While the State of Rhode Island intends to maintain continuous access to this Website, from time to time access to information and/or documents may be interrupted or prevented either because of site problems, User problems or Internet problems. Not all access difficulties can be resolved by the State of Rhode Island since some access failures may be due to the type of computer or communication equipment and services employed by the Website User. However, it is the State's policy to provide a Help Desk (401 222 -2142 ext. 134) during regular business hours to assist Users in identifying and overcoming access problems.

To assure maximum access opportunities for Users, solicitations shall be posted on the RIVIP for a minimum of seven days and no amendments shall be made within the last five days before the date an offer is due. Vendors are cautioned that the competitive nature of their offers could be affected if their submissions do not include all amendments. For this reason vendors are advised to revisit all solicitations to which they intend to respond five days prior to the due dates. If access to solicitations on the Website has been severely curtailed, it shall be the policy of the State to extend the due date of affected solicitations.

In some cases (e.g., road construction) copies of plans and specifications which cannot be offered on-line are issued with a requirement for a refundable deposit. In such instances, in addition to announcements provided on the RIVIP, vendors on the known lists of plans and specifications depositors will receive direct notification of amendments.

Except when access to the Website has been severely curtailed and it is determined by the Rhode Island State Purchasing Agent that special circumstances preclude extending a solicitation due date, requests to mail or fax hard copies of solicitations will not be honored.

When the result of an Internet solicitation of registered vendors is unsuccessful (no offers, one offer which exceeds the estimated cost) the State of Rhode Island will cancel the original solicitation and resolicit the original offer directly from vendors. The Purchasing Agent reserves the right to solicit offers from unregistered vendors as well as registered vendors.