,,ii #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #baac ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,november #i1 #bjag ,mr4 ,portman 7for himself and ,ms4 ,hirono7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #da1 ,united ,states ,code1 to improve the manner in which ,federal contracts for design and construction services are awarded1 to prohibit the use of reverse auctions for design and construction services procurements1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title2 table of contents 7a7 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,construction ,consensus ,procurement ,improvement ,act of #bjag4 7b7 ,table of contents ,the table of contents for this ,act is as follows3 ,sec4 #a4 ,short title2 table of contents4 ,sec4 #b4 ,congressional findings4 ,sec4 #c4 ,design-build construction process improvement4 ,sec4 #d4 ,prohibition on the use of a reverse auction for the award of a contract for design and construction services4 #b4 ,congressional findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,the acquisition procedures that are often used effectively to procure products and other forms of services are not always appropriate for the procurement of design and construction services4 7#b7 ,federal procurement officials often adopt contracting techniques from the private sector and have used those techniques effectively to procure products and services4 7#c7 ,design-build is a procurement technique ,federal officials have adopted from the private sector that has worked well for the procurement of design and construction services4 7#d7 ,the current statutory framework for design-build could benefit from legislative refinement4 7#e7 ,reverse auctions are another procurement technique ,federal officials have adopted from the private sector and used successfully to award contracts for the procurement of products that are commercially equivalent to commodities4 7#f7 ,despite their success in other contexts1 reverse auctions are generally inappropriate for the procurement of design and construction services1 given the unique nature of each such project4 #c4 ,design-build construction process improvement 7a7 ,civilian contracts 7#a7 ,in general ,section #ccji7;b7 of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended to read as follows3 7b7 ,criteria for use 7#a7 ,contracts with a value of at least #c1jjj1jjj ,two-phase selection procedures shall be used for entering into a contract for the design and construction of a public building1 facility1 or work if a contracting officer determines that the project has a value of #c1jjj1jjj or greater4 7#b7 ,contracts with a value less than #c1jjj1jjj ,for any project that a contracting officer determines has a value of less than #c1jjj1jjj1 the contracting officer shall make a determination on whether two-phase selection procedures are appropriate for use for entering into a contract for the design and construction of a public building1 facility1 or work if-- 7,a7 the contracting officer anticipates that three or more offers will be received for the contract2 7,b7 design work must be performed before an offeror can develop a price or cost proposal for the contract2 7,c7 the offeror will incur a substantial amount of expense in preparing the offer2 and 7,d7 the contracting officer has considered information such as-- 7i7 the extent to which the project requirements have been adequately defined2 7ii7 the time constraints for delivery of the project2 7iii7 the capability and experience of potential contractors2 7iv7 the suitability of the project for use of the two-phase selection procedures2 7v7 the capability of the agency to manage the two-phase selection process2 and 7vi7 other criteria established by the agency4 4 7#b7 ,annual reports 7,a7 ,in general ,not later than ,november #cj of #bjah1 #bjai1 #bjbj1 #bjba1 and #bjbb1 the head of each executive agency shall compile and submit to the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget an annual report of each instance in which the agency awarded a design-build contract pursuant to section #ccji of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code1 during the fiscal year ending in such calendar year1 in which-- 7i7 more than #e finalists were selected for phase-two requests for proposals2 or 7ii7 the contract or order was awarded without using two-phase selection procedures4 7,b7 ,public availability ,the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget shall facilitate public access to the reports1 including by posting them on a publicly available ,internet website4 ,a notice of the availability of each report shall be published in the ,federal ,register4 7,c7 ,submission to ,,gao ,not later than #cj days after the deadline described under subparagraph 7,a71 the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget shall compile and submit the reports submitted to the ,director under such subparagraph to the ,comptroller ,general4 7b7 ,,gao reports ,not later than #bgj days after the deadline under subsection 7a77#b77;,a71 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall issue a report analyzing the reports submitted under subsection 7a77#b77;,c7 and agency compliance with the requirements of section #ccji7;b7 of title #da1 ,united ,states ,code1 as amended by subsection 7a77#a74 #d4 ,prohibition on the use of a reverse auction for the award of a contract for design and construction services 7a7 ,finding ,congress finds that1 in contrast to a traditional auction in which the buyers bid up the price1 sellers bid down the price in a reverse auction4 7b7 ,prohibition ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,federal ,acquisition ,regulation shall be amended to prohibit the use of reverse auctions as part of the two-phase selection procedures for awarding contracts for design and construction services4 7c7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this section-- 7#a7 the term design and construction services means-- 7,a7 site planning and landscape design2 7,b7 architectural and engineering services 7as defined in section #aajb of title #dj1 ,united ,states ,code72 7,c7 interior design2 7,d7 performance of substantial construction work for facility1 infrastructure1 and environmental restoration projects2 7,e7 delivery and supply of construction materials to construction sites2 or 7,f7 construction or substantial alteration of public buildings or public works2 and 7#b7 the term reverse auction means1 with respect to any procurement by an executive agency-- 7,a7 a real-time auction conducted through an electronic medium among two or more offerors who compete by submitting bids for a supply or service contract1 or a delivery order1 task order1 or purchase order under the contract1 with the ability to submit revised lower bids at any time before the closing of the auction2 and 7,b7 the award of the contract1 delivery order1 task order1 or purchase order to the offeror1 in whole or in part1 based on the price obtained through the auction process4