The department must use specified contract types and include certain details in advertisements; selected firms must return the contract within 10 business days, or the department may choose another firm or republish the notice.
§294. Contract types A. The department shall utilize either cost plus fixed fee with a maximum limitation, cost per unit of work, specific rates of compensation, or lump sum contracts for either competitive or noncompetitive selections. The fee shall either be negotiated or predetermined. In general, negotiated cost plus fixed fee contracts are used for larger projects with more complex and difficult to determine scopes of services, and pre-determined lump sum fee contracts are used for smaller projects with easier to determine scopes of services. B. Procedures for utilizing negotiated lump sum fee, cost per unit of work, specific rates of compensation, or cost plus fixed fee with maximum limitation contracts shall be as follows: (1) Advertisement as required by this Part shall include, but not be limited to the following: (a) Length and description of project. (b) Services required. (c) Material or information to be furnished by the department. (d) General information and an outline of the selection process, including the criteria/categories used to evaluate the responses and the weighting factors for each. (2) Except for Louisiana Transportation Research Center projects, after a consulting firm has been chosen, such firm shall be invited to submit a proposal within a time limit. Construction and preconstruction proposals shall conform to the "Consultant Contract Services Manual". Research proposals shall conform to the Louisiana Transportation Research Center's "Manual on Research Procedures". This proposal shall be analyzed by the technical personnel of the involved units and a pre-award audit may be obtained. (3) The technical review personnel shall negotiate any differences between the man-hour estimates of the department and the consultant firm. Should attempts at agreement between the department and the consultant be unsuccessful, negotiations shall be terminated and another selection shall be made. This process will continue until agreement is reached with a firm or team. (4) Fees will be based on the negotiated man-hours, the audited salary and overhead rates of the firm or team subject to the department's salary and overhead maximums, the designated contingency percentage, and the computed fixed fee. The department's standard fixed fee computation includes consideration for complexity, overall fee size, and magnitude of the firm's overhead. (5) The contract will be executed following agreement on the required work effort. The firm shall have ten business days from the date of mailing to execute and return the contract to the department. Should the firm fail to timely execute and return the contract, the department may either select another firm from the original respondents or republish the notice of intent. C. Procedures for utilizing non-negotiated predetermined lump sum fee, cost per unit of work, specific rates of compensation, or cost plus fixed fee with a maximum limitation shall be as follows: (1) Advertisement as required by the Part shall include, but not be limited to the following: (a) Length and description of project. (b) Services required. (c) Material or information to be furnished by the department. (d) Fees by phase of work. (e) General information, including an outline of the selection process, including the criteria/categories used to evaluate the responses and the weighting factors for each. (2) Fees shall be determined by using the department's man-hour estimate, the latest average of applicable wage rates, and the latest average overhead, together with a contingency where appropriate and a profit computed in accordance with the department's standard procedure. These fees shall not be subject to further negotiation. (3) The contract will be executed following notification of selection. The selected firm shall have ten business days from the date of mailing to execute and return the contract to the department. If the firm fails to timely execute and return the contract, the department shall select another firm from the original respondents or republish the notice of intent. Acts 1991, No. 784, §1; Acts 2009, No. 255, §1, eff. July 1, 2009.