II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4233

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 30, 1996

Received

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Savings in Construc3 tion 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,

11 grants, and other business-related activities, unless

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

13 markets to United States firms, such as when for14 eign competitors are producing competing products

15 in non-metric units.

16 (2) In accordance with that Act and Executive

17 Order 12770, of July 25, 1991, Federal agencies in18 creasingly construct new Federal buildings in round

19 metric dimensions. As a result, companies that wish

20 to bid on Federal construction projects increasingly

21 are asked to supply materials or products in round

22 metric dimensions.

23 (3) While the Metric Conversion Act of 1975

24 currently provides an exemption to metric usage

25 when impractical or when such usage will cause eco26 nomic inefficiencies, amendments are warranted to
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1 ensure that the use of specific metric components in

2 metric construction projects do not increase the cost

3 of Federal buildings to the taxpayers.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

6 U.S.C. 205c) is amended—

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

8 (3);

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

10 and inserting ‘‘Commerce;’’; and

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the follow12 ing:

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

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

15 United States Code;

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

17 purchasing a product or material, trimming or oth18 erwise altering some or all of that product or mate19 rial, if necessary to fit with other building compo20 nents, and then installing that product or material

21 into a Federal facility;

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

23 and manufacture using the metric system of meas24 urement, but does not include measurement, design,

25 and manufacture using English system measurement
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1 units which are subsequently reexpressed in the met2 ric system of measurement;

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

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

5 Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of

6 1949 (41 U.S.C. 254b); and

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

8 (as defined under section 13 of the Public Buildings

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

10 Federal building or construction project—

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

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

13 Federal programs for agriculture research,

14 recreation, and conservation programs;

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

16 harbor, flood control, reclamation, or power

17 projects;

18 ‘‘(D) on or used in connection with hous19 ing and residential projects;

20 ‘‘(E) on military installations (including

21 any fort, camp, post, naval training station, air22 field, proving ground, military supply depot,

23 military school, or any similar facility of the

24 Department of Defense);
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1 ‘‘(F) on installations of the Department of

2 Veteran Affairs used for hospital or domiciliary

3 purposes; or

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

5 Federal prisons,

6 but does not include (i) any Federal Building or con7 struction project the exclusion of which the Presi8 dent deems to be justified in the public interest, or

9 (ii) any construction project or building owned or

10 controlled by a State government, local government,

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

12 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF FEDERAL

13 FACILITIES.

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

15 205 et sec.) is amended by inserting after section 13 the

16 following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 14. IMPLEMENTATION IN ACQUISITION OF CON18 STRUCTION SERVICES AND MATERIALS FOR

19 FEDERAL FACILITIES.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Construction services and mate21 rials for Federal facilities shall be procured in accordance

22 with the policies and procedures set forth in chapter 137

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

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

25 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et
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1 seq.), and section 3(2) of this Act. Determination of a de2 sign method shall be based upon preliminary market re3 search as required under section 2377(c) of title 10, Unit4 ed States Code, and section 314B(c) of the Federal Prop5 erty and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C.

6 264b(c)). If the requirements of this Act conflict with the

7 provisions of section 2377 of title 10, United States Code,

8 or section 314B of the Federal Property and Administra9 tive Services Act of 1949, then the provisions of 2377 or

10 314B shall take precedence.

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

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

13 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 concrete masonry

16 be expressed under the metric system of measurement, but

17 may not incorporate specifications, that can only be satis18 fied by hard-metric versions of concrete masonry units, in

19 a solicitation for design or construction of a Federal facil20 ity within the United States or its territories, or a portion

21 of said Federal facility, unless the head of the agency de22 termines in writing that—

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

24 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

25 Federal facilities in existence or under construction
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1 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construc2 tion Act of 1996; or

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

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

5 concrete masonry units to coordinate dimen6 sionally into 100 millimeter building modules;

7 and

8 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-met9 ric concrete masonry units is estimated to be

10 equal to or less than the total installed price of

11 using non-hard-metric concrete masonry units.

12 Total installed price estimates shall be based, to

13 the extent available, on cost or pricing data or

14 price analysis, using actual hard-metric and

15 non-hard-metric offers received for comparable

16 existing projects. The head of the agency shall

17 include in the writing required in this sub18 section an explanation of the factors used to de19 velop the price estimates.

