RCW 39.10.360 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 including, if applicable, a clear statement that the public body is electing to procure the project as a heavy civil construction project, in which case the solicitation must additionally:

(i) Indicate the minimum percentage of the cost of the work to construct the project that will constitute the negotiated self-perform portion of the project;

(ii) Indicate whether the public body will allow the price to be paid for the negotiated self-perform portion of the project to be deemed a cost of the work to which the general contractor/construction manager's percent fee applies; and

(iii) Require proposals to indicate the proposer's fee for the negotiated self-perform portion of the project;

(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, the relative weight of factors, and protest procedures including time limits for filing a protest, which in no event may limit the time to file a protest to fewer than four business days from the date the proposer was notified of the selection decision;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(b) An agency may also consider the firm's outreach plan to include small business entities and disadvantaged business enterprises, and the firm's past performance in the utilization of such firms as an evaluation factor.

(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) The public body shall notify all finalists of the selection decision and make a selection summary of the final proposals available to all proposers within two business days of such notification. If the public body receives a timely written protest from a proposer, the public body may not execute a contract until two business days after the final protest decision is transmitted to the protestor. The protestor must submit its protest in accordance with the published protest procedures.

(6) 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.

[ 2014 c 42 § 5; 2013 c 222 § 13; 2009 c 75 § 6; 2007 c 494 § 303.]

NOTES:

Sunset Act application: See note following chapter digest.

Effective date—2013 c 222: See note following RCW 39.10.210.