H. R. 26 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-one 

An Act 

To amend the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, to correct a provision on 

the prohibition on the use of a reverse auction, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT. 

Section 402 of title IV of division U of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘PROHIBITION ON USE OF A REVERSE AUCTION FOR THE AWARD OF A

CONTRACT FOR COMPLEX, SPECIALIZED, OR SUBSTANTIAL DESIGN

AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

‘‘SEC. 402. 

‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 

‘‘(1) In contrast to a traditional auction in which the buyers 

bid up the price, sellers bid down the price in a reverse auction. 

‘‘(2) Reverse auctions, while providing value for the vast 

majority of Federal acquisitions, including certain constructionrelated acquisitions, are limited in value for complex, specialized, or substantial design and construction services. 

‘‘(b) REVERSE AUCTION DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

‘reverse auction’ means, with respect to any procurement by an 

executive agency, a real-time auction generally conducted through 

an electronic medium among two or more offerors who compete 

by submitting bids for a supply or service contract, or a delivery 

order, task order, or purchase order under the contract, with the 

ability to submit revised lower bids at any time before the closing 

of the auction. 

‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

of the enactment of this section, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to prohibit the use of reverse auctions 

for awarding contracts for complex, specialized, or substantial 

design and construction services. 

‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY TO ACQUISITIONS ABOVE THE SIMPLIFIED

ACQUISITION THRESHOLD.—The prohibition on reverse auctions 

for complex, specialized, or substantial design and construction 

services shall apply only to acquisitions above the simplified 

acquisition threshold (SAT) for construction and design services 

pursuant to part 36 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 
H. R. 26—2 

‘‘(d) RULEMAKING FOR COMPLEX, SPECIALIZED, OR SUBSTANTIAL

SERVICES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

of this section, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall 

promulgate a definition of complex, specialized, or substantial 

design and construction services, which shall include— 

‘‘(1) site planning and landscape design; 

‘‘(2) architectural and engineering services (as defined in 

section 1102 of title 40, United States Code); 

‘‘(3) interior design; 

‘‘(4) performance of substantial construction work for 

facility, infrastructure, and environmental restoration projects; 

and 

‘‘(5) construction or substantial alteration of public 

buildings or public works. 

‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

be construed to restrict the use of reverse auctions for the procurement of other goods and services except as specifically provided 

for under this section. 

‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date of the 

enactment of this section, the Administrator of General Services 

shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight 

and Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the 

effectiveness of this section in delivering complex, specialized, or 

substantial design and construction services to the United States 

Government.’’. 

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 

with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 

by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the 

Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 

to the vote on passage. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.