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8.3 Contract Template Guidance

This chapter provides general guidance on two aspects of contracting, RFP, and the Intellectual Property Rights Clause. These are especially important and are somewhat unique for Intelligent Transportation Systems. However, it is critical to note that the general guidance contained here is not meant to supersede guidance from the agency. Project developers must always check with their agency’s contracting and procurement staff for specific and mandatory guidance on contracting issues.

Most aspects of contracting, or procurement, are the same across almost all categories of the transportation infrastructure. Indeed, some are common to almost any type of procurement. However, any development of a software-intensive ITS brings up a whole host of new considerations. These considerations stretch all the way from initial concept, through requirements, design, build, and verification. Since it is very common to contract with consultants and system developers for some of these efforts, some of these special considerations can reflect back into the contracting documents and processes themselves.

Although this Guidebook touches on procurement, it does so only as it relates to the systems engineering processes. Other documents, available from the Federal Highway Administration, will provide more information on the procurement options for ITS.

In this section, only two aspects of procurement are discussed. The first is guidance on the contents of an RFP package. The second is the need for an Intellectual Property Rights clause to give the procuring agency the rights it needs for follow-on maintenance and upgrades of software products.

This chapter contains guidance on the following topics:

  • RFP
  • Intellectual Property Rights Clause

 

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Page last modified on September 20, 2016
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