I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4233

To provide for appropriate implementation of the Metric Conversion Act

of 1975 in Federal construction projects, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996

Mr. COX of California (for himself, Mr. WALKER, Mrs. MORELLA, and Mr.

HASTERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

To provide for appropriate implementation of the Metric

Conversion Act of 1975 in Federal 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Savings in Construc5 tion Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 was en9 acted in order to set forth the policy of the United
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1 States to convert to the metric system. Section 3 of

2 that Act requires that each Federal agency use the

3 metric system of measurements in its procurement,

4 grants, and other business-related activities, unless

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

6 markets to United States firms, such as when for7 eign competitors are producing competing products

8 in non-metric units.

9 (2) In accordance with that Act and Executive

10 Order 12770, of July 25, 1991, Federal agencies in11 creasingly construct new Federal buildings in round

12 metric dimensions. As a result, companies that wish

13 to bid on Federal construction projects increasingly

14 are asked to supply materials or products in round

15 metric dimensions.

16 (3) While the Metric Conversion Act of 1975

17 currently provides an exemption to metric usage

18 when impractical or when such usage will cause eco19 nomic inefficiencies, amendments are warranted to

20 ensure that the use of specific metric components in

21 metric construction projects do not increase the cost

22 of Federal buildings to the taxpayers.

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

25 U.S.C. 205c) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (3);

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

4 and inserting ‘‘Commerce;’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the follow6 ing:

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

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

9 United States Code;

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

11 purchasing a product or material, trimming or oth12 erwise altering some or all of that product or mate13 rial, if necessary to fit with other building compo14 nents, and then installing that product or material

15 into a Federal facility;

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

17 and manufacture using the metric system of meas18 urement, but does not include measurement, design,

19 and manufacture using English system measurement

20 units which are subsequently reexpressed in the met21 ric system of measurement;

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

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

24 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of

25 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254b); and
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1 ‘‘(9) ‘Federal facility’ means any public building

2 (as defined under section 13 of the Public Buildings

3 Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 612) and shall include any

4 Federal building or construction project—

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

6 ‘‘(B) on lands used in connection with

7 Federal programs for agriculture research,

8 recreation, and conservation programs;

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

10 harbor, flood control, reclamation, or power

11 projects;

12 ‘‘(D) on or used in connection with hous13 ing and residential projects;

14 ‘‘(E) on military installations (including

15 any fort, camp, post, naval training station, air16 field, proving ground, military supply depot,

17 military school, or any similar facility of the

18 Department of Defense);

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

20 Veteran Affairs used for hospital or domiciliary

21 purposes; or

22 ‘‘(G) on lands used in connection with

23 Federal prisons,

24 but does not include (i) any Federal Building or con25 struction project the exclusion of which the Presi-
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1 dent deems to be justified in the public interest, or

2 (ii) any construction project or building owned or

3 controlled by a State government, local government,

4 Indian tribe, or any private entity.’’.

5 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF FEDERAL

6 FACILITIES.

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

8 205 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 13 the

9 following new section:

10 ‘‘SEC. 14. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF CON11 STRUCTION SERVICES AND MATERIALS FOR

12 FEDERAL FACILITIES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Construction services and mate14 rials for Federal facilities shall be procured in accordance

15 with the policies and procedures set forth in chapter 137

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

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

18 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et

19 seq.), and section 3(2) of this Act. Determination of a de20 sign method shall be based upon preliminary market re21 search as required under section 2377(c) of title 10, Unit22 ed States Code, and section 314B(c) of the Federal Prop23 erty and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C.

24 264b(c)). If the requirements of this Act conflict with the

25 provisions of section 2377 of title 10, United States Code,
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1 or section 314B of the Federal Property and Administra2 tive Services Act of 1949, then the provisions of 2377 or

3 314B shall take precedence.

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

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

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

7 a Federal agency may require that specifications for the

8 acquisition of structures or systems of concrete masonry

9 be expressed under the metric system of measurement, but

10 may not incorporate specifications, that can only be satis11 fied by hard-metric versions of concrete masonry units, in

12 a solicitation for design or construction of a Federal facil13 ity within the United States or its territories, or a portion

14 of said Federal facility, unless the head of the agency de15 termines in writing that—

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

17 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

18 Federal facilities in existence or under construction

19 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construc20 tion Act of 1996; or

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

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

23 concrete masonry units to coordinate dimen24 sionally into 100 millimeter building modules;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-met2 ric concrete masonry units is estimated to be

3 equal to or less than the total installed price of

4 using non-hard-metric concrete masonry units.

