Design-build lost out in Congress last month as design-build provisions were not included in the giant $516 billion omnibus spending bill passed before the holidays. In an excruciatingly slow process, Congress decided to roll 11 different appropriations bills into one and pass it after being unable to pass separate appropriations bills earlier in the year. Within the bill, which even contained nearly 10,000 “earmarks” — specified spending for pet projects — design-build legislation was left out.
House Appropriations Committee chair, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., initially supported a design-build measure but had some reservations and did not include the measure in the original House agriculture bill. Although DeLauro made a commitment to work with DBIA on the issue further, in the end, design-build was left out of the omnibus bill and would not make it to the president’s desk.
President Bush had threatened to veto the bill if it lacked military spending for the war in Iraq — which the House version did not contain. But the senate added $70 billion for Iraq to avoid the veto.
Southwest Region Gets Legislation Boost
After spearheading an effort two years ago to get legislation in Texas to allow owners to use design-build for horizontal construction — including water and wastewater infrastructure and transpiration — a legislative committee comprised of region members, non members, practitioners, consultants and owners worked with the Texas Council of Engineering Companies, previously staunch opponents of design-build in Texas. Working together, the group and other interested parties crafted and introduced a compromise bill.
The bill stipulates that before Sept. 1, 2009, only a local government entity (LGE) with a population of a half-million or more can use design-build. Between Sept. 1, 2009, and Sept. 1, 2011, an LGE with a population of 100,000 or more can use design-build.
Under the bill, the design-build contract also may cover just a single integrated project, and an LGE may not enter into a contract for “an aggregated project at multiple locations.” Other limits to the legislation are that an LGE with a population of 500,000 or more is limited to just three design-build projects in any fiscal year during the first four years, and an LGE with a population of 100,000 or more (and less than 500,000) would be limited to two design-build projects in any given fiscal year.
The limits do increase after the first four years, however. For example, an LGE with a population exceeding a half-million can have six design-build projects within a given fiscal year, and populations between 100,000 and 500,000 are permitted four design-build projects.
According to the legislation, the LGE will select an engineer to represent the governing body throughout procurement, and the LGE’s request for proposals (RFP) will include “project information, scope, budget and schedule; selection criteria and weighting factors and other information.” The law also stipulates that the LGE will prepare “a design criteria package and may include budget estimates.
Although not “perfect,” the bill was something all sides could support the Texas House and Senate passed it last spring, and it received the governor’s signature. The legislation took effect in September. Since the bill’s passage, the committee has remained intact and it is pursuing workshops across the state in the major cities to introduce and disseminate the legislation and educate owners and other interested parties as to alternative project delivery and design-build. The initial workshop held in San Antonio and hosted by the San Antonio Water System was well-received with about 60 attendees. In the future, workshops are planned in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and again in San Antonio. Stay tuned to DATELINE for dates and locations of the workshops.