Design-build procedures.

Sarasota Code § 2-357

in effect

Sec. 2-357. - Design-build procedures. (a) Public announcement. The city shall publicly advertise in a uniform and consistent manner on each occasion when design-build services are required except in cases of public emergencies. The advertisement shall include a general description of the project and shall indicate how, and the time within which, interested design-build firms may apply for consideration. (b) Legal qualification. Any firm or individual desiring to provide design-build services to the city must first be determined legally qualified. To be legally qualified: (1) Firms must be properly certified to engage in contracting through a certified or registered general contractor or a certified or registered building contractor as the qualifying agent; (2) Firms must be properly certified to practice or to offer to practice engineering, architecture, or landscape architecture; and (3) The firm shall be duly qualified to perform its proposed service under any other applicable law. (c) Evaluation committee. An evaluation committee appointed by the city manager shall be used to evaluate and rank the design-build firms and their responses for recommendation to the manager or commission depending on procurement category. (d) Solicitation. The procurement official shall develop a RFP to solicit proposals from interested, qualified design-build firms. Except as otherwise provided in F.S. § 287.055(9)(c), with the use of a qualifications-based selection process, the RFP shall contain as a minimum the following: (1) The design criteria package defined in F.S. § 287.055(2)(j). (2) The criteria, procedures, and standards for the evaluation of design-build contract proposals, based on price, technical, and design aspects of the public construction project, weighted for the subject. (3) Requirements for determining qualifications of firms proposing, such as license, list of subcontractors, architect and engineer, and references. (4) Terms and conditions of proposed agreement. (5) Other items as required by procedures, laws, ordinances, or prevailing circumstances. (e) Selection. (1) All information required by the RFP shall be submitted in a sealed manner (which may include sealed envelope if the submission is required to be in that form or via an online proposal submission system if the city requires submission in that manner). Except as otherwise provided in F.S. § 287.055(9)(c), with the use of a qualifications-based selection process, all proposed designs and price proposals shall be submitted separately via the same sealed submission process, with the design and price proposals opened and considered by the selection committee for shortlisted firms only. (2) The selection committee shall review all proposals, except the separately-submitted proposed designs and price proposals, and shall create a shortlist of no less than three (3) design-build firms as the most qualified, based on the qualifications, availability, and past work of the firms, including the partners or members thereof. In evaluating the proposals and preparing the shortlist, the committee shall consult with the design criteria professional concerning the evaluation of the responses submitted by the design-build firms. Once the committee has shortlisted, except as otherwise provided in F.S. § 287.055(9)(c), with the use of a qualifications-based selection process, the committee shall open the separate envelopes containing the proposed design solutions and the price submitted by the shortlisted firms. The committee shall then rank the shortlisted firms based upon the evaluation criteria and procedures set forth within the request for proposal. The committee may, if necessary, require verbal presentations from all firms in order that the qualifications and/or proposals may be clarified. (3) After the committee has ranked the shortlisted firms based upon the award criteria set forth within the request for proposal, the ranking shall be presented to the city commission which may approve, disapprove, or request modifications to the recommended rankings be brought back at a subsequent meeting. Following the ranking by the city commission, the city's procurement official, assisted as needed by relevant city staff and professional consultants, shall attempt to negotiate a contract within the parameters of the design criteria package or the results of the qualifications-based selection process and in accordance with city commission's ranking. (f) Contract. (1) Under the oversight of the city manager, the procurement official, assisted as needed by relevant city staff and professional consultants, shall negotiate a design-build contract at a price which the manager determines is fair, competitive, and reasonable. If the city is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the first ranked firm, then it shall formally terminate negotiations with such firm and then undertake negotiations with the second ranked firm and shall continue this process until a satisfactory contract is negotiated. (2) The contract negotiated by the staff shall be submitted to the commission for consideration and approval. (g) Public emergencies. If a public emergency is declared and a design-build procurement must proceed during such emergency, a negotiating committee may be formed by the city manager and authorized to negotiate with the best qualified design-build firm available at that time for the design and construction of a capital project. To the extent practical, the city shall solicit letters of interest in order to determine the best qualified design-build firm available at the time. The contract negotiated by such committee shall be subject to ratification by the commission. (h) Conflict between procedure and law. In the event F.S. § 287.055 is subsequently amended such that its requirements conflict with the provisions of this procedure, the provisions of the statute shall prevail, and the city manager or city attorney shall make such recommendations for revision to these procedures as to conform them to the law. (Ord. No. 26-5588, § 2, 3-2-26)

Source: City of Sarasota, Florida, Code of Ordinances and Zoning Code (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/fl/sarasota/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIITHCO_CH2AD_ARTVIFIPUSA_DIV3PRCO_S2-357DEILPRFetched: 11/14/2026