§ 48:250.3 — Design-build contracts; qualifications of design-build entities; public announcement

Louisiana § 48:250.3

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 48: Roads, Bridges and Ferries

Text

§250.3. Design-build contracts; qualifications of design-build entities; public announcement
procedures; letters of interest; selection of short list; bid proposals by competitors;
qualifications evaluation committee; proposal review committee; selection and
process of award
A. For purposes of this Section, "design-builder" means the entity contractually
responsible for delivering the project design and construction.
B.(1) Each design-builder shall employ or have as a partner a member, coventurer,
subcontractor persons, or a firm with persons, who are duly licensed and registered to
provide the services required to complete the project and do business in this state.
(2)(a) All registrations and licenses for each component shall be obtained prior to or
concurrent with award of the project to the selected design-builder by the department.
(b) The standard professional engineer and land surveyor qualifications as provided
for in R.S. 37:681 et seq., the rules and regulations of the Louisiana Professional Engineering
and Land Surveying Board, and the department's standard technical qualification
requirements for firms providing professional engineering and land surveying services as
provided for in R.S. 48:290 shall apply to the components providing design services.
(c) The standard contractor qualifications as provided for in R.S. 37:2150 et seq. and
the current rules and regulations of the State Licensing Board for Contractors shall apply to
the component providing construction services utilized by the design-builder, based upon the
applicable categories for the specific project.
C. A "notice of intent" (NOI) to request letters of interest for a design-build project
or for a pool of prequalified design-builders that shall remain prequalified for up to two years
shall be distributed by the department through advertisement on the Department of
Transportation and Development's internet webpage. All NOIs shall be advertised a
minimum of ten days prior to the deadline for receipt of responses. The NOI shall contain
a description of the project or type of work and sufficient information for a design-builder
to determine its interest and to enable it to submit a letter of interest. The department may
readvertise the NOI using additional media or publications in an attempt to solicit additional
responses if the number of responses received by the department is inadequate.
D. The department shall provide a "request for qualifications" (RFQ) to
design-builders who submit a letter of interest. The department shall identify all required
information in the RFQ and in the standard response forms provided by the department. Any
response that fails to meet all requirements contained in the RFQ may not be considered by
the department. False or misrepresented information furnished in response to an RFQ shall
be grounds for rejection by the department. The response to the RFQ shall include both of
the following:
(1) Statements of qualification by credentials and experience of design component
members for the areas of expertise specific to the project or type of work.
(2) Statements of qualification by experience and resources of the construction team
component.
E.(1) The assistant secretary for project delivery, with concurrence of the secretary,
shall establish a design-build qualifications evaluation committee for evaluation of the
responses to the request for qualifications received by the department. The following general
criteria used by the committee in evaluating responses shall apply to both the design and
construction components of any responding entity:
(a) Experience of both the design and construction entity components and of key
personnel related to the project or type of work under consideration.
(b) Past performance on department projects.
(c) Any project-specific criteria that may apply to project needs.
(2) The qualifications evaluation committee shall evaluate the qualifications of
responding design-builders on the basis of the criteria identified in the request for
qualifications and set forth in this Subsection and shall select a short list of the highest rated
entities in a number to be determined by the department. If fewer than three responses are
received, the secretary or designated representative may approve proceeding with the
design-build process. The qualifications evaluation committee may, at its discretion, be
assisted by other department personnel in its evaluation of an entity's qualifications. The
design-build qualifications evaluation committee shall present its short list to the chief
engineer and the assistant secretary for project delivery for recommendation to the secretary.
The shortlisted entities shall be invited by the secretary or designated representative to
submit a detailed technical and cost proposal for the design-build project. The invitation to
the shortlisted entities shall specify a deadline for submission of proposals.
F.(1) Depending upon the complexity of the project and the degree of flexibility in
the approach to design and construction methods, the specific requirements of the technical
proposal shall be identified by the department to the entities making the short list by means
of a " Request for Proposal" (RFP). Generally, the "Request for Proposal" (RFP) shall
request design strategy and preliminary design concepts, construction sequencing,
techniques, materials, and methods, the schedule for commencement and completion of all
phases of work, and a lump sum cost for all services in fulfillment of the requirements and
within the constraints of the "Request for Proposal".
(2) For more complex projects and projects with scopes which permit flexibility and
innovation in the design and construction approach, the department may compensate
unsuccessful and responsive short-listed design-builders for the expense of preparing the
proposal. The amount of compensation to be paid, if any, for the proposal shall be
predetermined by the department and shall be included in the department's request for
proposal (RFP). The department may by plan change use concepts submitted by
compensated short-listed design-build proposers.
G. The assistant secretary for project delivery, with concurrence of the secretary,
shall establish a proposal review committee for evaluation of design-build proposals. The
proposal review committee shall be identified in the request for proposals (RFP). The
assistant secretary for project delivery, with concurrence of the secretary, shall assign a
project manager, who shall become the chairman of the proposal review committee for the
project. The RFP shall identify technical elements of the project, depending on the
characteristics of the project, to be included in the technical score. Additionally, the assistant
secretary for project delivery, with concurrence of the secretary, may select additional
department engineering and technical experts, and nationally recognized design-build experts
to serve as committee members to score each technical element of the project. Members of
the proposal review committee shall not have served as members of the qualifications
evaluation committee. Each member of the proposal review committee shall make his
scoring of assigned elements available for public review. Such scores shall be considered
public record.
H.(1) An adjusted score approach shall be used by the department in determining the
winning proposal. An adjusted score shall be determined using the following three
components:
(a)(i) The technical score determined by the proposal review committee. Weighing
factors may be assigned to each element depending on its relative magnitude or significance
to the overall project. Each proposal review committee member shall rate his assigned
element of the proposal from each of the entities on the short list and shall submit such
scores to the chairman of the proposal review committee. The schedule and price bid shall
not be made known to the proposal review committee during the scoring process. The
chairman of the proposal review committee shall adjust the scores for any applicable
weighing factors and shall determine the total technical score for each proposal.
(ii) Prior to determining the adjusted score, the chairman of the proposal review
committee shall notify each design-build proposer, in writing, of each proposer's final total
technical score.
(b) The time value, consisting of the product of the proposed contract time expressed
in calendar days multiplied by the value-per-calendar-day expressed in dollars established
by the department and included in the request for proposal.
(c) The price proposal.
(2) The winning proposal shall be the proposal with the lowest adjusted score. The
adjusted score for each entity's design-build proposal shall be determined by the following
formula: Adjusted Score = (Price Bid + Time Value) divided by Technical Score. If the Time
Value is not used, the Adjusted Score shall be determined by the following formula:
Adjusted Score = Price Bid divided by Technical Score.

Legislative History

Acts 2004, No. 81, §1; Acts 2006, No. 305, §1; Acts 2009, No. 262, §1, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2021, No. 346, §1, eff. June 15, 2021; Acts 2023, No. 246, §1; Acts 2025, No. 380, §1.