Assembly Bill No. 519–Committee on Transportation

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to the Department of Transportation; providing for an additional Deputy Director for the Department; authorizing the Department, in carrying out the process for awarding design-build contracts, to request best and final proposals under certain circumstances; establishing procedures for requesting and evaluating best and final proposals; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. NRS 408.111 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.111  1.  The Department consists of a Director, [a Deputy

Director,] two Deputy Directors, a Chief Engineer and the following

divisions:

    (a) Administrative Division.

    (b) Operations Division.

    (c) Engineering Division.

    (d) Planning Division.

    2.  The head of a division is an assistant director. Assistant

directors are in the classified service of the State.

    Sec. 2.  NRS 408.116 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.116  1.  All legal notices, writs, service and process issued

or ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction wherein the

Department is named as a defendant must be personally served upon

both the Director and the Chairman of the Board or, in the absence

of the Director and the Chairman of the Board, the process must be

served personally upon both the Secretary of State and one of the

Deputy [Director.] Directors.

    2.  All legal actions brought and defended by the Department

must be in the name of the State of Nevada on relation of its

Department.

    3.  This section is not a consent on the part of the Department to

be sued.

    Sec. 3.  NRS 408.175 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.175  1.  The Director shall:

    (a) Appoint one Deputy Director who in the absence, inability or

failure of the Director has full authority to perform any duty

required or permitted by law to be performed by the Director.

    (b) Appoint one Deputy Director for southern Nevada whose

principle office must be located in an urban area in southern

Nevada.


    (c) Employ such engineers, engineering and technical assistants,

clerks and other personnel as in his judgment may be necessary to

the proper conduct of the Department and to carry out the provisions

of this chapter.

    2.  Except as otherwise provided in NRS 284.143, the Deputy

[Director] Directors shall devote [his] their entire time and attention

to the business of the office and shall not pursue any other business

or occupation or hold any other office of profit.

    3.  The Director may delegate such authority as may be

necessary for the Deputy Director appointed pursuant to

paragraph (b) of subsection 1 to carry out his duties.

    Sec. 4.  NRS 408.178 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.178  1.  [The] Each Deputy Director:

    (a) Is in the unclassified service of the State.

    (b) Must hold a master’s degree in public or business

administration, hold the degree of bachelor of science in civil,

structural, mechanical or industrial engineering, or be a licensed

professional engineer.

    (c) Must have at least 2 years of administrative experience as the

assistant director, the chief engineer or the head of an Engineering

or Planning Division of the Department, or have equivalent

experience.

    2.  The Chief Engineer:

    (a) Is in the classified service of the State.

    (b) Must be a licensed professional engineer.

    (c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, must have at

least 3 years of experience as the final engineering authority for a

state’s agency which has duties similar to those of the Department.

    3.  If the Director or the Deputy Director appointed pursuant to

paragraph (a) of subsection 1 of NRS 408.175, is a licensed

professional engineer, he may also act as the Department’s Chief

Engineer.

    Sec. 5.  NRS 408.180 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.180  The Director and Deputy [Director] Directors shall

each take the official oath.

    Sec. 6.  NRS 408.185 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.185  1.  The Director and Deputy [Director] Directors

may use a facsimile signature produced through a mechanical device

in place of their handwritten signatures whenever the necessity may

arise.

    2.  Such a device must be of such a nature that the facsimile

signature plate may be inserted and removed from the mechanical

device only by use of two locking keys.

    3.  Such facsimile signatures must be made and used only under

the personal direction and supervision of the Director [and Deputy


Director, respectively.] or Deputy Director whose signature the

facsimile represents.

    4.  All of the facsimile signature plates and locking keys must at

all times be kept in a vault, securely locked when not in use, to the

end that any misuse, fraudulent use or other improper use is

prevented.

    5.  Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Director

or a Deputy Director and the State Treasurer may combine their

facsimile signatures as provided in NRS 226.080.

    Sec. 7.  NRS 408.215 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.215  1.  The Director has charge of all the records of the

Department, keeping records of all proceedings pertaining to the

Department and keeping on file information, plans, specifications,

estimates, statistics and records prepared by the Department, except

those financial statements described in NRS 408.333 and the

financial or proprietary information described in paragraph [(d)] (c)

of subsection [5] 6 of NRS 408.3886, which must not become

matters of public record.

    2.  The Director may photograph, microphotograph or film or

dispose of the records of the Department referred to in subsection 1

as provided in NRS 239.051, 239.080 and 239.085.

    3.  The Director shall maintain an index or record of deeds or

other references of title or interests in and to all lands or interests in

land owned or acquired by the Department.

    4.  The Director shall adopt such regulations as may be

necessary to carry out and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

    Sec. 8.  NRS 408.3883 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.3883  1.  The Department shall advertise for preliminary

proposals for the design and construction of a project by a design-

build team in a newspaper of general circulation in this state.

    2.  A request for preliminary proposals published pursuant to

subsection 1 must include, without limitation:

    (a) A description of the proposed project;

    (b) Separate estimates of the costs of designing and constructing

the project;

    (c) The dates on which it is anticipated that the separate phases

of the design and construction of the project will begin and end;

    (d) The date by which preliminary proposals must be submitted

to the Department, which must not be less than 30 days after the

date that the request for preliminary proposals is first published in a

newspaper pursuant to subsection 1; and

    (e) A statement setting forth the place and time in which a

design-build team desiring to submit a proposal for the project may

obtain the information necessary to submit a proposal, including,

without limitation, the information set forth in subsection 3.


