line, and then validate.
How do I resolve "Let Date must be greater than or equal to the Current Date(A1974)"?
Edit the "Let Date" on the Publishing Tab
Solicitation Approvals
How do I get a Sole Source Solicitation approved if I submitted it and I am the only person who can approve it?
NPSS1 or “Sole Source” Solicitations are the only ones requiring approval before being loaded to ColoradoVSS. Since CORE will not allow someone to approve their transaction, the way to avoid this issue would be to have another Buyer in your department submit your NPSS1 on your behalf. If however, the NPSS1 transaction has already been submitted, then a new approver will need to be added to your Department’s Sole Source approval queue to approve the transaction.
Do Sole Source Solicitations automatically post to CORE after the transaction has been submitted, or does it require additional approval?
All solicitations need to be in Final status in order to post to VSS. This ensures that the approver/manager has reviewed what was entered and no changes need to be made before they are seen by or emailed to the vendors.
Modifying a Solicitation
How do I let vendors know about specific updates I have Made to a Solicitation?
ColoradoVSS sends notification emails to Vendors if an amendment has been made to a Solicitation, however, specific information about the changes are not included in the email. ColoradoVSS does display these updates to Vendors, but the way it is presented is rigid and non-specific.
To address the limitations, use the free text field called "Additional Information" in CORE.
When documenting your changes in this field (located in the header of your Solicitation), apply a time stamp to each entry so that Vendor's know when each change was made. Once the Solicitation is published to ColoradoVSS, the information entered in CORE will be passed to the "Additional Instructions" section under the Solicitation Instructions tab in ColoradoVSS.
CORE entry:
Colorado VSS entry:
The "Additional Information" section is limited to 1,500 characters.
Why can't I reopen my closed Solicitation?
CORE will allow you to create a new version of a Solicitation to make changes if the Solicitation is still open. However, The following error will appear if you attempt to edit a closed Solicitation: This transaction cannot be modified it is in a final state and the current system date is after the closed date (A2676)
The system will not allow Solicitations that are closed to be changed, as the information contained in the Solicitation should be available to all vendors before the solicitation response deadline. Therefore, if a Solicitation close date must be extended, an attachment attached or other edits need to be made, do so before the Solicitation is closed.
How do I view questions about a Solicitation posted in ColoradoVSS and how do I answer them?
For the instructions on viewing questions about a Solicitation posted in ColoradoVSS, and how to answer them, visit the Answering Vendor Questions on a Solicitation Job Aid located on the Procurement page.
Closing/Canceling a Solicitation
How do I cancel a Solicitation?
For instructions on how to cancel a solicitation, please visit the Canceling a Solicitation (Prior to Close Date) Job Aid that can be found on the Procurement page.
If I submit a solicitation to final and discard it right away, will it still show up in VSS?
If you submit a solicitation to final, it will show up on a VSS even if you discard the solicitation right away. It will appear on VSS as canceled.
Should I set a same day "Close Date on a Solicitation to close it today?
Creating a new version of a Solicitation that contains a “Close Date” that is the same as the current date will final close the transaction in CORE, however, the close date will not be reflected in ColoradoVSS. Instead, the previous close date will be left in place. When an attempt is made to alter the date in CORE, so that the Solicitation can be canceled, the following error will be returned: "This transaction cannot be modified when it is in a final state and the current system date is after the closed date(A2676)
If you need to take a Solicitation out of an "Open" status, cancel the Solicitation, then issue a new Solicitation (with reference to the previous Solicitation).
How do I create a re-solicitation after a solicitation has closed?
Instructions for creating a re-solicitation can be found in the Awarding from an Evaluation (EV) Job Aid found on the Procurement page.
Solicitation Responses and Evaluations
Why can’t I see my Evaluation (EV) or other transactions in my Procurement Folder?
For an Evaluation (EV) transaction, or any other transaction to be viewed in a Procurement Folder, it must first be validated.