§ 15A-25 — Procedures for selection

(a) The school district must use a 2-phase procedure for the selection of the successful design-build entity. Phase I of the procedure must evaluate and shortlist the design-build entities based on qualifications, and Phase II must evaluate the technical and cost proposals. (b) The school district must include in the request for proposal the evaluating factors to be used in Phase I. These factors are in addition to any prequalification requirements of design-build entities that the school district has set forth. Each request for proposal must establish the relative importance assigned to each evaluation factor and subfactor, including any weighting of criteria to be employed by the school district. The school district must maintain a record of the evaluation scoring to be disclosed in event of a protest regarding the solicitation. The school district must include the following criteria in every Phase I evaluation of design-build entities: (1) experience of personnel; (2) successful experience with similar project types; (3) financial capability; (4) timeliness of past performance; (5) experience with similarly sized projects; (6) successful reference checks of the firm; (7) commitment to assign personnel for the duration of the project and qualifications of the entity's consultants; and (8) ability or past performance in meeting or exhausting good faith efforts to meet the utilization goals for business enterprises established in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act and with Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. The school district may include any additional, relevant criteria in Phase I that it deems necessary for a proper qualification review. The school district may not consider a design-build entity for evaluation or an award if the entity has any pecuniary interest in the project or has other relationships or circumstances, such as long-term leasehold, mutual performance, or development contracts with the school district, that may give the design-build entity a financial or tangible advantage over other design-build entities in the preparation, evaluation, or performance of the design-build contract or that create the appearance of impropriety. A design-build entity shall not be disqualified under this Section solely due to having previously been awarded a project or projects under any applicable public procurement law of the State. No proposal may be considered that does not include an entity's plan to comply with the requirements established in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, for both the design and construction areas of performance, and with Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. Upon completion of the qualification evaluation, the school district must create a shortlist of the most highly qualified design-build entities. The school district, in its discretion, is not required to shortlist the maximum number of entities as identified for Phase II evaluation if no less than 2 design-build entities nor more than 6 are selected to submit Phase II proposals. If a school district receives one response to Phase I, nothing herein shall prohibit the school district from proceeding with a Phase II evaluation of the single respondent, if the school district, in its discretion, finds proceeding to be in its best interest. The school district must notify the entities selected for the shortlist in writing. This notification must commence the period for the preparation of the Phase II technical and cost evaluations. The school district must allow sufficient time for the shortlist entities to prepare their Phase II submittals considering the scope and detail requested by the school district. (c) The school district must include in the request for proposal the evaluating factors to be used in the technical and cost submission components of Phase II. Each request for proposal must establish, for both the technical and cost submission components of Phase II, the relative importance assigned to each evaluation factor and subfactor, including any weighting of criteria to be employed by the school district. The school district must maintain a record of the evaluation scoring to be disclosed in event of a protest regarding the solicitation. The school district must include the following criteria in every Phase II technical evaluation of design-build entities: (1) compliance with objectives of the project; (2) compliance of proposed services to the request for proposal requirements; (3) quality of products or materials proposed; (4) quality of design parameters; (5) design concepts; (6) innovation in meeting the scope and performance criteria; and (7) constructability of the proposed project. The school district may include any additional relevant technical evaluation factors it deems necessary for proper selection. The school district must include the following criteria in every Phase II cost evaluation: the total project cost, the construction costs, and the time of completion. The school district may include any additional relevant technical evaluation factors it deems necessary for proper selection. The total project cost criteria weighting factor may not exceed 30%. The school district must directly employ or retain a licensed design professional or a public art designer to evaluate the technical and cost submissions to determine if the technical submissions are in accordance with generally accepted industry standards. Upon completion of the technical submissions and cost submissions evaluation, the school district may award the design-build contract to the highest overall ranked entity.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 103-491, eff. 1-1-24 .)