5 Total installed price estimates shall be based, to

6 the extent available, on cost or pricing data or

7 price analysis, using actual hard-metric and

8 non-hard-metric offers received for comparable

9 existing projects. The head of the agency shall

10 include in the writing required in this sub11 section an explanation of the factors used to de12 velop the price estimates.

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

14 out the policy set forth in section 3 (with particular em15 phasis on the policy set forth in paragraph (2) of that

16 section) a Federal agency may require that specifications

17 for the acquisition of structures or systems of recessed

18 lighting fixtures be expressed under the metric system of

19 measurement, but may not incorporate specifications, that

20 can only be satisfied by hard-metric versions of recessed

21 lighting fixtures, in a solicitation for design or construc22 tion of a Federal facility within the United States or its

23 territories unless the head of the agency determines in

24 writing that—
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1 ‘‘(1) the predominant voluntary industry con2 sensus standards include the use of hard-metric for

3 the items specified; or

4 ‘‘(2) hard-metric specifications are necessary in

5 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

6 Federal facilities in existence or under construction

7 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construc8 tion Act of 1996; or

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

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

11 recessed lighting fixtures to coordinate dimen12 sionally into 100 millimeter building modules;

13 and

14 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-met15 ric recessed lighting fixtures is estimated to be

16 equal to or less than the total installed price of

17 using non-hard-metric recessed lighting fix18 tures. Total installed price estimates shall be

19 based, to the extent available, on cost or pricing

20 data or price analysis, using actual hard-metric

21 and non-hard-metric offers received for com22 parable existing projects. The head of the agen23 cy shall include in the writing required in this

24 subsection an explanation of the factors used to

25 develop the price estimates.
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1 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—The provisions of subsections (b)

2 and (c) of this section shall not apply to Federal contracts

3 to acquire construction products for the construction of

4 facilities outside of the United States and its territories.

5 ‘‘(e) EXPIRATION.—The provisions contained in sub6 sections (b) and (c) of this section shall expire 10 years

7 from the effective date of the Savings in Construction Act

8 of 1996.’’.

9 SEC. 5. OMBUDSMAN.

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

11 added by section 4 of this Act, is further amended by add12 ing at the end the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(f) AGENCY OMBUDSMAN.—(1) The head of each

14 executive agency that awards construction contracts with15 in the United States and its territories shall designate a

16 senior agency official to serve as a construction

17 metrication ombudsman who shall be responsible for re18 viewing and responding to complaints from prospective

19 bidders, subcontractors, suppliers, or their designated rep20 resentatives related to—

21 ‘‘(A) guidance or regulations issued by the

22 agency on the use of the metric system of measure23 ment in contracts for the construction of Federal

24 buildings; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the use of the metric system of measure2 ment for services and materials required for incorpo3 ration in individual projects to construct Federal

4 buildings.

5 The construction metrication ombudsman shall be inde6 pendent of the contracting officer for construction con7 tracts.

8 ‘‘(2) The ombudsman shall be responsible for ensur9 ing that the agency is not implementing the metric system

10 of measurement in a manner that is impractical or is likely

11 to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to

12 United States firms in violation of the policy stated in sec13 tion 3(2), or is otherwise inconsistent with guidance issued

14 by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the

15 Interagency Council on Metric Policy while ensuring that

16 the goals of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 are ob17 served.

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

19 in writing within 60 days and make a recommendation to

20 the head of the executive agency for an appropriate resolu21 tion thereto. In such a recommendation, the ombudsman

22 shall consider—

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

24 the policies and procedures in this section;
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1 ‘‘(B) whether the availability of hard-metric

2 products and services from United States firms is

3 sufficient to ensure full and open competition; and

4 ‘‘(C) the total installed price to the Federal

5 Government.

6 ‘‘(4) After the head of the agency has rendered a de7 cision regarding a recommendation of the ombudsman, the

8 ombudsman shall be responsible for communicating the

9 decision to all appropriate policy, design, planning, pro10 curement, and notifying personnel in the agency. The om11 budsman shall conduct appropriate monitoring as required

12 to ensure the decision is implemented, and may submit

13 further recommendations, as needed. The head of the

14 agency’s decision on the ombudsman’s recommendations,

15 and any supporting documentation, shall be provided to

16 affected parties and made available to the public in a time17 ly manner.

18 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to su19 persede the bid protest process established under sub20 chapter V of chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code.’’.

21 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVI22 SIONS.

23 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend24 ments made by this Act shall take effect 90 days after

25 the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 (b) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—This Act shall not apply

2 to contracts awarded and solicitations issued on or before

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

4 agency makes a written determination in his or her sole

5 discretion that it would be in the public interest to apply

6 one or more provisions of this Act or its amendments to

7 these existing contracts or solicitations.

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