IB 
Union Calendar No. 39 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 679 
[Report No. 115–68] 
To amend title 41, United States Code, to improve the manner in which 
Federal contracts for design and construction services are awarded, to 
prohibit the use of reverse auctions for design and construction services 
procurements, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 24, 2017 
Mr. MEADOWS (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, and Mr. RUSSELL) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform 
MARCH 29, 2017 
Additional sponsors: Mr. FARENTHOLD and Mr. LYNCH 
MARCH 29, 2017 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
A BILL 
To amend title 41, United States Code, to improve the 
manner in which Federal contracts for design and con-
struction services are awarded, to prohibit the use of 
reverse auctions for design and construction services pro-
curements, and for other purposes. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act 
of 2017’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Congressional findings. 
Sec. 3. Design-build construction process improvement. 
Sec. 4. Prohibition on the use of a reverse auction for the award of a contract 
for design and construction services. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The acquisition procedures that are often 
used effectively to procure products and other forms 
of services are not always appropriate for the pro-
curement of design and construction services. 
(2) Federal procurement officials often adopt 
contracting techniques from the private sector and 
have used those techniques effectively to procure 
products and services. 
(3) Design-build is a procurement technique 
Federal officials have adopted from the private sec-
tor that has worked well for the procurement of de-
sign and construction services. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
(4) The current statutory framework for de-
sign-build could benefit from legislative refinement. 
(5) Reverse auctions are another procurement 
technique Federal officials have adopted from the 
private sector and used successfully to award con-
tracts for the procurement of products that are com-
mercially equivalent to commodities. 
(6) Despite their success in other contexts, re-
verse auctions are generally inappropriate for the 
procurement of design and construction services, 
given the unique nature of each such project. 
SEC. 3. DESIGN-BUILD CONSTRUCTION PROCESS IMPROVE-
MENT. 
(a) CIVILIAN CONTRACTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3309(b) of title 41, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR USE.— 
‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE OF AT LEAST 
$3,000,000.—Two-phase selection procedures shall 
be used for entering into a contract for the design 
and construction of a public building, facility, or 
work if a contracting officer determines that the 
project has a value of $3,000,000 or greater. 
‘‘(2) CONTRACTS WITH A VALUE LESS THAN 
$3,000,000.—For any project that a contracting of-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
ficer determines has a value of less than $3,000,000, 
the contracting officer shall make a determination 
on whether two-phase selection procedures are ap-
propriate for use for entering into a contract for the 
design and construction of a public building, facility, 
or work if— 
‘‘(A) the contracting officer anticipates 
that 3 or more offers will be received for the 
contract; 
‘‘(B) design work must be performed be-
fore an offeror can develop a price or cost pro-
posal for the contract; 
‘‘(C) the offeror will incur a substantial 
amount of expense in preparing the offer; and 
‘‘(D) the contracting officer has considered 
information such as— 
‘‘(i) the extent to which the project re-
quirements have been adequately defined; 
‘‘(ii) the time constraints for delivery 
of the project; 
‘‘(iii) the capability and experience of 
potential contractors; 
‘‘(iv) the suitability of the project for 
use of the two-phase selection procedures; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
website. A notice of the availability of each re-
port shall be published in the Federal Register. 
(C) SUBMISSION TO GAO.—Not later than 
30 days after the deadline described under sub-
paragraph (A), the Director of the Office of Man-
agement and Budget shall compile and submit 
the reports submitted to the Director under such 
subparagraph to the Comptroller General. 
(b) GAO REPORTS.—Not later than 270 days after 
the deadline for each annual report under subsection 
(a)(2)(A), the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall issue a report analyzing the compliance of each exec-
utive
agency
the reports submitted under subsection 
(a)(2)(C) and agency compliance with the requirements of 
section 3309 of title 41, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a)(1). 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF A REVERSE AUCTION 
FOR THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT FOR DE-
SIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES. 
(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that, in contrast to a 
traditional auction in which the buyers bid up the price, 
sellers bid down the price in a reverse auction. 
(b) PROHIBITION.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation shall be amended to prohibit the use of reverse 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
auctions as part of the two-phase selection procedures for 
awarding contracts for design and construction services. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘design and construction services’’ 
means— 
(A) site planning and landscape design; 
(B) architectural and engineering services 
(as defined in section 1102 of title 40, United 
States Code); 
(C) interior design; 
(D) performance of substantial construc-
tion work for facility, infrastructure, and envi-
ronmental restoration projects; 
(E) delivery and supply of construction 
materials to construction sites; or 
(F) construction or substantial alteration 
of public buildings or public works; and 
(2) the term ‘‘reverse auction’’ means, with re-
spect to any procurement by an executive agency— 
(A) a real-time auction conducted through 
an electronic medium among 2 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 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
ability to submit revised lower bids at any time 
before the closing of the auction; and 
(B) the award of the contract, delivery 
order, task order, or purchase order to the of-
feror, in whole or in part, based on the price 
obtained through the auction process. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 39 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 679 
[Report No. 115–68] 
A BILL 
To amend title 41, United States Code, to improve 
the manner in which Federal contracts for design 
and construction services are awarded, to pro-
hibit the use of reverse auctions for design and 
construction services procurements, and for other 
purposes. 
MARCH 29, 2017 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
dered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:29 Mar 29, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6651
Sfmt 6651
E:\BILLS\H679.RH
H679
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS