2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE BILL NO. 167
BY SENATOR ABRAHAM
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 48:250.3(B), (C), (D), and (E), and to enact R.S. 48:250.3.1,
3 relative to design-build; to provide for progressive design-build contracts by the
4 Department of Transportation and Development; to provide for requirements of
5 design-builders, notice of intent letters, and procurement process for progressive
6 design-build; and to provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 48:250.3 (B), (C), (D), and (E) are hereby amended and reenacted and
9 R.S. 48:250.3.1 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
10 §250.3. Design-build contracts; qualifications of design-build entities; public
11 announcement procedures; letters of interest; selection of short list;
12 bid proposals by competitors; qualifications evaluation committee;
13 proposal review committee; selection and process of award
14 * * *
15 B.(1) Each design-builder shall employ, or have as a partner, a member,
16 coventurer, or subcontractor persons, or a firm with persons, who are duly licensed
17 and registered to provide the services required to complete the project and do
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1 business in this state.
2 (2) All registrations and licenses for each component shall be obtained
3 prior to or concurrent with award of the project to the selected design-builder
4 by the department.
5 (a) The standard professional engineer and land surveyor qualifications as
6 provided for in R.S. 37:681 et seq., the rules and regulations of the Louisiana
7 Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, and the department's standard
8 technical qualification requirements for firms providing professional engineering and
9 land surveying services as provided for in R.S. 48:290 shall apply to the components
10 providing design services, and the.
11 (b) The standard contractor qualifications as provided for in R.S. 37:2150 et
12 seq., and the current rules and regulations of the State Licensing Board for
13 Contractors shall apply to the component providing construction services utilized by
14 the design-builder, based upon the applicable categories for the specific project. All
15 registrations and licenses for each component shall be obtained prior to or concurrent
16 with award of the project to the selected design-builder by the department.
17 C. A notice of intent "notice of intent" (NOI) to request letters of interest
18 for a design-build project, or for a pool of prequalified design-builders that shall
19 remain prequalified for up to two years, shall be distributed by the department
20 through advertisement on the Department of Transportation and Development's
21 internet webpage. All notices of intent NOIs shall be advertised a minimum of ten
22 days prior to the deadline for receipt of responses. and The NOI shall contain a
23 description of the project or type of work and sufficient information for a
24 design-builder to determine its interest and to enable it to submit a letter of interest.
25 The department may readvertise the notice of intent NOI using additional media or
26 publications in an attempt to solicit additional responses if the number of responses
27 received by the department is inadequate.
28 D. The department shall provide a "Request for Qualifications" "request for
29 qualifications" (RFQ) to design-builders who submit a letter of interest. The
30 department shall identify all required information in the request for qualifications
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1 RFQ and in the standard response forms provided by the department. Any response
2 that fails to meet all requirements contained in the RFQ may not be considered
3 by the department. False or misrepresented information furnished in response
4 to an RFQ shall be grounds for rejection by the department. The response to the
5 request for qualifications RFQ shall include both of the following:
6 (1) statements Statements of qualification by credentials and experience of
7 design component members for the areas of expertise specific to the project or type
8 of work.
9 (2) and statements Statements of qualification by experience and resources
10 of the construction team component. The completed response form and any other
11 required information shall be transmitted to the department by the responding
12 design-builder by the deadline to submit such forms and information as provided in
13 the request for qualifications. Any response failing to meet all of the requirements
14 contained in the request for qualifications shall not be considered by the department.
15 False or misrepresented information furnished in response to a request for
16 qualifications shall be grounds for rejection by the department.
17 E.(1) The chief engineer, with concurrence of the secretary, shall establish
18 a design-build qualifications evaluation committee for evaluation of the responses
19 to the request for qualifications received by the department. The following general
20 criteria used by the qualifications evaluation committee in evaluating responses to
21 the request for qualifications for design-build services shall apply to both the design
22 and construction components of any responding entity:
23 (a) Experience of both the design and construction entity components and of
24 key personnel as related to the project or type of work under consideration.
25 (b) Past performance on department projects.
26 (c) Any project-specific criteria as that may apply to project needs.
27 (2) The qualifications evaluation committee shall evaluate the qualifications
28 of responding design-builders on the basis of the criteria identified in the request for
29 qualifications and set forth in this Subsection and shall select a short list of the
30 highest rated entities in a number to be determined by the department; however, if.
