[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2652 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2652

      To improve the design-build process in Federal contracting.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 24, 2014

 Mrs. Fischer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To improve the design-build process in Federal contracting.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DESIGN-BUILD CONSTRUCTION PROCESS IMPROVEMENT.

    (a) Civilian Contracts.--Section 3309 of title 41, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d), by striking ``The maximum number 
        specified in the solicitation shall not exceed 5 unless the 
        agency determines with respect to'' and all that follows 
        through the period at the end and inserting the following: 
        ``The maximum number specified in the solicitation shall not 
        exceed 5 unless the head of the contracting activity approves 
        the contracting officer's justification that an individual 
        solicitation must have greater than 5 finalists to be in the 
        Federal Government's interest. The contracting officer shall 
        provide written documentation of how a maximum number of 
        offerors exceeding 5 is consistent with the purposes and 
        objectives of the two-phase selection process.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Design and Construction Contracts.--Two-phase selection 
procedures shall be used for entering into a contract for the design 
and construction of a public building, facility, or work when a 
contracting officer determines that the contract has a value of 
$750,000 or greater, as adjusted for inflation in accordance with 
section 1908 of title 41, United States Code.''.
    (b) Defense Contracts.--Section 2305a(d) of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d) by striking ``The maximum number 
        specified in the solicitation shall not exceed 5 unless the 
        agency determines with respect to'' and all that follows 
        through the period at the end and inserting the following: 
        ``The maximum number specified in the solicitation shall not 
        exceed 5 unless the head of the agency contracting activity 
        approves the contracting officers justification that an 
        individual solicitation must have greater than 5 finalists to 
        be in the Federal Government's interest. The contracting 
        officer shall provide written documentation of how a maximum 
        number of offerors exceeding 5 is consistent with the purposes 
        and objectives of the two-phase selection process.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Design and Construction Contracts.--Two-phase selection 
procedures shall be used for entering into a contract for the design 
and construction of a public building, facility, or work when a 
contracting officer determines that the contract has a value of 
$750,000 or greater, as adjusted for inflation in accordance with 
section 1908 of title 41, United States Code.''.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) Reports regarding agency actions.--
                    (A) In general.--There shall be compiled for each 
                executive agency an annual report of each instance in 
                which the agency awarded a design-build contract 
                pursuant to section 3309 of title 41, United States 
                Code, or section 2305a(d) of title 10, United States 
                Code, as amended by this Act, in which--
                            (i) more than 5 finalists were selected for 
                        phase-two requests for competitive proposals; 
                        or
                            (ii) the contract was awarded without using 
                        two-phase selection procedures.
                    (B) Responsibility.--The Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget shall designate the head of each 
                executive agency to serve as executive agent for the 
                compilation of the report required by subparagraph (A) 
                and to facilitate public access to the report through 
                electronic means. A notice of the availability of each 
                report shall be published in the Federal Register.
                    (C) Deadline.--The first report shall include 
                reportable instances during the fiscal year that 
                includes the date of enactment of this Act. Additional 
                reports shall be issued for the subsequent 4 fiscal 
                years. Each report shall be issued within 60 days after 
                the end of the fiscal year covered by the report.
            (2) GAO report.--Not later than 270 days after the deadline 
        for the final report required under paragraph (1), the 
        Comptroller General of the United States shall issue a report 
        analyzing the compliance of the various executive agencies in 
        complying with the requirements of section 3309 of title 41, 
        United States Code, and section 2305a(d) of title 10, United 
        States Code, as applicable, as amended by this section.
            (3) Executive agency defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``executive agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        133 of title 41, United States Code.
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