AGC Testifies Before House Committee on Design-Build Reform

On Dec. 3, AGC Naval Engineering Facility Command Committee Chair Randall Gibson—president of a federal small business, Whitesell-Green, Inc., in Pensacola, Fla.—testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the federal government’s use of design-build contracting. In his testimony for the association, Mr. Gibson addressed the need for federal agencies to: (1) reasonably limit one-step design-build procurements; and (2) reasonably limit the second step of the two-step design-build process to three to five finalists. On one-step design build procurements, design-build teams have no way to judge their prospects for success, as no team can be sure how many total teams are pursuing the project. Consequently, competition suffers because many qualified teams, especially small businesses, choose not to incur the large proposal costs to participate where perhaps 20 teams or more can offer. During the two-step design-build procurement process, where a federal agency can select an unlimited number of finalists to enter the second step of the competition and submit full proposals with more complete—and more expensive—design materials and cost estimates,  the inability of contractors to determine the odds of success tends to reduce competition. As such, at the hearing, AGC articulated its general support for H.R. 2750, the Design-Build Efficiency and Jobs Act of 2013, introduced by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), which would both limit single-step design-build procurements and limit the second step of the two-step design-build process to three to five finalists. AGC will continue to work with the committee and other members of Congress to ensure that the construction industry’s priorities in this bill advance through the legislative process. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at (703) 837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.