In the Senate of the United States,

September 28, 1996.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 2779) entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for appropriate

implementation of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 in Federal construction projects, and for other purposes.’’, do pass

with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Savings in Construction

3 Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 was en7 acted in order to set forth the policy of the United

8 States to convert to the metric system. Section 3 of

9 that Act requires that each Federal agency use the

10 metric system of measurements in its procurement,
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1 grants, and other business-related activities, unless

2 that use is likely to cause significant cost or loss of

3 markets to United States firms, such as when foreign

4 competitors are producing competing products in

5 non-metric units.

6 (2) In accordance with that Act and Executive

7 Order 12770, of July 25, 1991, Federal agencies in8 creasingly construct new Federal buildings in round

9 metric dimensions. As a result, companies that wish

10 to bid on Federal construction projects increasingly

11 are asked to supply materials or products in round

12 metric dimensions.

13 (3) While the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 cur14 rently provides an exemption to metric usage when

15 impractical or when such usage will cause economic

16 inefficiencies, amendments are warranted to ensure

17 that the use of specific metric components in metric

18 construction projects do not increase the cost of Fed19 eral buildings to the taxpayers.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 Section 4 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15

22 U.S.C. 205c) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

24 (3);
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Commerce.’’ in paragraph (4)

2 and inserting ‘‘Commerce;’’; and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(5) ‘full and open competition’ has the same

6 meaning as defined in section 403(6) of title 41,

7 United States Code;

8 ‘‘(6) ‘total installed price’ means the price of

9 purchasing a product or material, trimming or other10 wise altering some or all of that product or material,

11 if necessary to fit with other building components,

12 and then installing that product or material into a

13 Federal facility;

14 ‘‘(7) ‘hard-metric’ means measurement, design,

15 and manufacture using the metric system of measure16 ment, but does not include measurement, design, and

17 manufacture using English system measurement units

18 which are subsequently reexpressed in the metric sys19 tem of measurement;

20 ‘‘(8) ‘cost or pricing data or price analysis’ has

21 the meaning given such terms in section 304A of the

22 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of

23 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254b); and

24 ‘‘(9) ‘Federal facility’ means any public building

25 (as defined under section 13 of the Public Buildings
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1 Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 612) and shall include any

2 Federal building or construction project—

3 ‘‘(A) on lands in the public domain;

4 ‘‘(B) on lands used in connection with Fed5 eral programs for agriculture research, recre6 ation, and conservation programs;

7 ‘‘(C) on or used in connection with river,

8 harbor, flood control, reclamation, or power

9 projects;

10 ‘‘(D) on or used in connection with housing

11 and residential projects;

12 ‘‘(E) on military installations (including

13 any fort, camp, post, naval training station, air14 field, proving ground, military supply depot,

15 military school, or any similar facility of the

16 Department of Defense);

17 ‘‘(F) on installations of the Department of

18 Veteran Affairs used for hospital or domiciliary

19 purposes; or

20 ‘‘(G) on lands used in connection with Fed21 eral prisons,

22 but does not include (i) any Federal Building or con23 struction project the exclusion of which the President

24 deems to be justified in the public interest, or (ii) any

25 construction project or building owned or controlled
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1 by a State government, local government, Indian

2 tribe, or any private entity.’’.

3 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF FEDERAL FA4 CILITIES.

5 (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 205

6 et sec.) is amended by inserting after section 13 the follow7 ing new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 14. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF CON9 STRUCTION SERVICES AND MATERIALS FOR

10 FEDERAL FACILITIES.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Construction services and mate12 rials for Federal facilities shall be procured in accordance

13 with the policies and procedures set forth in chapter 137

14 of title 10, United States Code, section 2377 of title 10,

15 United States Code, title III of the Federal Property and

16 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.),

17 and section 3(2) of this Act. Determination of a design

18 method shall be based upon preliminary market research

19 as required under section 2377(c) of title 10, United States

20 Code, and section 314B(c) of the Federal Property and Ad21 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 264b(c)). If

22 the requirements of this Act conflict with the provisions of

23 section 2377 of title 10, United States Code, or section 314B

24 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act
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1 of 1949, then the provisions of 2377 or 314B shall take prec2 edence.

3 ‘‘(b) CONCRETE MASONRY UNITS.—In carrying out

4 the policy set forth in section 3 (with particular emphasis

5 on the policy set forth in paragraph (2) of that section)

6 a Federal agency may require that specifications for the

7 acquisition of structures or systems of concrete masonry be

8 expressed under the metric system of measurement, but may

9 not incorporate specifications, that can only be satisfied by

10 hard-metric versions of concrete masonry units, in a solici11 tation for design or construction of a Federal facility within

12 the United States or its territories, or a portion of said Fed13 eral facility, unless the head of the agency determines in

14 writing that—

15 ‘‘(1) hard-metric specifications are necessary in

16 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

17 Federal facilities in existence or under construction

18 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construction

19 Act of 1996; or

20 ‘‘(2) the following 2 criteria are met:

21 ‘‘(A) the application requires hard-metric

22 concrete masonry units to coordinate dimension23 ally into 100 millimeter building modules; and

24 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-metric

25 concrete masonry units is estimated to be equal
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1 to or less than the total installed price of using

2 non-hard-metric concrete masonry units. Total

3 installed price estimates shall be based, to the ex4 tent available, on cost or pricing data or price

5 analysis, using actual hard-metric and non6 hard-metric offers received for comparable exist7 ing projects. The head of the agency shall include

8 in the writing required in this subsection an ex9 planation of the factors used to develop the price

10 estimates.

