Utah Code § 63G-6a-1602: Protest -- Time for filing -- Basis of protest -- Authority to resolve protest.

(1) A protest may be filed with the protest officer by a person who:

(a) has standing; and

(b) is aggrieved in connection with a procurement or an award of a contract.

(2) A protest may not be filed after:

(a)

(i)

(A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a procurement under a bidding process; or

(B) the deadline for submitting responses to the solicitation, for a protest relating to another standard procurement process; or

(ii) the closing of the procurement stage that is the subject of the protest:

(A) if the protest relates to a multiple-stage procurement; and

(B) notwithstanding Subsections (2)(a)(i)(A) and (B); or

(b) the day that is seven days after the day on which the person knows or first has constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest, if:

(i) the protestor did not know and did not have constructive knowledge of the facts giving rise to the protest before:

(A) the opening of bids, for a protest relating to a procurement under a bidding process;

(B) the deadline for submitting responses to the solicitation, for a protest relating to another standard procurement process; or

(C) the closing of the procurement stage that is the subject of the protest, if the protest relates to a multiple-stage procurement; or

(ii) the protest relates to a procurement process not described in Subsection (2)(a).

(3) A deadline under Subsection (2) for filing a protest may not be modified.

(4)

(a) A protestor shall include in a protest:

(i) the protestor's mailing address and email address; and

(ii) a concise statement of the facts and evidence:

(A) leading the protestor to claim that the protestor has been aggrieved in connection with a procurement and providing the grounds for the protestor's protest; and

(B) supporting the protestor's claim of standing.

(b) A protest may not be considered unless it contains facts and evidence that, if true, would establish:

(i) a violation of this chapter or other applicable law or rule;

(ii) the procurement unit's failure to follow a provision of a solicitation;

(iii) an error made by an evaluation committee or conducting procurement unit;

(iv) a bias exercised by an evaluation committee or an individual committee member, excluding a bias that is a preference arising during the evaluation process because of how well a solicitation response meets criteria in the solicitation;

(v) a failure to correctly apply or calculate a scoring criterion; or

(vi) that specifications in a solicitation are unduly restrictive or unduly anticompetitive.

(5) A protest may not be based on:

(a) the rejection of a solicitation response due to a protestor's failure to attend or participate in a mandatory conference, meeting, or site visit held before the deadline for submitting a solicitation response;

(b) a vague or unsubstantiated allegation; or

(c) a person's claim that:

(i) a procurement unit that complied with Section 63G-6a-112 did not provide individual notice of a solicitation to the person; or

(ii) the person received late notice of a solicitation for which notice was provided in accordance with Section 63G-6a-112.

(6) A protest may not include a request for:

(a) an explanation of the rationale or scoring of evaluation committee members;

(b) the disclosure of a protected record or protected information in addition to the information provided under the disclosure provisions of this chapter; or

(c) other information, documents, or explanations not explicitly provided for in this chapter.

(7) A person who fails to file a protest within the time prescribed in Subsection (2) may not:

(a) protest to the protest officer a solicitation or award of a contract; or

(b) file an action or appeal challenging a solicitation or award of a contract before an appeals panel, a court, or any other forum.

(8) Subject to the applicable requirements of Section 63G-10-403, a protest officer or the head of a procurement unit may enter into a settlement agreement to resolve a protest.