WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

39.10.330 - Design-build contract award process.

Design-build contract award process.

(1) Contracts for design-build services shall be awarded through a competitive process using public solicitation of proposals for design-build services. The public body shall publish at least once in a legal newspaper of general circulation published in, or as near as possible to, that part of the county in which the public work will be done, a notice of its request for qualifications from proposers for design-build services, and the availability and location of the request for proposal documents. The request for qualifications documents shall include:

     (a) A general description of the project that provides sufficient information for proposers to submit qualifications;

     (b) The reasons for using the design-build procedure;

     (c) A description of the qualifications to be required of the proposer including, but not limited to, submission of the proposer's accident prevention program;

     (d) A description of the process the public body will use to evaluate qualifications and finalists' proposals, including evaluation factors and the relative weight of factors and any specific forms to be used by the proposers;

     (i) Evaluation factors for request for qualifications shall include, but not be limited to, technical qualifications, such as specialized experience and technical competence; capability to perform; past performance of the proposers' team, including the architect-engineer and construction members; and other appropriate factors. Cost or price-related factors are not permitted in the request for qualifications phase;

     (ii) Evaluation factors for finalists' proposals shall include, but not be limited to, the factors listed in (d)(i) of this subsection, as well as technical approach design concept; proposal price; ability of professional personnel; past performance on similar projects; ability to meet time and budget requirements; ability to provide a performance and payment bond for the project; recent, current, and projected workloads of the firm; and location. Alternatively, if the public body determines that all finalists will be capable of producing a design that adequately meets project requirements, the public body may award the contract to the firm that submits the responsive proposal with the lowest price;

     (e) The form of the contract to be awarded;

     (f) The amount to be paid to finalists submitting responsive proposals and who are not awarded a design-build contract;

     (g) The schedule for the procurement process and the project; and

     (h) Other information relevant to the project.

     (2) The public body shall establish an evaluation committee to evaluate the responses to the request for qualifications based on the factors, weighting, and process identified in the request for qualifications. Based on the evaluation committee's findings, the public body shall select not more than five responsive and responsible finalists to submit proposals. The public body may, in its sole discretion, reject all proposals and shall provide its reasons for rejection in writing to all proposers.

     (3) Upon selection of the finalists, the public body shall issue a request for proposals to the finalists, which shall provide the following information:

     (a) A detailed description of the project including programmatic, performance, and technical requirements and specifications; functional and operational elements; minimum and maximum net and gross areas of any building; and, at the discretion of the public body, preliminary engineering and architectural drawings; and

     (b) The target budget for the design-build portion of the project.

     (4) The public body shall establish an evaluation committee to evaluate the proposals submitted by the finalists. Design-build contracts shall be awarded using the procedures in (a) or (b) of this subsection. The public body must identify in the request for qualifications which procedure will be used.

     (a) The finalists' proposals shall be evaluated and scored based on the factors, weighting, and process identified in the initial request for qualifications and in any addenda published by the public body. Public bodies may request best and final proposals from finalists. The public body shall initiate negotiations with the firm submitting the highest scored proposal. If the public body is unable to execute a contract with the firm submitting the highest scored proposal, negotiations with that firm may be suspended or terminated and the public body may proceed to negotiate with the next highest scored firm. Public bodies shall continue in accordance with this procedure until a contract agreement is reached or the selection process is terminated.

     (b) If the public body determines that all finalists are capable of producing a design that adequately meets project requirements, the public body may award the contract to the firm that submits the responsive proposal with the lowest price.

     (5) The firm awarded the contract shall provide a performance and payment bond for the contracted amount. The public body shall provide appropriate honorarium payments to finalists submitting responsive proposals that are not awarded a design-build contract. Honorarium payments shall be sufficient to generate meaningful competition among potential proposers on design-build projects. In determining the amount of the honorarium, the public body shall consider the level of effort required to meet the selection criteria.