11 ‘‘(c) RECESSED LIGHTING FIXTURES.—In carrying

12 out the policy set forth in section 3 (with particular empha13 sis on the policy set forth in paragraph (2) of that section)

14 a Federal agency may require that specifications for the

15 acquisition of structures or systems of recessed lighting fix16 tures be expressed under the metric system of measurement,

17 but may not incorporate specifications, that can only be

18 satisfied by hard-metric versions of recessed lighting fix19 tures, in a solicitation for design or construction of a Fed20 eral facility within the United States or its territories un21 less the head of the agency determines in writing that—

22 ‘‘(1) the predominant voluntary industry consen23 sus standards include the use of hard-metric for the

24 items specified; or
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1 ‘‘(2) hard-metric specifications are necessary in

2 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

3 Federal facilities in existence or under construction

4 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construction

5 Act of 1996; or

6 ‘‘(3) the following 2 criteria are met:

7 ‘‘(A) the application requires hard-metric

8 recessed lighting fixtures to coordinate dimen9 sionally into 100 millimeter building modules;

10 and

11 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-metric

12 recessed lighting fixtures is estimated to be equal

13 to or less than the total installed price of using

14 non-hard-metric recessed lighting fixtures. Total

15 installed price estimates shall be based, to the ex16 tent available, on cost or pricing data or price

17 analysis, using actual hard-metric and non18 hard-metric offers received for comparable exist19 ing projects. The head of the agency shall include

20 in the writing required in this subsection an ex21 planation of the factors used to develop the price

22 estimates.

23 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—The provisions of subsections (b)

24 and (c) of this section shall not apply to Federal contracts
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1 to acquire construction products for the construction of fa2 cilities outside of the United States and its territories.

3 ‘‘(e) EXPIRATION.—The provisions contained in sub4 sections (b) and (c) of this section shall expire 10 years from

5 the effective date of the Savings in Construction Act of

6 1996.’’.

7 SEC. 5. OMBUDSMAN.

8 Section 14 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as

9 added by section 4 of this Act, is further amended by adding

10 at the end the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(f) AGENCY OMBUDSMAN.—(1) The head of each exec12 utive agency that awards construction contracts within the

13 United States and its territories shall designate a senior

14 agency official to serve as a construction metrication om15 budsman who shall be responsible for reviewing and re16 sponding to complaints from prospective bidders, sub17 contractors, suppliers, or their designated representatives

18 related to—

19 ‘‘(A) guidance or regulations issued by the agen20 cy on the use of the metric system of measurement in

21 contracts for the construction of Federal buildings;

22 and

23 ‘‘(B) the use of the metric system of measurement

24 for services and materials required for incorporation

25 in individual projects to construct Federal buildings.
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1 The construction metrication ombudsman shall be inde2 pendent of the contracting officer for construction contracts.

3 ‘‘(2) The ombudsman shall be responsible for ensuring

4 that the agency is not implementing the metric system of

5 measurement in a manner that is impractical or is likely

6 to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to Unit7 ed States firms in violation of the policy stated in section

8 3(2), or is otherwise inconsistent with guidance issued by

9 the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Inter10 agency Council on Metric Policy while ensuring that the

11 goals of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 are observed.

12 ‘‘(3) The ombudsman shall respond to each complaint

13 in writing within 60 days and make a recommendation to

14 the head of the executive agency for an appropriate resolu15 tion thereto. In such a recommendation, the ombudsman

16 shall consider—

17 ‘‘(A) whether the agency is adequately applying

18 the policies and procedures in this section;

19 ‘‘(B) whether the availability of hard-metric

20 products and services from United States firms is suf21 ficient to ensure full and open competition; and

22 ‘‘(C) the total installed price to the Federal Gov23 ernment.

24 ‘‘(4) After the head of the agency has rendered a deci25 sion regarding a recommendation of the ombudsman, the
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1 ombudsman shall be responsible for communicating the de2 cision to all appropriate policy, design, planning, procure3 ment, and notifying personnel in the agency. The ombuds4 man shall conduct appropriate monitoring as required to

5 ensure the decision is implemented, and may submit further

6 recommendations, as needed. The head of the agency’s deci7 sion on the ombudsman’s recommendations, and any sup8 porting documentation, shall be provided to affected parties

9 and made available to the public in a timely manner.

10 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to su11 persede the bid protest process established under subchapter

12 V of chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code.’’.

13 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVI14 SIONS.

15 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amendments

16 made by this Act shall take effect 90 days after the date

17 of enactment of this Act.

18 (b) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—This Act shall not apply

19 to contracts awarded and solicitations issued on or before

20 the effective date of this Act, unless the head of a Federal

21 agency makes a written determination in his or her sole

22 discretion that it would be in the public interest to apply
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1 one or more provisions of this Act or its amendments to

2 these existing contracts or solicitations.

Attest:

Secretary.
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2779

AMENDMENT