(1) Job order contracts shall be awarded through a competitive process using public requests for proposals.

(2) The public body shall prioritize efforts to solicit proposals from certified minority or certified woman-owned contractors to the extent permitted by the Washington state civil rights act, RCW 49.60.400.

(3) The public body shall publish, at least once in a statewide publication and legal newspaper of general circulation published in every county in which the public works project is anticipated, a request for proposals for job order contracts and the availability and location of the request for proposal documents. The public body is encouraged to post the request for proposals for job order contracts and the availability and location of the request for proposal documents in other areas, such as websites for business associations, the office of minority and women's business enterprises, and other locations and mediums that will further publicize the opportunities. The public body shall ensure that the request for proposal documents at a minimum includes:

(a) A detailed description of the scope of the job order contract including performance, technical requirements and specifications, functional and operational elements, minimum and maximum work order amounts, duration of the contract, and options to extend the job order contract;

(b) The reasons for using job order contracts;

(c) A description of the qualifications required of the proposer;

(d) The identity of the specific unit price book to be used and a description of which elements shall be included in the coefficient as necessary to establish a firm fixed price on work orders to be awarded under the job order contract;

(e) The minimum contracted amount committed to the selected job order contractor;

(f) A description of the process the public body will use to evaluate qualifications and proposals, including evaluation factors and the relative weight of factors. The public body shall ensure that evaluation factors include, but are not limited to, the coefficient and the ability of the proposer to perform the job order contract. In evaluating the ability of the proposer to perform the job order contract, the public body may consider: The ability of the professional personnel who will work on the job order contract; past performance on similar contracts; ability to meet time and budget requirements; past performance on approved subcontractor inclusion plans; ability to provide a performance and payment bond for the job order contract; recent, current, and projected workloads of the proposer; location; and the concept of the proposal;

(g) The form of the contract to be awarded;

(h) The method for pricing renewals of or extensions to the job order contract;

(i) A notice that the proposals are subject to RCW 39.10.470; and

(j) Other relevant information.

(4) A public body shall establish a committee, including a member with knowledge and experience in state and federal laws, rules, and best practices concerning public contracting for minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses and small businesses, to evaluate the proposals. After the committee has selected the most qualified finalists, the finalists shall submit a sealed bid including, but not limited to, coefficient(s). Such bids may be in the form of coefficient adjustments to the listed unit price book. The public body shall award the contract to the firm submitting the highest scored final proposal using the evaluation factors and the relative weight of factors published in the public request for proposals and will notify the board of the award of the contract.

(5) The public body shall provide a protest period of at least ten business days following the day of the announcement of the apparent successful proposal to allow a protester to file a detailed statement of the grounds of the protest. The public body shall promptly make a determination on the merits of the protest and provide to all proposers a written decision of denial or acceptance of the protest. The public body shall not execute the contract until two business days following the public body's decision on the protest.

(6) The requirements of RCW 39.30.060 do not apply to requests for proposals for job order contracts.

Sunset Act application: See note following chapter digest.

Effective date—2021 c 230: See note following RCW 39.10.210.