14-91.007. Selection and Award Process

(1) Letters of Interest Requirements. Design-Build Firms interested in submitting Bid Proposals on an Adjusted Score Design-Build or a Factored Design-Build Project must submit a letter of interest, including the following information:

(a) Design-Build Firm name and prequalifications.

(b) Past Performance Evaluations, Design-Build Project Experience, Organization and Staffing:

1. Contractor Grades.

2. Professional Consultant Grades.

3. Performance History with other States or Agencies, if none with the Department. If the contractor or professional consultant does not have a performance history working with the Department or if the performance history is no longer current (older than 5 years), the Design-Build Firm can submit evidence of past performance, including evaluations or grades and letters of reference, or recommendations.  Contact information for the references must be provided for verification purposes. Past performance information is limited to three (3) “8 1/2 x 11” pages and is restricted to contractors or  professional consultants without a current performance history with the Department.

4. Design-Build Project Experience of the Contractor and Professional Consultant.

5. Similar type of work experience.

6. Environmental Record.

7. Contractor Experience Modification Rating (Current Year).

8. Design-Build Firm organization.

9. Design-Build Firm staffing plan.

10. Design-Build Firm coordination plan.

(c) Design-Build Project Requirements and Critical Issues:

1. Understanding of Design-Build Project requirements.

2. Identification of critical issues.

3. Outline for addressing critical issues.

(d) One (1) page resumes on “8 1/2 x 11” paper for each of the key staff positions as provided in the public advertisement.

(e) A one (1) page organizational chart on “11 x 17” paper.

(f) If the public advertisment includes Group 4 Bridge Design work, the Design-Build Firm shall submit a Bridge Design Qualification Form, Form 375-030-55, 2/14 incorporated herein by reference at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04766.

(g) A certification that the Design-Build Firm is free of conflicting professional or personal interests.

(h) Any other information required by the public advertisement.

(2) Short Listing Criteria and Procedures. On Adjusted Score Design-Build and Factored Design-Build Projects, Design-Build Firms will be evaluated based on the information provided in the letters of interest and in accordance with Rule Chapter 14-75, F.A.C. For this purpose, all references to “professional” or “consultant” in Rule Chapter 14-75, F.A.C., shall be deemed to be a reference to “Design-Build Firm” under this rule chapter. The public advertisement will state project specific short-listing criteria pursuant to one of the following methodologies:

(a) After completing evaluations of the letters of interest, the Department will notify the Design-Build Firms of the evaluation and its scoring. Design-Build Firms providing written affirmation of its intent to proceed to the technical proposal phase of the procurement within the time provided in the Department’s notification will be short-listed and be eligible to submit technical and price proposals.

(b) The Department will determine the short-list of Design-Build Firms.

(3) Scope of Services Requirements. The Department shall develop a request for proposal which furnishes sufficient information for Design-Build Firms to prepare technical and price proposals. The request for proposal will set forth the scope of services requirements, submittal requirements, and evaluation criteria. The request for proposal will be provided within the project advertisement for Low Bid Design-Build Projects and will be provided to all short-listed firms for Adjusted Score Design-Build and Factored Design-Build Projects.

(4) Bid Proposal Requirements. Bid proposals are required for all Design-Build Projects and shall consist of a sealed technical proposal and a seperately sealed price proposal. The technical and price proposals must be received by the Department by the deadline stated in the request for proposal. A technical proposal shall include all information requested in response to the request for proposals. A price proposal shall include one lump sum for all costs of the Design-Build Project as defined by the request for proposal requirements.

(5) Technical Review Committee. Proposal evaluators will be assigned to a Technical Review Committee with the responsibility to review and evaluate the letters of interest on Adjusted Score Design-Build Projects and Factored Design-Build Projects and technical proposals on all Design-Build Projects (Adjusted Score, Factored, and Low Bid) in accordance with the public advertisement and request for proposal. Proposal evaluators will be designated by the appropriate Director, or designee, based on the nature of the work requested and the complexity of the Design-Build Project. No employee of a Design-Build Firm pursuing a Design-Build Project under consideration will serve as a proposal evaluator.

(6) Project Selection Committee. The Department will establish a Project Selection Committee to review submissions on all Design-Build Projects. The Technical Review Committee’s evaluations will be submitted to the Project Selection Committee. The Project Selection Committee will review the Technical Review Committee’s evaluations during a publically held meeting. If the Project Selection Committee discovers a material error or omission in the evaluation(s) of one or more proposal evaluators that is not resolved through questioning of the proposal evaluators during the public meeting, the Project Selection Committee will return the submissions to the Technical Review Committee for further evaluation and potential corrections to the evaluations. Upon the Project Selection Committee’s determination that the Technical Review Committee has accurately evaluated all submitted letters of interests and proposals, the Project Selection Committee will award the Design-Build Project to the qualified bidder with the best overall score. The Project Selection Committee will not award the project and will reject all bids if it determines after reviewing all submissions that pursuing the Design-Build Project will not be in the best interest of the public.

(7) Proposal Submission Limitation. A prime contractor or lead professional consultant cannot team with others to submit more than one Bid proposal per Design-Build Project.

(8) Stipend Compensation. When included in the public advertisement, the Department will pay a lump sum stipend to eligible short-listed Design-Build Firms that were not selected for the Design-Build Project, but submitted responsive Bid Proposals. The stipend compensation amount and the conditions for stipend eligibility will be stated in the public advertisement. The Department reserves the right to use any of the concepts, ideas, technologies, techniques, methods, processes, and information contained within the Bid Proposals of any Design-Build Firm receiving stipend compensation for that Bid Proposal without any further compensation.

(a) To be eligible for stipend compensation, the short-listed Design-Build Firms that were not selected for the Design-Build Project, but submitted responsive Bid Proposals, must meet all eligibility requirements in the public advertisement and contract with the Department.

(b) The amount of the stipend compensation will be based upon the estimated proposal development costs and the degree of engineering design required during the procurement process. The actual stipend compensation will vary based on the nature of the work, complexity of the Design-Build Project, technical expertise required, and the value of the work product to the Department.

(c) A stipend is not intended to compensate the Design-Build Firms for the total cost of preparing the Bid Proposal.

Rulemaking Authority 334.044(2), 337.11(7)(b) FS. Law Implemented 337.025, 337.11 FS. History–New 3-13-88, Amended 6-13-90, 2-20-96, 9-3-96, 10-18-00, 5-3-09, 2-17-10, 3-24-15.