,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #difi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,february #g1        
#bjah,mr4 ,mc,caul introduced the       
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a 
,,bill  ,to improve the design and      
construction of diplomatic posts1 and   
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,improving ,embassy ,design and         
,security ,act of #bjah4  #b4 ,improving
 embassy construction  7a7 ,findings    
,congress finds that the decision by the
 ,department of ,state's ,bureau of     
,overseas ,buildings ,operations 7,,obo7
 to transition from ,standard ,embassy  
,design to ,design ,excellence has in   
many cases--  7#a7 increased the cost of
 building new embassies and consulates2 
7#b7 delayed the move of thousands of   
staff from facilities that do not meet  
current security standards to new1      
secure facilities2  7#c7 exacerbated    
certain deficiencies in the quality of  

the ,bureau's program management2  7#d7 
been a factor in reduced competition for
 capital construction projects2 and     
7#e7 been a complicating factor in      
achieving the ,department's own security
 requirements4  7b7 ,sense of ,congress 
,it is the sense of ,congress that the  
,,obo should give appropriate           
consideration to ,standard ,embassy     
,design1 in which each new embassy and  
consulate starts with a standard design 
and keeps customization to a minimum4   
7c7 ,delivery  7#a7 ,design-build       
project delivery ,except in cases in    
which the ,secretary of ,state          
determines that such would not be       
appropriate1 the ,secretary shall make  
use of the design-build project delivery
 system at diplomatic posts that have   
not yet received design or construction 
contracts as of the date of the         
enactment of this ,act4  7#b7 ,standard 
design ,the ,secretary of ,state shall  
give preference to the use of a standard
 design1 together with design-build     

delivery under paragraph 7#a74  7#c7    
,vertical standard design ,the          
,secretary of ,state shall develop a    
vertical standard design that can be    
implemented according to the ,department
 of ,state's requisite security and     
spatial needs for diplomatic posts that 
are to be situated on a smaller plot of 
land4  7#d7 ,bridging ,the ,secretary of
 ,state shall make use of bridging to   
adapt the standard design under         
paragraph 7#b7 with design-build project
 delivery under paragraph 7#a7 at       
diplomatic posts that require a more    
customized design due to climatic1      
geographic1 or functional requirements4 
7#e7 ,other application  7,a7 ,in       
general ,the ,secretary of ,state may   
make use of design-bid-build delivery   
with non-standard design in limited     
instances of particular diplomatic      
importance as determined by the         
,secretary4  7,b7 ,limitation ,the      
,secretary of ,state may not delegate   
the authority of the ,secretary under   

subparagraph 7,a7 to make use of        
design-bid-build delivery with          
non-standard design4  7d7 ,consultation 
regarding non-,standard designs ,the    
,secretary of ,state shall carry out any
 new diplomatic post project that is in 
the design phase or pre-design phase as 
of the date of the enactment of this    
,act and that utilizes bridging or      
non-standard design under subsection 7c7
 only after notification to and         
consultation with the appropriate       
congressional committees4 ,such         
notification and consultation shall     
include provision to the appropriate    
congressional committees1 for each such 
project1 of the following documentation3
  7#a7 ,a comparison of the estimated   
full lifecycle costs of the project at  
issue to the estimated full lifecycle   
costs of such project if such project   
were to use a standard design4  7#b7 ,a 
comparison of the estimated completion  
date of such project to the estimated   
completion date of such project if such 

project were to use a standard design4  
7#c7 ,a comparison of the security of   
such completed project to the security  
of such completed project if such       
completed project were to use a standard
 design4  7#d7 ,a justification for the 
,secretary's selection of a non-standard
 design over a standard design for such 
project4  7e7 ,performance evaluation   
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 the     
,secretary of ,state shall report to the
 appropriate congressional committees   
regarding performance evaluation        
measures in line with ,,gao's ,standards
 for ,internal ,control in the ,federal 
,government that will be applicable to  
the ,bureau of ,overseas ,building      
,operations of the ,department of       
,state4  7f7 ,definitions ,in this      
section3 7#a7 ,appropriate congressional
 committees ,the term appropriate       
congressional committees means the      
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the  
,house of ,representatives and the      

,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the
 ,senate4  7#b7 ,bridging ,the term     
bridging means a delivery method for    
construction projects that is a hybrid  
of the traditional design-bid-build and 
the design-build methods1 whereby the   
,bureau of ,overseas ,building          
,operations of the ,department of ,state
 first contracts with a design firm to  
develop a project-specific1 partial     
design that a construction contractor   
and its design firm then complete1 the  
objective of which is to retain the best
 features of the design-bid-build and   
design-build methods for the project    
owner and eliminate those aspects of    
each such method that often cause       
problems for such owner4  7#c7          
,design-bid-build ,the term             
design-bid-build means a method of      
project delivery in which a design      
entity is first contracted to provide a 
design and a construction entity is     
subsequently contracted to build the    
awarded design contract4  7#d7          

,design-build ,the term design-build    
means a method of project delivery in   
which one entity1 such as the           
design-build team1 works under a single 
contract with the project owner to      
provide design and construction         
services4  7#e7 ,non-standard design    
,the term non-standard design means a   
new diplomatic post design that does not
 utilize a standardized design template 
for the structural1 spatial1 and        
security requirements of such post4     
7#f7 ,standard design ,the term standard
 design means a diplomatic post design  
that utilizes a standardized design     
template for the structural1 spatial1   
and security requirements of such post4