Mississippi Code Title 31. Public Business, Bonds and Obligations § 31-7-13.1

(1) The method of contracting for construction described in this section shall be known as the “design-build method” of construction contracting. This method of construction contracting may be used on residential buildings, residential mixed-use developments, parking garages and other prescriptive type facilities. The design-build method of construction contracting may only be used when the Department of Finance and Administration or a governing authority has determined that it satisfies the public interest better than traditional design-bid or when the Legislature has specifically required or authorized the use of this method in the legislation authorizing a project. At a minimum, the determination must include a detailed explanation of why using the design-build method for a particular project satisfies the public need better than the traditional design-bid-build method based on the following criteria:

(2) For each proposed design-build project, either a fixed firm price or guaranteed maximum price contract must be adopted. Before solicitation of proposals, the agency or governing authority shall develop a scope of work statement that provides prospective offerors with sufficient information regarding the requirements of the agency or governing authority. The scope of work statement must include, but is not limited to, the following information:

(3) The agency or governing authority shall cause to be published once a week, for at least two (2) consecutive weeks in a regular newspaper published in the county in which the project is to be located, or a newspaper with statewide circulation, a notice inviting proposals for the design-build construction project. On the same date that the notice is submitted to the newspaper for publication, the agency or governing authority involved shall post the notice on the Mississippi Procurement Portal or mail written notice to, or provide electronic notification to, the main office of the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Program under the Mississippi Development Authority that contains the same information as that in the published notice. The proposals shall not be opened in less than fifteen (15) working days after the last notice is published. The notice must inform potential offerors of how to obtain the scope of work statement developed for the project, and the notice must contain such other information to describe adequately the general nature and scope of the project so as to promote full, equal and open competition.

(4) The agency or governing authority shall accept initial proposals only from entities able to provide an experienced and qualified design-build team that includes, at a minimum, an architectural or engineering firm licensed and registered in Mississippi and a contractor properly licensed and domiciled in Mississippi for the type of work required.

(5) Proposals that include criteria other than cost only shall be evaluated by an evaluation committee established by the procuring entity. The evaluation committee shall be composed of not less than three (3) people, at least one (1) of which shall be an architect or engineer licensed and registered in Mississippi. Selection criteria of the evaluation committee shall be limited to the following:

Cost as an evaluation factor shall be given the highest criteria weighting and at least thirty-five percent (35%) out of the one hundred percent (100%) total weight of all the other evaluation factors.

(6) If the agency or governing authority accepts a proposal other than the proposal with the lowest costs that was actually submitted, the agency or governing authority shall enter on its minutes detailed calculations and a narrative summary showing why the accepted proposal was determined to provide the best value, and the agency or governing authority shall state specifically on its minutes the justification for its award.

(7) All facilities that are governed by this section shall be designed and constructed to comply with standards equal to or exceeding the minimum building code standards employed by the state as required under Section 31-11-33 in force at the time of contracting. All private contractors or private entities contracting or performing under this section must comply at all times with all applicable laws, codes and other legal requirements pertaining to the project.

(8) An agency or governing authority may not award a stipulated fee to an offeror for preparation costs to submit a response to the request for proposals.

(9) This section shall not authorize the awarding of construction contracts according to any contracting method that does not require the contractor to satisfactorily perform, at a minimum, both any balance of design, using an independent professional licensed in Mississippi, and construction of the project for which the contract is awarded.

(10) The provisions of this section shall not affect any procurement by the Mississippi Transportation Commission.

(11) The provisions of this section shall not apply to procurement authorized in Section 59-5-37(3).