PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 656.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Oct 27, 2016
Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2015
(Sec. 3) This bill modifies the design-build selection procedures used by federal agencies soliciting offers to enter into civilian contracts for the design and construction of a public building, facility, or work. Two-phase selection procedures (i.e., submission of qualifications and then the submission of price and technical proposals in response to a request for proposal) must be used when a contracting officer determines that a project has a value of $750,000 or greater. But for contracts valued at less than $750,000, the contracting officer makes the same determination under current law as to whether the use of two-phase selection procedures is appropriate when the officer anticipates at least three offers for the contract.
Federal agencies must report, each year through FY2021, on each instance where the agency awarded a design-build contract in which: (1) more than five finalists were selected for phase-two requests for proposals, or (2) the contract or order was awarded without using two-phase selection procedures. The Government Accountability Office must report on agency compliance with design-build contract procedures.
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(Sec. 4) The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council must amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to prohibit the use of reverse auctions as part of the two-phase selection procedure for awarding contracts for construction and design services. A "reverse auction," with respect to procurement by an agency, is: (1) a real-time auction conducted through an electronic medium among at least two offerors who compete by submitting bids for a supply or service contract with the ability to submit revised lower bids before the closing of the auction; and (2) the award of the contract, delivery order, task order, or purchase order to the offeror based on the price obtained through the auction process.
People & committees
Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH] · R–OH
Legislative record
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 656.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson under authority of the order of the Senate of 09/29/2016 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-366.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson under authority of the order of the Senate of 09/29/2016 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-366.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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