67-2320 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CONTRACTS WITH DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS AND PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS. - Idaho Statutes

TITLE 67

STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS

CHAPTER 23

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

67-2320. Professional service contracts with design professionals, construction managers and professional land surveyors. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, it shall be the policy of this state that all public agencies and political subdivisions of the state of Idaho and their agents shall make selections for professional engineering, architectural, landscape architecture, construction management and professional land surveying services, including services by persons licensed pursuant to chapters 3, 12, 30 and 45, title 54, Idaho Code, on the basis of qualifications and demonstrated competence and shall negotiate contracts or agreements for such services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications for the type of services required at fair and reasonable prices.

(2) In carrying out this policy, public agencies and political subdivisions of the state shall use the following minimum guidelines in securing contracts for engineering, architectural, landscape architecture, construction management and land surveying services on projects for which the professional service fee is anticipated to exceed the total sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), excluding professional services contracts previously awarded for an associated or phased project, and the expenditure is otherwise exempt from the bidding process provided by law:

(a) Encourage persons or firms engaged in the services being solicited to submit statements of qualifications and performance data;

(b) Establish and make available to the public the criteria and procedures used for the selection of qualified persons or firms to perform such services;

(c) Select the persons or firms whom the public agency or political subdivision determines to be best qualified to provide the required services, ranked in order of preference, pursuant to the public agency or political subdivision’s established criteria and procedures;

(d) Negotiate with the highest ranked person or firm for a contract or agreement to perform such services at a price determined by the public agency or political subdivision to be reasonable and fair to the public after considering the estimated value, the scope, the complexity and the nature of the services;

(e) When unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract or agreement, formally terminate negotiations and undertake negotiations with the next highest ranked person or firm, following the procedure prescribed in subsection (2)(d) of this section;

(f) When unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract or agreement with any of the selected persons or firms, continue with the selection and negotiation process provided in this section until a contract or agreement is reached;

(g) When public agencies or political subdivisions solicit proposals for engineering, architectural, landscape architecture, construction management or land surveying services for which the professional service fee is anticipated to exceed the total sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), they shall publish public notice in the same manner as required for bidding of public works construction projects.

(h) In fulfilling the requirements of subsections (2)(a) through (2)(g) of this section, a public agency or political subdivision may limit its selection from a list of three (3) persons or firms selected and preapproved for consideration by the public agency or political subdivision. In establishing a preapproved list a public agency or political subdivision shall publish notice as set forth in subsection (2)(g) of this section. When selecting from such list, no notice shall be required.

(i) In fulfilling the requirements of subsections (2)(a) through (2)(g) of this section, a public agency or political subdivision may request information concerning a person’s or firm’s rates, overhead and multipliers, if any, however such information shall not be used by the public agency or political subdivision for the purpose of ranking in order of preference as required in subsection (2)(c) of this section.

(3) In securing contracts for engineering, architectural, landscape architecture, construction management or land surveying services on projects for which the professional service fee is anticipated to be less than the total sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), the public agency or political subdivision may use the guidelines set forth in paragraphs (a) through (g) of subsection (2) of this section or establish its own guidelines for selection based on demonstrated competence and qualifications to perform the type of services required, followed by negotiation of the fee at a price determined by the public agency or political subdivision to be fair and reasonable after considering the estimated value, the scope, the complexity and the nature of services.

(4) When a public agency or political subdivision of the state has previously awarded a professional services contract to a person or firm for an associated or phased project the public agency or political subdivision may, at its discretion, negotiate an extended or new professional services contract with that person or firm.

(5) (a) For the purposes of this section, "public agency" shall mean the state of Idaho and any departments, commissions, boards, authorities, bureaus, universities, colleges, educational institutions or other state agencies which have been created by or pursuant to statute other than courts and their agencies and divisions, and the judicial council and the district magistrate’s commission;

(b) For the purposes of this section, "political subdivision" shall mean a county, city, airport, airport district, school district, health district, road district, cemetery district, community college district, hospital district, irrigation district, sewer district, fire protection district, or any other district or municipality of any nature whatsoever having the power to levy taxes or assessment, organized under any general or special law of this state. The enumeration of certain districts herein shall not be construed to exclude other districts or municipalities from this definition.