Cap.22:23 Puauc PRocuREMENT AND D.tSPOsAL oF Pusuc AsSETs No.S/2017 (a) first according to the quality of the services they offer, disregarding the price at which they offer them; and (b) then according to the price at which the bidders offer their services, rejecting all the bids that exceed the proposed budget; and (c) then selecting from the remaining bids the one whose quality of service ranks highest. (2) When employing the selection under fixed budget method, the procuring entity shall indicate in its request for proposals the available budget and request the firms to provide their technical and financial proposals in separate envelopes, within the budget. (3) Evaluation of the quality of all technical bids submitted shall be carried out in accordance with the quality and cost based selection method set out in section 60, then the financial bids shall be opened in public and read out as provided in that section, and the procuring entity shall reject any bids that exceed the budget stated in its request for proposals. (4) The procuring entity shall select from the remaining bidders the technical bid that achieved the highest quality score and shall invite the bidder to negotiate a procurement contract. (5) Subject to subsections (1) to (4), section 60 (''Quality and cost based selection method") shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to the evaluation and selection of bids under the fixed budget method. 62 Least-cost selection method (I) The least-cost selection method entails a process whereby the procuring entity establishes minimum standards for the quality of service required, and(a) the bids which offer less than those minimum standards are rejected; and (b) of the remaining bids the one offering to provide the service at the lowest price is accepted, so the bidders compete only on price. (2) When employing the least-cost selection method, the procuring entity shall specify the minimum qualifying standards in its request for proposals and request bidders to provide their technical bids and their financial bids in separate envelopes. (3) Opening and evaluation of the quality of all technical bids submitted shall be carried out first, and those that fail to meet the minimum qualifying standards shall be rejected. (4) Following evaluation of the technical bids in terms of subsection (3), the financial bids of the remaining bidders shall be opened and the procuring entity shall select the bidder offering to provide the service sought at the lowest price, and shall invite the bidder to negotiate a procurement contract. (5) Subject to subsections (1) to (4), section 60 ("Quality and cost based selection method") shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to the evaluation and selection of bids under the least-cost selection method. 63 Quality-based selection method The quality-based selection method entails a process whereby the procuring entity establishes the best technical offer regardless of cost, subject however to the procuring entity engaging in negotiations around the issue of cost to achieve value for money. 79