I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1666 

To require the use of two-phase selection procedures when design-build 

contracts are suitable for award to small business concerns. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri (for himself and Mr. TIBERI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the use of two-phase selection procedures when 

design-build contracts are suitable for award to small 

business concerns. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Design-Build Effi5 ciency and Jobs Act of 2015’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DESIGN-BUILD CONSTRUC2 TION PROCESS FOR CIVILIAN CONTRACTS. 

3 Section 3309 of title 41, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR USE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE OF AT LEAST

9 $750,000.—Two-phase selection procedures shall be 

10 used for entering into a contract for the design and 

11 construction of a public building, facility, or work 

12 when a contracting officer determines that the con13 tract has a value of $750,000 or greater. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE LESS THAN

15 $750,000.—For projects that a contracting officer de16 termines have a value of less than $750,000, the 

17 contracting officer shall make a determination 

18 whether two-phase selection procedures are appro19 priate for use for entering into a contract for the de20 sign and construction of a public building, facility, 

21 or work when— 

22 ‘‘(A) the contracting officer anticipates 

23 that 3 or more offers will be received for the 

24 contract; 

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1 ‘‘(B) design work must be performed be2 fore an offeror can develop a price or cost pro3 posal for the contract; 

4 ‘‘(C) the offeror will incur a substantial 

5 amount of expense in preparing the offer; and 

6 ‘‘(D) the contracting officer has considered 

7 information such as— 

8 ‘‘(i) the extent to which the project re9 quirements have been adequately defined; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the time constraints for delivery 

11 of the project; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the capability and experience of 

13 potential contractors; 

14 ‘‘(iv) the suitability of the project for 

15 use of the two-phase selection procedures; 

16 ‘‘(v) the capability of the agency to 

17 manage the two-phase selection process; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(vi) other criteria established by the 

20 agency.’’; 

21 (2) by striking the second sentence in sub22 section (d) and inserting the following: ‘‘The max23 imum number specified in the solicitation shall not 

24 be greater than 5 unless the head of the contracting 

25 activity (or a designee of the head who is in a posimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion not lower than the supervisor of the contracting 

2 officer) approves the contracting officer’s justifica3 tion with respect to an individual solicitation that a 

4 specified number greater than 5 is in the Federal 

5 Government’s interest. The contracting officer shall 

6 provide written documentation of how a maximum 

7 number greater than 5 is consistent with the pur8 poses and objectives of the two-phase selection pro9 cedures.’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than November 

14 30 of each of the years 2016 through 2020, the head 

15 of each agency shall submit to the Director of the 

16 Office of Management and Budget an annual report 

17 containing each instance in which the agency award18 ed a design-build contract pursuant to section 3309 

19 of this title, during the preceding fiscal year in 

20 which— 

21 ‘‘(A) more than 5 finalists were selected 

22 for phase-two requests for proposals; or 

23 ‘‘(B) the contract was awarded without 

24 using two-phase selection procedures. 

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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director of 

2 the Office of Management and Budget shall make 

3 available to the public, including on the Internet, the 

4 annual reports described in paragraph (1), and pub5 lish a notice of the availability of each report in the 

6 Federal Register.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DESIGN-BUILD CONSTRUC8 TION PROCESS FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTS. 

9 Section 2305a of title 10, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR USE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE OF AT LEAST

15 $750,000.—Two-phase selection procedures shall be 

16 used for entering into a contract for the design and 

17 construction of a public building, facility, or work 

18 when a contracting officer determines that the con19 tract has a value of $750,000 or greater. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE LESS THAN

21 $750,000.—For projects that a contracting officer de22 termines have a value of less than $750,000, the 

23 contracting officer shall make a determination 

24 whether two-phase selection procedures are appro25 priate for use for entering into a contract for the demstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 sign and construction of a public building, facility, 

2 or work when— 

3 ‘‘(A) the contracting officer anticipates 

4 that 3 or more offers will be received for the 

5 contract; 

6 ‘‘(B) design work must be performed be7 fore an offeror can develop a price or cost pro8 posal for the contract; 

9 ‘‘(C) the offeror will incur a substantial 

10 amount of expense in preparing the offer; and 

11 ‘‘(D) the contracting officer has considered 

12 information such as— 

13 ‘‘(i) the extent to which the project re14 quirements have been adequately defined; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the time constraints for delivery 

16 of the project; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the capability and experience of 

18 potential contractors; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the suitability of the project for 

20 use of the two-phase selection procedures; 

21 ‘‘(v) the capability of the agency to 

22 manage the two-phase selection process; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(vi) other criteria established by the 

25 agency.’’; 

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1 (2) by striking the second sentence in sub2 section (d) and inserting the following: ‘‘The max3 imum number specified in the solicitation shall not 

4 be greater than 5 unless the head of the contracting 

5 activity (or a designee of the head who is in a posi6 tion not lower than the supervisor of the contracting 

7 officer) approves the contracting officer’s justifica8 tion with respect to an individual solicitation that a 

9 specified number greater than 5 is in the Federal 

10 Government’s interest.’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than November 

15 30 of each of the years 2016 through 2020, the Sec16 retary of Defense shall submit to the Director of the 

17 Office of Management and Budget an annual report 

18 containing each instance in which the agency award19 ed a design-build contract pursuant to section 2305a 

20 of this title, during the preceding fiscal year in 

21 which— 

22 ‘‘(A) more than 5 finalists were selected 

23 for phase-two requests for proposals; or 

24 ‘‘(B) the contract was awarded without 

25 using two-phase selection procedures. 

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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director of 

2 the Office of Management and Budget shall make 

3 available to the public, including on the Internet, the 

4 annual reports described in paragraph (1), and pub5 lish a notice of the availability of each report in the 

6 Federal Register.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT. 

8 Not later than 270 days after November 30, 2020, 

9 the Comptroller General of the United States shall issue 

10 a report analyzing the compliance of the various Federal 

11 agencies with the requirements of subsection (g) of section 

12 2305a of title 10, United States Code (as added by sub13 section (b)(3)) and subsection (f) of section 3309 of title 

14 41, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)(3)). 

Æ 

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