WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

39.10.360 - General contractor/construction manager procedure -- Contract award process.

General contractor/construction manager procedure — Contract award process.

(1) Public bodies should select general contractor/construction managers early in the life of public works projects, and in most situations no later than the completion of schematic design.

     (2) Contracts for the services of a general contractor/ construction manager under this section shall be awarded through a competitive process requiring the public solicitation of proposals for general contractor/construction manager services. The public solicitation of proposals shall include:

     (a) A description of the project, including programmatic, performance, and technical requirements and specifications when available;

     (b) The reasons for using the general contractor/construction manager procedure;

     (c) A description of the qualifications to be required of the firm, including submission of the firm's accident prevention program;

     (d) A description of the process the public body will use to evaluate qualifications and proposals, including evaluation factors and the relative weight of factors;

     (e) The form of the contract, including any contract for preconstruction services, to be awarded;

     (f) The estimated maximum allowable construction cost; and

     (g) The bid instructions to be used by the general contractor/ construction manager finalists.

     (3) Evaluation factors for selection of the general contractor/construction manager shall include, but not be limited to:

     (a) Ability of the firm's professional personnel;

     (b) The firm's past performance in negotiated and complex projects;

     (c) The firm's ability to meet time and budget requirements;

     (d) The scope of work the firm proposes to self-perform and its ability to perform that work;

     (e) The firm's proximity to the project location;

     (f) Recent, current, and projected workloads of the firm; and

     (g) The firm's approach to executing the project.

     (4) A public body shall establish a committee to evaluate the proposals. After the committee has selected the most qualified finalists, at the time specified by the public body, these finalists shall submit final proposals, including sealed bids for the percent fee on the estimated maximum allowable construction cost and the fixed amount for the general conditions work specified in the request for proposal. The public body shall establish a time and place for the opening of sealed bids for the percent fee on the estimated maximum allowable construction cost and the fixed amount for the general conditions work specified in the request for proposal. At the time and place named, these bids must be publicly opened and read and the public body shall make all previous scoring available to the public. The public body shall select the firm submitting the highest scored final proposal using the evaluation factors and the relative weight of factors published in the public solicitation of proposals. A public body shall not evaluate or disqualify a proposal based on the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

     (5) Public bodies may contract with the selected firm to provide services during the design phase that may include life-cycle cost design considerations, value engineering, scheduling, cost estimating, constructability, alternative construction options for cost savings, and sequencing of work, and to act as the construction manager and general contractor during the construction phase.