25358.6.1
. (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape
architectural, construction project management, or land surveying
services" includes professional services of an engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, land surveying, or similar nature, as well as
incidental services that members of these professions and those in
their employ may logically or justifiably perform.
(2) "Firm" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal entity permitted by law to practice the
profession of engineering, architecture, environmental, landscape
architecture, construction project management, or land surveying.
(3) "Prequalified list" means a list of engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, or land surveying firms that possess the
qualifications established by the department to perform specific
types of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape
architectural, construction project management, and land surveying
services, with each firm ranked in order of its qualifications and
costs.
(b) Notwithstanding Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of
Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the department may
advertise and award a contract, in accordance with this section, for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services pursuant
to this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), if
the contract is individually in an amount equal to, or less than, one
million dollars ($1,000,000).
(c) The department may establish prequalified lists of
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms in
accordance with the following process:
(1) For each type of engineering, architectural, environmental,
landscape architectural, construction project management, or land
surveying services work for which the department elects to use this
section for advertising and awarding contracts, the department may
request annual statements of qualifications from interested firms.
The request for statements of qualifications shall be announced
statewide through the California State Contracts Register and
publications, Internet Web sites, or electronic bulletin boards of
respective professional societies that are intended, designed, and
maintained by the professional societies to communicate with their
memberships. Each announcement shall describe the general scope of
services to be provided within each generic project category for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services that the
department anticipates may be awarded during the period covered by
the announcement.
(2) The department shall define a generic project category so that
each specific project to be awarded within that generic project
category is substantially similar to all other projects within that
generic project category, may be within the same size range and
geographical area, and requires substantially similar skills and
magnitude of professional effort as every other project within that
generic project category. The generic categories shall provide a
basis for evaluating and establishing the type, quality, and costs,
including hourly rates for personnel and field activities and
equipment, of the services that would be provided by the firm.
(3) The department shall evaluate the statements of qualifications
received pursuant to paragraph (1) and the department shall develop
a short list of the most qualified firms that meet the criteria
established and published by the department. The department shall
hold discussions regarding each firm's qualifications with all firms
listed on the short list. The department shall then rank the firms
listed on the short list according to each firm's qualifications and
the evaluation criteria established and published by the department.
(4) The department shall maintain prequalified lists of civil
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms ranked
pursuant to paragraph (3) on an ongoing basis, except that no firm
may remain on a list developed pursuant to paragraph (3) based on a
single qualification statement for more than three years. The
department shall include in each prequalified list adopted pursuant
to paragraph (3) no less than three firms, unless the department
certifies that the scope of the prequalified list is appropriate for
the department's needs, taking into account the nature of the work,
that the department made reasonable efforts to solicit qualification
statements from qualified firms, and that the efforts were
unsuccessful in producing three firms that met the established
criteria. A firm may remain on the prequalified list up to three
years without resubmitting a qualification statement, but the
department may add additional firms to that list and may annually
rank these firms. For purposes of annual adjustment to the ranking of
firms already on the prequalified list developed pursuant to
paragraph (3), the department shall rely on that firm's most recent
annual qualification statement, if the statement is not more than
three years old.
(5) During the term of the prequalified list developed pursuant to
paragraph (3), as specific projects are identified by the department
as being eligible for contracting under the procedures adopted
pursuant to subdivision (d), the department shall contact the highest
ranked firm on the appropriate prequalified list to determine if
that firm has sufficient staff and is available for performance of
the project. If the highest ranked firm is not available, the
department shall continue to contact firms on the prequalified list
in order of rank until a firm that is available is identified.
(6) The department may enter into a contract for the services with
a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (5), if the contract is for
a total price that the department determines is fair and reasonable
to the department and otherwise conforms to all matters and terms
previously identified and established upon participation in the
prequalified list.
(7) If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (6), the
department shall terminate the negotiations with that firm and the
department shall undertake negotiations with the next ranked firm
that is available for performance. If a satisfactory contract cannot
be negotiated with the second identified firm, the department shall
terminate these negotiations and the department shall continue the
negotiation process with the remaining qualified firms, in order of
their ranking, until the department negotiates a satisfactory
contract. If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm on two separate occasions, the department may
remove that firm from the prequalified list. The department may award
a contract to a firm on a prequalified list that is to be executed,
including amendments, for a term that extends beyond the expiration
date of that firm's tenure on the prequalified list.
(8) Once a satisfactory contract is negotiated and awarded to a
firm from any prequalified list for a generic project category
involving a site or facility investigation or characterization, a
feasibility study, or a remedial design, for a specific response
action or corrective action, including, but not limited to, a
corrective action carried out pursuant to Section 25200.10, the
department shall not enter into a contract with that firm for
purposes of construction or implementation of any part of that same
response action or corrective action.
(d) The department may adopt guidelines or regulations as
necessary and consistent with this section, to define the manner of
advertising, generic project categories, type, quantity and cost of
services, qualification standards and evaluation criteria, content
and submittal requirements for statements of qualification,
procedures for ranking of firms and administration of the
prequalified list, the scope of matters addressed by participation on
a prequalified list, manner of notification of, negotiation with,
and awarding of contracts to, prequalified firms, and procedures for
protesting the award of contracts under this section, or any other
matter that is appropriate for implementation of this section.
(e) Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the
department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section
25358.3 is exempt from this section.
(f) This section does not exempt any contract from compliance with
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.