A. For purposes of this Section, “design-builder” means the entity contractually responsible for delivering the project design and construction.

            B.(1) Each design-builder shall employ or have as a partner a member, coventurer, subcontractor persons, or a firm with persons, who are duly licensed and registered to provide the services required to complete the project and do business in this state.

            (2)(a) All registrations and licenses for each component shall be obtained prior to or concurrent with award of the project to the selected design-builder by the department.

            (b) The standard professional engineer and land surveyor qualifications as provided for in La. Rev. Stat. 37:681 et seq., the rules and regulations of the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, and the department’s standard technical qualification requirements for firms providing professional engineering and land surveying services as provided for in La. Rev. Stat. 48:290 shall apply to the components providing design services.

            (c) The standard contractor qualifications as provided for in La. Rev. Stat. 37:2150 et seq. and the current rules and regulations of the State Licensing Board for Contractors shall apply to the component providing construction services utilized by the design-builder, based upon the applicable categories for the specific project.

            C. A “notice of intent” (NOI) to request letters of interest for a design-build project or for a pool of prequalified design-builders that shall remain prequalified for up to two years shall be distributed by the department through advertisement on the Department of Transportation and Development’s internet webpage. All NOIs shall be advertised a minimum of ten days prior to the deadline for receipt of responses. The NOI shall contain a description of the project or type of work and sufficient information for a design-builder to determine its interest and to enable it to submit a letter of interest. The department may readvertise the NOI using additional media or publications in an attempt to solicit additional responses if the number of responses received by the department is inadequate.

            D. The department shall provide a “request for qualifications” (RFQ) to design-builders who submit a letter of interest. The department shall identify all required information in the RFQ and in the standard response forms provided by the department. Any response that fails to meet all requirements contained in the RFQ may not be considered by the department. False or misrepresented information furnished in response to an RFQ shall be grounds for rejection by the department. The response to the RFQ shall include both of the following:

            (1) Statements of qualification by credentials and experience of design component members for the areas of expertise specific to the project or type of work.

            (2) Statements of qualification by experience and resources of the construction team component.

            E.(1) The chief engineer, with concurrence of the secretary, shall establish a design-build qualifications evaluation committee for evaluation of the responses to the request for qualifications received by the department. The following general criteria used by the committee in evaluating responses shall apply to both the design and construction components of any responding entity:

            (a) Experience of both the design and construction entity components and of key personnel related to the project or type of work under consideration.

            (b) Past performance on department projects.

            (c) Any project-specific criteria that may apply to project needs.

            (2) The qualifications evaluation committee shall evaluate the qualifications of responding design-builders on the basis of the criteria identified in the request for qualifications and set forth in this Subsection and shall select a short list of the highest rated entities in a number to be determined by the department. If fewer than three responses are received, the secretary or designated representative may approve proceeding with the design-build process. The qualifications evaluation committee may, at its discretion, be assisted by other department personnel in its evaluation of an entity’s qualifications. The design-build qualifications evaluation committee shall present its short list to the chief engineer for recommendation to the secretary. The shortlisted entities shall be invited by the secretary or designated representative to submit a detailed technical and cost proposal for the design-build project. The invitation to the shortlisted entities shall specify a deadline for submission of proposals.

            F.(1) Depending upon the complexity of the project and the degree of flexibility in the approach to design and construction methods, the specific requirements of the technical proposal shall be identified by the department to the entities making the short list by means of a ” Request for Proposal” (RFP). Generally, the “Request for Proposal” (RFP) shall request design strategy and preliminary design concepts, construction sequencing, techniques, materials, and methods, the schedule for commencement and completion of all phases of work, and a lump sum cost for all services in fulfillment of the requirements and within the constraints of the “Request for Proposal”.

            (2) For more complex projects and projects with scopes which permit flexibility and innovation in the design and construction approach, the department may compensate unsuccessful and responsive short-listed design-builders for the expense of preparing the proposal. The amount of compensation to be paid, if any, for the proposal shall be predetermined by the department and shall be included in the department’s request for proposal (RFP). The department may by plan change use concepts submitted by compensated short-listed design-build proposers.

            G. The chief engineer, with concurrence of the secretary, shall establish a proposal review committee for evaluation of design-build proposals. The proposal review committee shall be identified in the request for proposals (RFP). The chief engineer, with concurrence of the secretary, shall assign a project manager, who shall become the chairman of the proposal review committee for the project. The request for proposals (RFP) shall identify technical elements of the project, depending on the characteristics of the project, to be included in the technical score. Additionally, the chief engineer, with concurrence of the secretary, may select additional department engineering and technical experts, and nationally recognized design-build experts to serve as committee members to score each technical element of the project. Members of the proposal review committee shall not have served as members of the qualifications evaluation committee. Each member of the proposal review committee shall make his scoring of assigned elements available for public review. Such scores shall be considered public record.

            H.(1) An adjusted score approach shall be used by the department in determining the winning proposal. An adjusted score shall be determined using the following three components:

            (a)(i) The technical score determined by the proposal review committee. Weighing factors may be assigned to each element depending on its relative magnitude or significance to the overall project. Each proposal review committee member shall rate his assigned element of the proposal from each of the entities on the short list and shall submit such scores to the chairman of the proposal review committee. The schedule and price bid shall not be made known to the proposal review committee during the scoring process. The chairman of the proposal review committee shall adjust the scores for any applicable weighing factors and shall determine the total technical score for each proposal.

            (ii) Prior to determining the adjusted score, the chairman of the proposal review committee shall notify each design-build proposer, in writing, of each proposer’s final total technical score.

            (b) The time value, consisting of the product of the proposed contract time expressed in calendar days multiplied by the value-per-calendar-day expressed in dollars established by the department and included in the request for proposal.

            (c) The price proposal.

            (2) The winning proposal shall be the proposal with the lowest adjusted score. The adjusted score for each entity’s design-build proposal shall be determined by the following formula: Adjusted Score = (Price Bid + Time Value) divided by Technical Score. If the Time Value is not used, the Adjusted Score shall be determined by the following formula: Adjusted Score = Price Bid divided by Technical Score.

            Acts 2004, No. 81, §1; Acts 2006, No. 305, §1; Acts 2009, No. 262, §1, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2021, No. 346, §1, eff. June 15, 2021; Acts 2023, No. 246, §1.