IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3996 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain 

requirements relating to the use of the design-build construction method for Department of Veterans Affairs 

construction projects, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Design-Build Con3 struction Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE 

5 DESIGN-BUILD CONSTRUCTION METHOD FOR 

6 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CON7 STRUCTION PROJECTS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings: 

10 (1) The Inspector General of the Department of 

11 Veterans Affairs found that, in the Aurora, Colo12 rado, replacement medical center project, the De13 partment decided to change its acquisition strategy 

14 from traditional design-bid-build to integrated-design 

15 and construct in the fourth year of the project, 

16 which was too late for the integrated design-con17 struction firm to provide effective input into the de18 sign. 

19 (2) In response to deficiencies in the Depart20 ment’s management of the Aurora, Colorado, re21 placement medical center project and in order to 

22 prevent reoccurrence of such deficiencies in the fu23 ture, Congress enacted section 8103 of title 38, 

24 United States Code, which mandates that an appro25 priate non-Department Federal entity take over 

26 management of future super construction projects of 


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1 the Department, including project design, acquisi2 tion, construction, and contract changes. 

3 (3) It has been the policy of the Federal Gov4 ernment since the enactment of the Clinger-Cohen 

5 Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–106) that design-build 

6 shall be used when appropriate circumstances are 

7 present. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that— 

10 (1) the unsuccessful use of the integrated-de11 sign and construct acquisition method in the Aurora, 

12 Colorado, replacement medical center project should 

13 not be interpreted to mean that design-build, as de14 scribed in section 3309 of title 41, United States 

15 Code, is unsuitable for construction projects of the 

16 Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

17 (2) when used properly by adequately trained 

18 acquisition and construction management personnel 

19 and in the appropriate circumstances, design-build is 

20 an effective construction acquisition method for the 

21 Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been 

22 demonstrated to reduce change orders, decrease the 

23 duration between design completion and beneficial 

24 occupancy, and increase warranty protections. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS USE OF DE2 SIGN-BUILD CONSTRUCTION METHOD. 

3 (a) USE OF DESIGN-BUILD SELECTION PROCE4 DURES.—Section 8106 of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) If the Secretary seeks to enter into a contract 

8 for the design and construction of a building or facility, 

9 the Secretary shall use the procedures established in sec10 tion 3309 of title 41. 

11 ‘‘(2) In the case of a super construction project for 

12 which a non-Department Federal entity provides project 

13 management services under section 8103(e) of this title, 

14 the Secretary shall not discourage the entity from using 

15 the procedures established in section 3309 of title 41.’’. 

16 (b) COVERED CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—Section 

17 8103(g)(6)(A) of such title is amended by inserting ‘‘, in18 cluding design-build construction’’ before the period at the 

19 end. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 12, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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