SB442: Bill Text

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB442, s. 1 Section 1. 66.0902 of the statutes is created to read:

SB442,2,3 66.0902 Qualifications-based selection; engineering, architecture, and land surveying contracts. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB442,2,5 (a) "Architectural services" means the provision of services that consist of the practice of architecture, as defined in s. 443.01 (5).

SB442,2,8 (b) "Consultant" means any person who provides architectural services, engineering services, land surveying services, landscape architecture services, photogrammetric services, or professional geology services.

SB442,2,10 (c) "Engineering services" means the provision of services that consist of the practice of professional engineering, as defined in s. 443.01 (6).

SB442,3,2 (d) "Landscape architecture services" means the provision of services that consist of landscape architecture, as defined in s. 443.01 (3r).

SB442,3,4 (e) "Land surveying services" means the provision of services that consist of land surveying, as defined in s. 443.01 (4).

SB442,3,7 (f) "Level of effort" means the number of hours a consultant spends, or purposes to spend, on a project, broken down by the number of hours spent on the specific tasks of the project.

SB442,3,11 (g) "Local governmental unit" means a political subdivision of this state, a special purpose district in this state, an agency or corporation of a political subdivision or special purpose district, or a combination or subunit of any of the foregoing charged with procuring the services of a consultant.

SB442,3,16 (h) "Photogrammetric services" means activities associated with measuring, locating, and preparing maps, charts, or other graphical or digital presentations depicting natural or man made features, phenomena, and legal boundaries of the earth including surveys, maps, charts, remote sensing data, and images, and aerial photographic services.

SB442,3,17 (i) "Political subdivision" means any city, village, town, or county.

SB442,3,19 (j) "Professional geology services" means the provision of services that consist of the practice of professional geology, as defined in s. 470.01 (2).

SB442,3,21 (k) "Project" means any project of a local governmental unit that is related to a public work or building to which all of the following apply:

SB442,3,23 1. The total cost of the complete project is estimated by the governing body of the local governmental unit to be at least $250,000.

SB442,3,25 2. The state government provides some amount of financial assistance to the project.

SB442,4,4 3. The services of a consultant are required for the planning, study, design, or construction inspection or administration of the public work or building, but are separate from the contract for the actual construction, repair, remodeling, or improvement of the public work or building.

SB442,4,8 (2) Qualifications-based selection. (a) Except as provided in sub. (4), for any project undertaken by a local governmental unit, the consultant that must be hired may be selected only on the basis of the consultant's qualifications, as determined under this subsection.

SB442,4,13 (b) A local governmental unit shall develop a procedure to solicit proposals from consultants for projects, and shall rank the proposals according to the qualifications of the consultants. The proposals may not include any fees or costs for the proposed project, and the local governmental unit may not solicit fee, level of effort, or cost information from consultants except as provided in sub. (3).

SB442,4,16 (c) To determine the qualifications of a consultant, the local governmental unit shall require that a proposal submitted for a project contain at least all of the following information about the consultant:

SB442,4,18 1. Its specialized experience, capabilities, and technical competence to meet the project requirements.

SB442,4,20 2. Its resources that are available to perform the required work, including any specialized services, within the time limits specified by the local governmental unit.

SB442,4,22 3. Its proposed approach to meet the project requirements and its proposed methods of project management.

SB442,4,24 4. The quality of its past work, its ability to meet schedules, and its cost control and contract administration practices.

SB442,4,25 5. Its proximity to, and familiarity with, the project location.

SB442,5,3 (3) Negotiation. (a) Following the receipt and ranking of the proposals, a local governmental unit shall negotiate with the highest ranked consultant to specify the terms of the contract, including costs, level of effort, and fees.

SB442,5,9 (b) If the local governmental unit and the selected consultant are unable to negotiate a contract at a fee that is acceptable to the local governmental unit, the local governmental unit shall terminate negotiations with the consultant by written notification. Subject to sub. (4), the local governmental unit shall then commence negotiations with as many of the other consultants as necessary, as provided in this subsection and in the order of their ranking, until a contract is entered into.

SB442,5,12 (4) Exceptions. (a) If a local governmental unit is unable to enter into a contract with a consultant under sub. (3), it may retain a consultant for the project under any other method that is authorized by law.

SB442,5,20 (b) The procedures and requirements for selecting consultants under this section do not apply for the repair and reconstruction of any public work or building when damage or threatened damage to the public work or building creates an emergency, as determined by resolution of the governing body of the local governmental unit, in which the public health or welfare of the local governmental unit is endangered. Whenever the governing body of the local governmental unit determines by majority vote at a regular or special meeting that an emergency no longer exists, this paragraph no longer applies.

SB442,5,24 (c) If a local governmental unit has an established relationship with a consultant who previously has provided similar services to the local governmental unit, the local governmental unit may solicit a proposal for another project directly from that consultant without soliciting proposals from other consultants.

SB442,6,4 (5) Local bridge inspections. If a local authority hires a consultant for inspecting highway bridges under s. 84.17 (3) (b), the provisions of this section apply to the hiring of the consultant, except that the provisions specified in sub. (1) (k) 1. and 2. do not apply.

SB442, s. 2 Section 2. Initial applicability.

SB442,6,7 (1) This act first applies to a project, the proposals for which are solicited on the effective date of this subsection.

SB442,6,8 (End)