H-0522.1                  _______________________________________________

                                                      HOUSE BILL 1231

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State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Representatives Valle, Chandler, Wineberry, Pruitt, Bray and Jones

Read first time 01/20/93.  Referred to Committee on State Government.

Reviewing the procurement and use of contracted architectural and engineering services.

          AN ACT Relating to procurement of architectural and engineering contracts; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that the state's procurement of architectural and engineering services reached fifty-seven million dollars during the 1989-91 biennium and has continued to rise during the ensuing biennium.  While the legislature has assured the competitive awarding of contracts for these services that are vital to the construction and maintenance of state facilities and transportation, it has not in recent years reviewed the state's procurement and efficient use of such services.  It is an ongoing responsibility of the legislature to ensure the efficient and effective use of state government resources.  It is therefore the legislature's intent to require a review of the use of state resources for architectural and engineering services and to identify improvements, where necessary.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) The Washington state efficiency and accountability commission shall conduct a review of the state's procurement and use of contracted architectural and engineering services for state public works projects.  The review shall:

          (a) Examine the statutory competitive bid policies and procedures used for the procurement of architectural and engineering services;

          (b) Examine the procedures and extent of use of contract amendments;

          (c) Analyze the use of contingency or set-aside funds in contractual agreements;

          (d) Determine if the state could more efficiently provide its own architectural and engineering services in lieu of contracting; and

          (e) Provide an analysis of the fees negotiated for architectural and engineering services for the past ten years.

          (2) The commission shall report its findings and recommendations for areas of improvement and cost savings to the office of financial management and the fiscal committees of the legislature by September 1, 1994.

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