Protests of contract award

(1) A bidder or proposer may protest the award of a public contract or a notice of intent to award a public contract, whichever occurs first, if: (a) The bidder or proposer is adversely affected because the bidder or proposer would be eligible to be awarded the public contract in the event that the protest were successful; and (b) The reason for the protest is that: (A) All lower bids or higher ranked proposals are nonresponsive; (B) The contracting agency has failed to conduct the evaluation of proposals in accordance with the criteria or processes described in the solicitation materials; (C) The contracting agency has abused its discretion in rejecting the protestor’s bid or proposal as nonresponsive; or (D) The contracting agency’s evaluation of bids or proposals or the contracting agency’s subsequent determination of award is otherwise in violation of this chapter or ORS chapter 279A. (2) The bidder or proposer shall submit the protest to the contracting agency in writing and shall specify the grounds for the protest to be considered by the contracting agency. (3) The rules adopted under ORS 279A.065 shall establish a reasonable time and manner for protests to be submitted. The contracting agency may not consider late protests. (4) The contracting agency shall consider and respond in writing to a protest in a timely manner. After the contracting agency issues the response, the bidder or proposer may seek judicial review in the manner provided in ORS 279B.415.