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Subcommittee hears mixed testimony on bill to require qualifications-based selection for local design contracts
Summary
House Bill 152 would require cities and counties to use qualifications-based selection (QBS) for procurement of architecture, engineering and similar professional services above specified thresholds. Supporters say QBS improves project outcomes; local government groups say a mandate would burden small counties and limit procurement flexibility.
Representative Reeves presented House Bill 152, which would extend qualifications-based selection (QBS) procurement requirements to city and county governments for professional services such as architecture, engineering, land surveying and landscape architecture. Reeves said the approach mirrors the Brooks Act and the state’s existing Mini-Brooks law for state agencies and would allow project owners to rank firms by qualifications and then negotiate price with the highest-ranked firm.
Why it matters: supporters argued QBS focuses selection on technical competence and reduces lifecycle cost and risk. Kenneth Scott Gordon, the Cherokee County general services agency director and a registered architect, said QBS treats complex design…
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