    3.  The Department shall maintain at the time and place set

forth in the request for preliminary proposals the following

information for inspection by a design-build team desiring to submit

a proposal for the project:

    (a) The extent to which designs must be completed for both

preliminary and final proposals and any other requirements for the

design and construction of the project that the Department

determines to be necessary;

    (b) A list of the requirements set forth in NRS 408.3884;

    (c) A list of the factors that the Department will use to evaluate

design-build teams who submit a proposal for the project, including,

without limitation:

        (1) The relative weight to be assigned to each factor pursuant

to NRS 408.3886; and

        (2) A disclosure of whether the factors that are not related to

cost are, when considered as a group, more or less important in the

process of evaluation than the factor of cost;

    (d) Notice that a design-build team desiring to submit a proposal

for the project must include with its proposal the information used

by the Department to determine finalists among the design-build

teams submitting proposals pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS

408.3885 and a description of that information;

    (e) A statement that a design-build team whose prime contractor

holds a certificate of eligibility to receive a preference in bidding on

public works issued pursuant to NRS 338.1389 or 338.147 should

submit a copy of the certificate of eligibility with its proposal; and

    (f) A statement as to whether a bidding design-build team that is

selected as a finalist pursuant to NRS 408.3885 but is not awarded

the design-build contract pursuant to NRS 408.3886 will be partially

reimbursed for the cost of preparing a final proposal or best and

final offer, or both, and, if so, an estimate of the amount of the

partial reimbursement.

    Sec. 9.  NRS 408.3886 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    408.3886  1.  After selecting the finalists pursuant to NRS

408.3885, the Department shall provide to each finalist a request for

final proposals for the project. The request for final proposals must:

    (a) Set forth the factors that the Department will use to select a

design-build team to design and construct the project, including the

relative weight to be assigned to each factor; and

    (b) Set forth the date by which final proposals must be

submitted to the Department.

    2.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, in assigning

the relative weight to each factor for selecting a design-build team

pursuant to subsection 1, the Department shall assign, without

limitation, a relative weight of 5 percent to the possession of a

certificate of eligibility to receive a preference in bidding on public


works and a relative weight of at least 30 percent for the proposed

cost of design and construction of the project. If any federal statute

or regulation precludes the granting of federal assistance or reduces

the amount of that assistance for a particular project because of the

provisions of this subsection relating to preference in bidding on

public works, those provisions of this subsection do not apply

insofar as their application would preclude or reduce federal

assistance for that project.

    3.  A final proposal submitted by a design-build team pursuant

to this section must be prepared thoroughly, be responsive to the

criteria that the Department will use to select a design-build team to

design and construct the project described in subsection 1 and

comply with the provisions of NRS 338.141.

    4.  After receiving the final proposals for the project, the

Department shall:

    (a) Select the most cost-effective and responsive final proposal,

using the criteria set forth pursuant to subsections 1 and 2; [or]

    (b) Reject all the final proposals[.] ; or

    (c) Request best and final offers from all finalists in

accordance with subsection 5.

    5.  If the Department determines that no final proposal

received is cost-effective or responsive and the Department further

determines that requesting best and final offers pursuant to this

subsection will likely result in the submission of a satisfactory

offer, the Department may prepare and provide to each finalist a

request for best and final offers for the project. In conjunction

with preparing a request for best and final offers pursuant to this

subsection, the Department may alter the scope of the project,

revise the estimates of the costs of designing and constructing the

project, and revise the selection factors and relative weights

described in paragraph (a) of subsection 1. A request for best and

final offers prepared pursuant to this subsection must set forth

the date by which best and final offers must be submitted to the

Department. After receiving the best and final offers, the

Department shall:

    (a) Select the most cost-effective and responsive best and final

offer, using the criteria set forth in the request for best and final

offers; or

    (b) Reject all the best and final offers.

    6.  If the Department selects a final proposal pursuant to

paragraph (a) of subsection 4 [,] or selects a best and final offer

pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 5, the Department shall

hold a public meeting to:

    (a) Review and ratify the selection.

    (b) [Award the design-build contract to the design-build team

whose proposal is selected.


    (c)] Partially reimburse the unsuccessful finalists if partial

reimbursement was provided for in the request for preliminary

proposals pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection 3 of NRS

408.3883. The amount of reimbursement must not exceed, for each

unsuccessful finalist, [three] 3 percent of the total amount to be paid

to the design-build team as set forth in the design-build contract.

    [(d)] (c) Make available to the public a summary setting forth

the factors used by the Department to select the successful design-

build team and the ranking of the design-build teams who submitted

final proposals [.] and, if applicable, best and final offers. The

Department shall not release to a third party, or otherwise make

public, financial or proprietary information submitted by a design-

build team.

    6.  A contract awarded pursuant to this section must specify:

    (a) An amount that is the maximum amount that the Department

will pay for the performance of all the work required by the

contract, excluding any amount related to costs that may be incurred

as a result of unexpected conditions or occurrences as authorized by

the contract;

    (b) An amount that is the maximum amount that the Department

will pay for the performance of the professional services required by

the contract; and

    (c) A date by which performance of the work required by the

contract must be completed.

    7.  A design-build team to whom a contract is awarded pursuant

to this section shall:

    (a) Assume overall responsibility for ensuring that the design

and construction of the project is completed in a satisfactory

manner; and

    (b) Use the workforce of the prime contractor on the design-

build team to construct at least 15 percent of the project.

    Sec. 10. This act becomes effective July 1, 2003.

 

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