(a) The Commissioner of Transportation may, as an alternative to using a design-bid-build contract, designate specific projects to be completed using a (1) construction-manager-at-risk contract with a guaranteed maximum price, or (2) design-build contract.

(b) If the commissioner designates a project to use a construction-manager-at-risk contract with a guaranteed maximum price, the commissioner may have the project designed by department personnel or enter into a contract with an architect or engineer for the project design, and may also enter into a contract with a construction-manager-at-risk contractor who will provide input during the design process and may be responsible for the construction of the project. The commissioner may permit the contractor to self-perform a portion of the construction work if the commissioner determines that the construction manager general contractor can perform the work more cost-effectively than a subcontractor. All work not performed by the construction manager general contractor shall be performed by trade subcontractors selected by a process approved by the commissioner. The construction-manager-at-risk contract shall have an established guaranteed maximum price. In the event that a guaranteed maximum price cannot be agreed upon, the commissioner may elect to call for bids on the project as provided for pursuant to § 13a-95. The commissioner may select the architect, engineer or contractor from among the contractors selected and recommended by a selection panel. Any such contract for such project shall be based upon competitive proposals received by the commissioner, who shall give notice of the project, by advertising on the Department of Administrative Services State Contracting Portal, or use other advertising methods likely to reach qualified construction manager general contractors. Award of any such contract shall be based upon the general conditions and staff costs plus qualitative criteria. The commissioner shall establish all criteria, requirements and conditions of such proposals and award and shall have sole responsibility for all other aspects of the project. Any contract shall clearly state the responsibilities of the contractor to deliver a completed and acceptable project on a date certain, the maximum cost of the project, and, if applicable, as a separate item, the cost of property acquisition.

(c) If the commissioner designates a project to use a design-build contract, the commissioner may enter into a single contract with the design-builder, who the commissioner may select from among the design-builders selected and recommended by a selection panel. The contract shall (1) include, but not be limited to, such project elements as site acquisition, permitting, engineering design and construction, and (2) be based on competitive proposals received by the commissioner, who shall give notice of the project and specifications for the project, by advertising on the Department of Administrative Services State Contracting Portal, and may use other advertising methods likely to reach qualified design-build contractors. Award of the design-build contract shall be based on a predetermined metric provided to proposers in advance of technical proposal development. This metric may be unique to each project, but shall consist of a combined score of qualifications and past performance of the proposer, technical merit of the proposal and cost. The commissioner shall establish a selection panel for each project to score the qualifications and past performance and technical portion of the proposal using the predefined scoring metric. The sealed cost portion of the proposal shall be opened in a public ceremony only after the qualifications and past performance and technical portions of the proposals have been scored. The commissioner shall determine all criteria, requirements and conditions for such proposals and award and shall have sole responsibility for all other aspects of the contract. Such contract shall state clearly the responsibilities of the design-builder to deliver a completed and acceptable project on a date certain, the maximum cost of the project, and, if applicable, as a separate item, the cost of property acquisition.