84R11931 JAM-D
By: Nichols S.B. No. 1294
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain limitations on design-build contracts for
transportation infrastructure projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 223.242, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (d) and (d-1) and adding Subsections (b-1)
and (f) to read as follows:
(b-1) A design-build contract under this subchapter may not
require a design-build contractor to maintain a project for a term
longer than five years. This subsection does not prohibit a
design-build contractor from agreeing to additional terms of
maintenance for periods of five years or less through a contract
renewal or extension.
(d) The department may enter into a design-build contract
for a highway project with a construction cost estimate of $250
[$50] million or more to the department.
(d-1) The department may not enter into more than three
contracts under this section in each fiscal year. [This subsection
expires August 31, 2015.]
(f) The department shall not use the design-build method for
the construction, expansion, extension, rehabilitation,
alteration, or repair of a highway project if the project is
designed by a person or entity other than the design-build
contractor.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 223.242(b-1), Transportation Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or
after the effective date of this Act. A contract entered into
before that date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the
contract was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(b) Section 223.242(f), Transportation Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a highway project for which a request for
qualifications is issued on or after the effective date of this Act.
A highway project for which a request for qualifications is issued
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the request for qualifications was issued, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.