Senate committee unanimously advances bill requiring quality-based selection for architects, engineers on projects over $1 million

Senator Sessler presented Senate Bill 51 to the committee, urging lawmakers to require quality-based selection (QBS) for architect and engineering procurements on public projects valued at more than $1 million.

"What Senate Bill 51 does is it would recognize that just as the law requires at the federal level ... for hiring and engaging an architect or engineer for projects over a million dollars in scale, the quality based selection process is followed," Senator Sessler said, describing QBS as a two-step process—selecting firms on qualifications first, then negotiating fees.

Sessler told the committee the Brooks Act and federal practice make QBS standard for complex public works procurements and that the bill would give local governments discretion to set evaluation criteria suited to their needs while preserving a qualifications-first approach on larger projects.

Opponents at the hearing said QBS is already available as an option and that making it mandatory would disadvantage smaller counties that lack procurement staff and experience. Halen Day of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) said counties sometimes rely on a traditional request-for-proposals process that lets evaluators see qualifications and price together; that method, she said, helps smaller counties judge market prices and manage limited budgets.

Ted Burgess, Fayette County's chief procurement officer, told the committee that procurement capacity varies widely across local governments and that many counties lack staff dedicated to engineering and design contracting. He said his county uses a traditional RFP for most procurements and that in practice the county separates technical evaluation from price so evaluators do not see price until after scoring. Burgess cautioned that SB 51 could create uncertainty…