IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 26 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

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. 

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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HR 26 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Con3 sensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT. 

5 Section 402 of title IV of division U of the Consoli6 dated Appropriations Act, 2021, is amended to read as 

7 follows: 

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

9 AWARD OF A CONTRACT FOR COMPLEX, SPECIAL10 IZED, OR SUBSTANTIAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

11 SERVICES

12 ‘‘SEC. 402. 

13 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find14 ings: 

15 ‘‘(1) In contrast to a traditional auction in 

16 which the buyers bid up the price, sellers bid down 

17 the price in a reverse auction. 

18 ‘‘(2) Reverse auctions, while providing value for 

19 the vast majority of Federal acquisitions, including 

20 certain construction-related acquisitions, are limited 

21 in value for complex, specialized, or substantial de22 sign and construction services. 

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

24 the term ‘reverse auction’ means, with respect to any pro25 curement by an executive agency, a real-time auction gen26 erally conducted through an electronic medium among two 


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HR 26 RFS

1 or more offerors who compete by submitting bids for a 

2 supply or service contract, or a delivery order, task order, 

3 or purchase order under the contract, with the ability to 

4 submit revised lower bids at any time before the closing 

5 of the auction. 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

9 Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to 

10 prohibit the use of reverse auctions for awarding 

11 contracts for complex, specialized, or substantial de12 sign and construction services. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY TO ACQUISITIONS ABOVE

14 THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD.—The 

15 prohibition on reverse auctions for complex, special16 ized, or substantial design and construction services 

17 shall apply only to acquisitions above the simplified 

18 acquisition threshold (SAT) for construction and de19 sign services pursuant to part 36 of the Federal Ac20 quisition Regulation. 

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

22 SUBSTANTIAL SERVICES.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this section, the Federal Ac24 quisition Regulatory Council shall promulgate a definition 


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HR 26 RFS

1 of complex, specialized, or substantial design and con2 struction services, which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(1) site planning and landscape design; 

4 ‘‘(2) architectural and engineering services (as 

5 defined in section 1102 of title 40, United States 

6 Code); 

7 ‘‘(3) interior design; 

8 ‘‘(4) performance of substantial construction 

9 work for facility, infrastructure, and environmental 

10 restoration projects; and 

11 ‘‘(5) construction or substantial alteration of 

12 public buildings or public works. 

13 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to restrict the use of reverse auc15 tions for the procurement of other goods and services ex16 cept as specifically provided for under this section. 

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

18 date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator 

19 of General Services shall submit to the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen21 ate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

22 House of Representatives a report on the effectiveness of 

23 this section in delivering complex, specialized, or substan24 tial design and construction services to the United States 

25 Government.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

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

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 5, 

2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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