630 ILCS 5/25

(630 ILCS 5/25)

Sec. 25. Design-build procurement.

(a) This Section 25 shall apply only to transportation projects for which the Department or the Authority intends to execute a design-build agreement, in which case the Department or the Authority shall abide by the requirements and procedures of this Section 25 in addition to other applicable requirements and procedures set forth in this Act.

(b)(1) The transportation agency must issue a notice of intent to receive proposals for the project at least 14 days before issuing the request for the qualifications. The transportation agency must publish the advance notice in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the county where the transportation agency is located. The transportation agency is encouraged to use publication of the notice in related construction industry service publications. A brief description of the proposed procurement must be included in the notice. The transportation agency must provide a copy of the request for qualifications to any party requesting a copy.

(2) The request for qualifications shall be prepared for each project and must contain, without limitation, the following information: (i) the name of the transportation agency; (ii) a preliminary schedule for the completion of the contract; (iii) the proposed budget for the project and the source of funds, to the extent not already reflected in the Department's Multi-Year Highway Improvement Program; (iv) the shortlisting process for entities or groups of entities such as unincorporated joint ventures wishing to submit proposals (the transportation agency shall include, at a minimum, its normal prequalification, licensing, registration, and other requirements, but nothing contained herein precludes the use of additional criteria by the transportation agency); (v) a summary of anticipated material requirements of the contract, including but not limited to, the proposed terms and conditions, required performance and payment bonds, insurance, and the utilization goals established by the transportation agency for minority and women business enterprises and compliance with Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act; and (vi) the anticipated number of entities that will be shortlisted for the request for proposals phase.

(3) The transportation agency may include any other relevant information in the request for qualifications that it chooses to supply. The private entity shall be entitled to rely upon the accuracy of this documentation in the development of its statement of qualifications and its proposal only to the extent expressly warranted by the transportation agency.

(4) The date that statements of qualifications are due must be at least 21 calendar days after the date of the issuance of the request for qualifications. In the event the cost of the project is estimated to exceed $12,000,000, then the statement of qualifications due date must be at least 28 calendar days after the date of the issuance of the request for qualifications. The transportation agency shall include in the request for proposals a minimum of 30 days to develop the proposals after the selection of entities from the evaluation of the statements of qualifications is completed.

(c)(1) The transportation agency shall develop, with the assistance of a licensed design professional, the request for qualifications and the request for proposals, which shall include scope and performance criteria. The scope and performance criteria must be in sufficient detail and contain adequate information to reasonably apprise the private entities of the transportation agency's overall programmatic needs and goals, including criteria and preliminary design plans, general budget parameters, schedule, and delivery requirements.

(2) Each request for qualifications and request for proposals shall also include a description of the level of design to be provided in the proposals. This description must include the scope and type of renderings, drawings, and specifications that, at a minimum, will be required by the transportation agency to be produced by the private entities.

(3) The scope and performance criteria shall be prepared by a design professional who is an employee of the transportation agency, or the transportation agency may contract with an independent design professional selected under the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Qualifications Based Selection Act to provide these services.

(4) The design professional that prepares the scope and performance criteria is prohibited from participating in any private entity proposal for the project.

(d)(1) The transportation agency must use a two phase procedure for the selection of the successful design-build entity. The request for qualifications phase will evaluate and shortlist the private entities based on qualifications, and the request for proposals will evaluate the technical and cost proposals.

(2) The transportation agency shall include in the request for qualifications the evaluating factors to be used in the request for qualifications phase. These factors are in addition to any prequalification requirements of private entities that the transportation agency has set forth. Each request for qualifications shall establish the relative importance assigned to each evaluation factor, including any weighting of criteria to be employed by the transportation agency. The transportation agency must maintain a record of the evaluation scoring to be disclosed in event of a protest regarding the solicitation.

The transportation agency shall include the following criteria in every request for qualifications phase evaluation of private entities: (i) experience of personnel; (ii) successful experience with similar project types; (iii) financial capability; (iv) timeliness of past performance; (v) experience with similarly sized projects; (vi) successful reference checks of the firm; (vii) commitment to assign personnel for the duration of the project and qualifications of the entity's consultants; and (viii) ability or past performance in meeting or exhausting good faith efforts to meet the utilization goals for business enterprises established in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act and in complying with Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. No proposal shall be considered that does not include an entity's plan to comply with the requirements regarding minority and women business enterprises and economically disadvantaged firms established by the transportation agency and with Section 2-105 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. The transportation agency may include any additional relevant criteria in the request for qualifications phase that it deems necessary for a proper qualification review.

Upon completion of the qualifications evaluation, the transportation agency shall create a shortlist of the most highly qualified private entities.

The transportation agency shall notify the entities selected for the shortlist in writing. This notification shall commence the period for the preparation of the request for proposals phase technical and cost evaluations. The transportation agency must allow sufficient time for the shortlist entities to prepare their proposals considering the scope and detail requested by the transportation agency.

(3) The transportation agency shall include in the request for proposals the evaluating factors to be used in the technical and cost submission components. Each request for proposals shall establish, for both the technical and cost submission components, the relative importance assigned to each evaluation factor, including any weighting of criteria to be employed by the transportation agency. The transportation agency must maintain a record of the evaluation scoring to be disclosed in event of a protest regarding the solicitation.

The transportation agency shall include the following criteria in every request for proposals phase technical evaluation of private entities: (i) compliance with objectives of the project; (ii) compliance of proposed services to the request for proposal requirements; (iii) compliance with the request for proposal requirements of products or materials proposed; (iv) quality of design parameters; and (v) design concepts. The transportation agency may include any additional relevant technical evaluation factors it deems necessary for proper selection.

The transportation agency shall include the following criteria in every request for proposals phase cost evaluation: the total project cost and the time of completion. The transportation agency may include any additional relevant technical evaluation factors it deems necessary for proper selection. The guaranteed maximum project cost criteria weighing factor shall not exceed 30%.

The transportation agency shall directly employ or retain a licensed design professional to evaluate the technical and cost submissions to determine if the technical submissions are in accordance with generally accepted industry standards.

(e) Statements of qualifications and proposals must be properly identified and sealed. Statements of qualifications and proposals may not be reviewed until after the deadline for submission has passed as set forth in the request for qualifications or the request for proposals. All private entities submitting statements of qualifications or proposals shall be disclosed after the deadline for submission, and all private entities who are selected for request for proposals phase evaluation shall also be disclosed at the time of that determination.

Design-build proposals shall include a bid bond in the form and security as designated in the request for proposals. Proposals shall also contain a separate sealed envelope with the cost information within the overall proposal submission. Proposals shall include a list of all design professionals and other entities to which any work identified in Section 30-30 of the Illinois Procurement Code as a subdivision of construction work may be subcontracted during the performance of the contract to the extent known at the time of proposal. If the information is not known at the time of proposal, then the design-build agreement shall require the identification prior to a previously unlisted subcontractor commencing work on the transportation project.

Statements of qualifications and proposals must meet all material requirements of the request for qualifications or request for proposals, or else they may be rejected as non-responsive. The transportation agency shall have the right to reject any and all statements of qualifications and proposals.

The private entity's proprietary intellectual property contained in the drawings and specifications of any unsuccessful statement of qualifications or proposal shall remain the property of the private entity.

The transportation agency shall review the statements of qualifications and the proposals for compliance with the performance criteria and evaluation factors.

Statements of qualifications and proposals may be withdrawn prior to the due date and time for submissions for any cause. After evaluation begins by the transportation agency, clear and convincing evidence of error is required for withdrawal.

(Source: P.A. 100-391, eff. 8-25-17.)