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

21 out the policy set forth in section 3 (with particular em22 phasis on the policy set forth in paragraph (2) of that

23 section) a Federal agency may require that specifications

24 for the acquisition of structures or systems of recessed

25 lighting fixtures be expressed under the metric system of
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1 measurement, but may not incorporate specifications, that

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

3 lighting fixtures, in a solicitation for design or construc4 tion of a Federal facility within the United States or its

5 territories unless the head of the agency determines in

6 writing that—

7 ‘‘(1) the predominant voluntary industry con8 sensus standards include the use of hard-metric for

9 the items specified; or

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

11 a contract for the repair or replacement of parts of

12 Federal facilities in existence or under construction

13 upon the effective date of the Savings in Construc14 tion Act of 1996; or

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

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

17 recessed lighting fixtures to coordinate dimen18 sionally into 100 millimeter building modules;

19 and

20 ‘‘(B) the total installed price of hard-met21 ric recessed lighting fixtures is estimated to be

22 equal to or less than the total installed price of

23 using non-hard-metric recessed lighting fix24 tures. Total installed price estimates shall be

25 based, to the extent available, on cost or pricing
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1 data or price analysis, using actual hard-metric

2 and non-hard-metric offers received for com3 parable existing projects. The head of the agen4 cy shall include in the writing required in this

5 subsection an explanation of the factors used to

6 develop the price estimates.

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

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

9 to acquire construction products for the construction of

10 facilities outside of the United States and its territories.

11 ‘‘(e) EXPIRATION.—The provisions contained in sub12 sections (b) and (c) of this section shall expire 10 years

13 from the effective date of the Savings in Construction Act

14 of 1996.’’.

15 SEC. 5. OMBUDSMAN.

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

17 added by section 4 of this Act, is further amended by add18 ing at the end the following new subsection:

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

20 executive agency that awards construction contracts with21 in the United States and its territories shall designate a

22 senior agency official to serve as a construction

23 metrication ombudsman who shall be responsible for re24 viewing and responding to complaints from prospective
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1 bidders, subcontractors, suppliers, or their designated rep2 resentatives related to—

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

4 agency on the use of the metric system of measure5 ment in contracts for the construction of Federal

6 buildings; and

7 ‘‘(B) the use of the metric system of measure8 ment for services and materials required for incorpo9 ration in individual projects to construct Federal

10 buildings.

11 The construction metrication ombudsman shall be inde12 pendent of the contracting officer for construction con13 tracts.

14 ‘‘(2) The ombudsman shall be responsible for ensur15 ing that the agency is not implementing the metric system

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

17 to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to

18 United States firms in violation of the policy stated in sec19 tion 3(2), or is otherwise inconsistent with guidance issued

20 by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the

21 Interagency Council on Metric Policy while ensuring that

22 the goals of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 are ob23 served.

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

25 in writing within 60 days and make a recommendation to
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1 the head of the executive agency for an appropriate resolu2 tion thereto. In such a recommendation, the ombudsman

3 shall consider—

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

5 the policies and procedures in this section;

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

7 products and services from United States firms is

8 sufficient to ensure full and open competition; and

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

10 Government.

11 ‘‘(4) After the head of the agency has rendered a de12 cision regarding a recommendation of the ombudsman, the

13 ombudsman shall be responsible for communicating the

14 decision to all appropriate policy, design, planning, pro15 curement, and notifying personnel in the agency. The om16 budsman shall conduct appropriate monitoring as required

17 to ensure the decision is implemented, and may submit

18 further recommendations, as needed. The head of the

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

20 and any supporting documentation, shall be provided to

21 affected parties and made available to the public in a time22 ly manner.

23 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to su24 persede the bid protest process established under sub25 chapter V of chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVI2 SIONS.

3 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend4 ments made by this Act shall take effect 90 days after

5 the date of enactment of this Act.

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

7 to contracts awarded and solicitations issued on or before

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

9 agency makes a written determination in his or her sole

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

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

12 these existing contracts or solicitations.

Passed the House of Representatives September 28,

1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.