(a) Request for qualifications-notice. If authorized
by the commission to issue a request for qualifications for a highway
project, the department will set forth the basic criteria for qualifications,
experience, technical competence and ability to develop the project,
and such other information as the department considers relevant or
necessary in the request for qualifications. The department will publish
notice advertising the issuance of the request for qualifications
in the Texas Register and will post
the notice and the request for qualifications on the department's
Internet website. The department may also elect to furnish the request
for qualifications to businesses in the private sector that the department
otherwise believes might be interested and qualified to participate
in the project that is the subject of the request for qualifications.
(b) Request for qualifications-content. At its sole
option, the department may elect to furnish conceptual designs, fundamental
details, technical studies and reports or detailed plans of the proposed
project in the request for qualifications, and may request conceptual
approaches to bringing the project to fruition. A request for qualifications
must include:
(1) information regarding the proposed project's location,
scope, and limits;
(2) information regarding funding that may be available
for the project;
(3) criteria that will be used to evaluate the qualifications
submittals;
(4) the relative weight to be given to the criteria;
(5) the deadline by which qualifications submittals
must be received by the department; and
(6) any other information the department considers
relevant or necessary.
(c) Request for qualifications-evaluation. The department,
after evaluating the qualification submittals received in response
to a request for qualifications, will identify and approve a "short-list"
that is composed of those entities that are considered most qualified
to submit detailed proposals for a proposed project. In evaluating
the qualification submittals, the department will consider the results
of performance evaluations conducted by the department under §9.152
of this subchapter (relating to General Rules for Design-Build Contracts)
and §27.3 of this title (relating to General Rules for Private
Involvement) determined by the department to be relevant to the project,
the results of other performance evaluations determined by the department
to be relevant to the project, and other objective evaluation criteria
that the department considers relevant to the project, including a
proposer's qualifications, experience, technical competence, and ability
to develop the project, and that may include the private entity's
financial condition, management stability, staffing, and organizational
structure. The department may interview entities responding to a request
for qualifications. The department shall short-list at least two private
entities to submit proposals, but may not short-list more private
entities than the number of private entities designated in the request
for qualifications if a maximum number is designated. The department
shall advise each entity providing a qualifications submittal whether
it is on the short-list of qualified entities.
(d) Requests for proposals. If authorized by the commission,
the department will issue a request for proposals from all private
entities qualified for the short-list, consisting of the submission
of detailed documentation regarding the project. A request for proposals
must include:
(1) information on the overall project goals;
(2) publicly available cost estimates for the design-build
portion of the project;
(3) materials specifications;
(4) special material requirements;
(5) a schematic design approximately 30 percent complete;
(6) known utilities;
(7) quality assurance and quality control requirements;
(8) the location of relevant structures;
(9) notice of any rules or goals adopted by the department
relating to awarding contracts to disadvantaged business enterprises
or small business enterprises;
(10) available geotechnical or other information related
to the project;
(11) the status of any environmental review of the
project;
(12) detailed instructions for preparing the technical
proposal, including a description of the form and level of completeness
of drawings expected;
(13) the relative weighting of the technical and cost
proposals and the formula by which the proposals will be evaluated
and ranked, which must allocate at least 70 percent of weighting to
the cost proposal;
(14) the criteria to be used in evaluating the technical
proposals, and the relative weighting of those criteria;
(15) the proposed form of design-build contract; and
(16) any other information the department considers
relevant or necessary.
(e) Request for proposals-submittal requirements. The
request for proposals must require the submission of a sealed technical
proposal and a separate sealed cost proposal no later than the 180th
day after the issuance of the request for proposals, and that provide
information relating to:
(1) the feasibility of developing the project as proposed;
(2) the proposed solutions to anticipated problems;
(3) the ability of the proposer to meet schedules;
(4) the engineering design proposed;
(5) the cost of delivering the project;
(6) if maintenance of the project is required, pricing
for the maintenance work for each maintenance term;
(7) the estimated number of days required to complete
the project; and
(8) any other information requested by the department.
(f) Requests for proposals-payment for work product.
The request for proposals shall stipulate an amount of money, as authorized
under Transportation Code, §223.249, that the department will
pay to an unsuccessful proposer that submits a proposal that is responsive
to the requirements of the request for proposals. The commission shall
approve the amount of the payment to be stipulated in the request
for proposals, which must be a minimum of twenty-five hundredths of
one percent of the contract amount. The request for proposals shall
provide for the payment of a partial amount in the event the procurement
is terminated. In determining the amount of the payment, the commission
shall consider:
(1) the effect of a payment on the department's ability
to attract meaningful proposals and to generate competition;
(2) the work product expected to be included in the
proposal and the anticipated value of that work product; and
(3) the costs anticipated to be incurred by a private
entity in preparing a proposal.
(g) Request for proposals-evaluation. The proposals
will be evaluated by the department based on the results of performance
evaluations conducted by the department under §9.152 of this
subchapter and §27.3 of this title determined by the department
to be relevant to the project, the results of other performance evaluations
determined by the department to be relevant to the project, and other
objective evaluation criteria the department deems appropriate for
the project, including those criteria deemed appropriate by the department
to maximize the overall performance of the project and the resulting
benefits to the state. Specific evaluation criteria and requests for
pertinent information will be set forth in the request for proposals.
The department shall first open, evaluate, and score each responsive
technical proposal, and shall subsequently open, evaluate, and score
the cost proposals from proposers that submitted a responsive technical
proposal and assign points on the basis of the weighting specified
in the request for proposals.
(h) Apparent best value proposal. Based on the evaluation
using the evaluation criteria described under subsection (g) of this
section and set forth in the request for proposals, the department
will rank all proposals that are complete, responsive to the request
for proposals, and in conformance with the requirements of this subchapter,
in accordance with the formula provided in the request for proposals.
The department may select the private entity whose proposal offers
the apparent best value to the department.
(i) Selection of entity. The department shall submit
a recommendation to the commission regarding approval of the proposal
determined to provide the apparent best value to the department. The
commission may approve or disapprove the recommendation, and if approved,
will award the design-build contract to the apparent best value proposer.
Award may be subject to the successful completion of negotiations,
any necessary federal action, execution by the executive director
of the design-build contract, and satisfaction of such other conditions
that are identified in the request for proposals or by Cont'd... |