Free and Open Competition Invoked by Equal Amendment Opportunity
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/162#Free_and_Open_Competition_Invoked_by_Equal_Amendment_Opportunity
Properties
Instance of
FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition
Applied to
Competing Engineering Firms Equal Amendment Opportunity Recipients
Other Six Competing Engineering Firms
Balancing with
Procurement Process Spirit and Intent Compliance Obligation
Concrete expression
The equal amendment opportunity extended to all seven competing firms preserved the free and open competitive character of the QBS process by ensuring that no single firm gained an exclusive procedural advantage — all firms operated within the same amended framework
Confidence
0.85
Importance
high
Interpretation
Free and open competition requires not only that all firms have equal initial access to the procurement but also that any mid-process accommodations be extended equally; the equal-treatment condition is the mechanism by which the amendment accommodation was kept within the bounds of free and open competition
Invoked by
Firm A Qualification-Upgrading Joint Venture Lead
Utility Authority QBS Procurement Administrator
Tension resolution
Equal extension of the amendment opportunity was treated as sufficient to maintain the free and open competitive character of the process, though objectors argued this did not cure the spirit-of-the-law violation
Source Evidence
Source text
with the understanding that all competing firms be allowed to likewise modify their statements of qualification, if desired
Text references
Firm A requested the utility authority to allow it to modify its qualification statement and proposal in light of the change it had made in the team, with the understanding that all competing firms be allowed to likewise modify their statements of qualification, if desired.
TTL
@prefix case162: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/162#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case162:Free_and_Open_Competition_Invoked_by_Equal_Amendment_Opportunity a proeth:FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Free and Open Competition Invoked by Equal Amendment Opportunity" ;
proeth:appliedto "Competing Engineering Firms Equal Amendment Opportunity Recipients",
"Other Six Competing Engineering Firms" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Procurement Process Spirit and Intent Compliance Obligation" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The equal amendment opportunity extended to all seven competing firms preserved the free and open competitive character of the QBS process by ensuring that no single firm gained an exclusive procedural advantage — all firms operated within the same amended framework" ;
proeth:confidence "0.85" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "162" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-02T02:40:30.628868+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "162" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-02T02:40:30.628868+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Free and open competition requires not only that all firms have equal initial access to the procurement but also that any mid-process accommodations be extended equally; the equal-treatment condition is the mechanism by which the amendment accommodation was kept within the bounds of free and open competition" ;
proeth:invokedby "Firm A Qualification-Upgrading Joint Venture Lead",
"Utility Authority QBS Procurement Administrator" ;
proeth:principleclass "Free and Open Competition as Engineering Ethics Boundary Condition" ;
proeth:sourcetext "with the understanding that all competing firms be allowed to likewise modify their statements of qualification, if desired" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Equal extension of the amendment opportunity was treated as sufficient to maintain the free and open competitive character of the process, though objectors argued this did not cure the spirit-of-the-law violation" ;
proeth:textreferences "Firm A requested the utility authority to allow it to modify its qualification statement and proposal in light of the change it had made in the team, with the understanding that all competing firms be allowed to likewise modify their statements of qualification, if desired." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 162 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-02T02:57:21.177920"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 162 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
162
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-03-02T02:40:30.628868+00:00
First case
162
Generated
2026-03-02T02:40:30.628868+00:00
Attributed to
Case 162 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-02T02:57:21.177920
Generated by
ProEthica Case 162 Extraction