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1 If fewer than three responses are received, the secretary or designated representative
2 may approve proceeding with the design-build process. The qualifications evaluation
3 committee may, at its discretion, be assisted by other department personnel in its
4 evaluation of an entity's qualifications. The design-build qualifications evaluation
5 committee shall present its short list to the chief engineer for recommendation to the
6 secretary. The short-listed entities shall be invited by the secretary or designated
7 representative to submit a detailed technical and cost proposal for the design-build
8 project. The invitation to the short-listed entities shall specify a deadline for
9 submission of such proposals.
10 * * *
11 §250.3.1. Progressive design-build contracts
12 A. For purposes of this Section, "design-builder" means the entity
13 contractually responsible for delivering the project design and construction.
14 B.(1) Each design-builder shall employ or have as a partner a member,
15 coventurer, subcontractor persons, or a firm with persons, who are duly
16 licensed and registered to provide the services required to complete the project
17 and do business in this state.
18 (2) All registrations and licenses for each component shall be obtained
19 prior to or concurrent with award of the project to the selected design-builder
20 by the department.
21 (a) The standard professional engineer and land surveyor qualifications
22 as provided for in R.S. 37:681 et seq., the rules and regulations of the Louisiana
23 Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, and the department's
24 standard technical qualification requirements for firms providing professional
25 engineering and land surveying services, as provided for in R.S. 48:290, shall
26 apply to the components providing design services.
27 (b) The standard contractor qualifications as provided for in R.S.
28 37:2150 et seq. and the current rules and regulations of the State Licensing
29 Board for Contractors shall apply to the component providing construction
30 services utilized by the design-builder, based upon the applicable categories for
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1 the specific project.
2 C. A "notice of intent" (NOI) to request letters of interest for a
3 design-build project shall be distributed by the department through
4 advertisement on the Department of Transportation and Development's
5 internet webpage. All NOIs shall be advertised a minimum of ten days prior to
6 the deadline for receipt of responses. The NOI shall contain a description of the
7 project or type of work and sufficient information for a design-builder to
8 determine its interest and to enable it to submit a letter of interest. The
9 department may re-advertise the NOI using additional media or publications
10 in an attempt to solicit additional responses if the number of responses received
11 by the department is inadequate.
12 D. The department shall provide a "request for qualifications" (RFQ)
13 to design-builders who submit a letter of intent. The department shall identify
14 all required information in the RFQ and in the standard response forms
15 provided by the department. The RFQ shall include but is not limited to
16 the following:
17 (1) Project description.
18 (2) Pre-construction scope of services.
19 (3) Submittal criteria for the project.
20 (4) Procurement grading criteria.
21 (5) Scoring methodology.
22 (6) Total fees and compensation payable to the design-builder for
23 preconstruction services.
24 (7) Estimate of the probable construction cost of the project.
25 E. The response to the RFQ shall include "statements of qualifications"
26 (SOQ) submitted by the design-builder. If the department receives only one
27 response, the secretary or designated representative may approve proceeding
28 with the progressive design-build process. The information contained within the
29 SOQ shall include but not be limited to the following:
30 (1) The design-builder's formation and organizational documents at the
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1 time of the SOQ submission.
2 (2) Experience of both the design and construction components of the
3 design-build entity on projects of similar size, scope, and may include the
4 complexity of previous projects.
5 (3) Information regarding proposed key personnel's experience and
6 training to competently manage and complete the design and construction of
7 the project.
8 (4) Past performance on projects.
9 (5) The design-builder's ability to obtain all bonding and insurance
10 requirements.
11 (6) The design-builder's safety plan.
12 F. The chief engineer, with the concurrence of the secretary, shall
13 establish a design-build qualifications evaluation committee for evaluation of
14 the responses to the RFQ received by the department. The chief engineer, with
15 the concurrence of the secretary, shall assign a project manager who shall
16 become the chairman of the qualifications evaluation committee for the project.
17 The qualifications evaluation committee may, at its discretion, be assisted by
18 other department personnel in its evaluation of a design-builder's SOQ.
19 G. The department may evaluate submissions based solely upon the
20 information provided in each design-build entity SOQ. The department may
21 also interview some or all of the design-build entities to further evaluate their
22 qualifications for the project.
23 H. After selecting a design-builder based upon qualifications, the
24 department may enter into a contract and direct the design-builder to begin
25 design and preconstruction activities sufficient to establish an estimated price,
26 lump sum, or guaranteed maximum price, for the project.
27 I. If the department and the design-builder do not reach an agreement
28 on the estimated price for the project or the department otherwise elects not to
29 amend the design-builder's contract to complete the remaining work, the
30 department may solicit proposals to complete the project from firms that
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1 submitted SOQ or formally solicit bids or proposals from other entities using
2 any public procurement method available to the department. The selected
3 design-builder shall be prohibited from bidding on the project.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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