Florida Senate - 2022 SB 1520
By Senator Gruters
23-01607-22 20221520__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to acquisition of professional
3 services; amending s. 287.055, F.S.; removing language
4 requiring that an agency, when determining whether a
5 firm is qualified to perform certain services, operate
6 with the object of effecting an equitable distribution
7 of contracts among qualified firms; providing an
8 effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
13 287.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
14 287.055 Acquisition of professional architectural,
15 engineering, landscape architectural, or surveying and mapping
16 services; definitions; procedures; contingent fees prohibited;
17 penalties.—
18 (4) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—
19 (b) The agency shall select in order of preference no fewer
20 than three firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to
21 perform the required services. In determining whether a firm is
22 qualified, the agency shall consider such factors as the ability
23 of professional personnel; whether a firm is a certified
24 minority business enterprise; past performance; willingness to
25 meet time and budget requirements; location; recent, current,
26 and projected workloads of the firms; and the volume of work
27 previously awarded to each firm by the agency, with the object
28 of effecting an equitable distribution of contracts among
29 qualified firms, provided such distribution does not violate the
30 principle of selection of the most highly qualified firms. The
31 agency may request, accept, and consider proposals for the
32 compensation to be paid under the contract only during
33 competitive negotiations under subsection (5).
34 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.