                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PROCUREMENT (§ 56-575.16)

The Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) and any
interpretations, regulations, or guidelines of the Division of Engineering and
Buildings of the Department of General Services or the Virginia Information
Technologies Agency, including the Capital Outlay Manual and those
interpretations, regulations or guidelines developed pursuant to §§ 2.2-1131,
2.2-1132, 2.2-1133, 2.2-1149, and 2.2-1502, except those developed by the
Division or the Virginia Information Technologies Agency in accordance with this
chapter when the Commonwealth is the responsible public entity, shall not apply
to this chapter. However, a responsible public entity may enter into a
comprehensive agreement only in accordance with guidelines adopted by it as
follows:

1. A responsible public entity may enter into a comprehensive agreement in
accordance with guidelines adopted by it that are consistent with procurement
through competitive sealed bidding as set forth in &#xA7; 2.2-4302.1 and
subsection B of &#xA7; 2.2-4310.

2. A responsible public entity may enter into a comprehensive agreement in
accordance with guidelines adopted by it that are consistent with the
procurement of &#8220;other than professional services&#8221; through
competitive negotiation as set forth in &#xA7; 2.2-4302.2 and subsection B of
&#xA7; 2.2-4310. Such responsible public entity shall not be required to select
the proposal with the lowest price offer, but may consider price as one factor
in evaluating the proposals received. Other factors that may be considered
include (i) the proposed cost of the qualifying facility; (ii) the general
reputation, industry experience, and financial capacity of the private entity;
(iii) the proposed design of the qualifying project; (iv) the eligibility of the
facility for accelerated selection, review, and documentation timelines under
the responsible public entity&#8217;s guidelines; (v) local citizen and
government comments; (vi) benefits to the public; (vii) the private
entity&#8217;s compliance with a minority business enterprise participation plan
or good faith effort to comply with the goals of such plan; (viii) the private
entity&#8217;s plans to employ local contractors and residents; and (ix) other
criteria that the responsible public entity deems appropriate.
			A responsible public entity shall proceed in accordance with the guidelines
adopted by it pursuant to subdivision 1 unless it determines that proceeding in
accordance with the guidelines adopted by it pursuant to this subdivision is
likely to be advantageous to the responsible public entity and the public, based
on (i) the probable scope, complexity, or priority of the project; (ii) risk
sharing including guaranteed cost or completion guarantees, added value or debt
or equity investments proposed by the private entity; or (iii) an increase in
funding, dedicated revenue source or other economic benefit that would not
otherwise be available. When the responsible public entity determines to proceed
according to the guidelines adopted by it pursuant to this subdivision, it shall
state the reasons for its determination in writing. If a state agency is the
responsible public entity, the approval of the responsible Governor&#8217;s
Secretary, or the Governor, shall be required before the responsible public
entity may enter into a comprehensive agreement pursuant to this subdivision.

3. Nothing in this chapter shall authorize or require that a responsible public
entity obtain professional services through any process except in accordance
with guidelines adopted by it that are consistent with the procurement of
&#8220;professional services&#8221; through competitive negotiation as set forth
in &#xA7; 2.2-4302.2 and subsection B of &#xA7; 2.2-4310.

4. A responsible public entity shall not proceed to consider any request by a
private entity for approval of a qualifying project until the responsible public
entity has adopted and made publicly available guidelines pursuant to &#xA7;
56-575.3:1 that are sufficient to enable the responsible public entity to comply
with this chapter.

5. A responsible public entity that is a school board or a county, city, or town
may enter into an interim or comprehensive agreement under this chapter only
with the approval of the local governing body.

HISTORY: 2002, c. 571; 2003, cc. 292, 968, 1034; 2004, c. 986; 2005, c. 865;
2006, c. 936; 2007, c. 764; 2013, c. 583.