4 AAC 31.080 - Construction and acquisition of public school facilities
(a) A school
district shall construct a public educational facility with money provided
through a grant under
AS
14.11.011 -
AS
14.11.020 or shall construct a public
educational facility that is eligible for reimbursement under
AS
14.11.100 under a written contract awarded on
the basis of competitive sealed bids. If the estimated construction cost is
less than $100,000 or if it is in the best interests of the state, the school
district may, with the approval of the commissioner, construct the educational
facility itself using its own employees.
(b) The school district shall publish the
first notice of its solicitation at least 21 days before the opening of the
offers. The department may approve a solicitation period shorter than 21 days
when written justification submitted by the school district demonstrates that a
shorter solicitation period is advantageous for a particular project and will
result in an adequate number of responses. A school district may provide
additional notice by mailing its solicitation to contractors on any list it
maintains, and any other means reasonably calculated to provide notice to
prospective offerors. The district shall provide notice of its solicitation by
publication at least three times in a newspaper of general circulation in the
state. The department may approve an alternate means of notice through
publication on the Internet if the website has the express purpose of
advertising similar solicitations, has unrestricted public access, and is
equally likely to reach prospective offerors.
(c) The school district shall provide for the
administrative review of a complaint filed by an aggrieved offeror that allows
the offeror to file a bid protest, within 10 days after notice is provided of
intent to award the contract, requesting a hearing for a determination and
award of the contract in accordance with the law. The school district shall
provide notice to all interested parties of the filing of the bid
protest.
(d) The award of a
contract for the construction of an educational facility under this section
must be made without regard to municipal ordinances or school board resolutions
granting a preference to local offerors.
(e) The department may deny or limit its
participation in the costs of construction for a project eligible for grant
funding under
AS
14.11.011 or for reimbursement under
AS
14.11.100 if the school district does not
comply with the requirements of this section.
(f) Nothing in this section precludes a
school district from using an alternative construction delivery method as
defined and described in the Project Delivery Method Handbook,
2nd Edition, September 2017, adopted by reference, if the department approves
the method in advance of any solicitation, the proposed method is in the
state's best interest, and the school district concurs in any directives the
department makes concerning the type of selection and award of the contract.
The department may deny or suspend use of an alternative construction delivery
method by a school district if the department concludes, based on substantial
evidence, that use or repeated use of a delivery method by the school district
has resulted or will result in limited competition or higher costs.
(g) A school district may, with prior
approval by the department, enter into a lease or purchase agreement for, or
accept a donation of, an existing facility or land for use as an
education-related facility if
(1) for the
purchase, lease, or accepted donation of an existing facility, a cost saving
over new construction is achieved;
(2) the purchase or lease price is arrived at
through impartial negotiation and is supported by a real estate appraisal that
meets accepted standards; and
(3)
the purchase, lease, or donation is in the best interests of the state and the
school district.
(h)
Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a school district may use any competitive
procurement methodology for its solicitation for a public educational facility
that is practicable under the circumstances to procure construction services
that are estimated not to exceed $100,000, inclusive of labor and materials. A
school district may not artificially divide or fragment a procurement so as to
constitute a purchase under this subsection or to circumvent the selection
procedures otherwise required by this section.
(i) The department may deny or limit its
participation in the costs of a school capital project if the real property for
the project is acquired by a school district through purchase, lease, or
donation without the approval of the department under (g) of this
section.
(j) A school district
shall perform commissioning of the systems included in a school capital project
if the school capital project is an addition of over 5,000 square feet or new
construction of an education-related facility that is over 5,000 square feet.
If the school capital project is a rehabilitation of an education-related
facility over 10,000 square feet, a school district shall perform commissioning
of each system substantially upgraded in the school capital project. A school
district may perform commissioning for a rehabilitation of an education-related
facility for each system impacted by the project but not substantially upgraded
in the rehabilitation. Commissioning required under this subsection must
include the services of a commissioning agent. Commissioning permitted under
this subsection for a system that is impacted by a rehabilitation project but
not substantially upgraded in the rehabilitation may use the services of a
commissioning agent or may use a qualified facility professional, including a
school district employee. The cost of commissioning, including the cost of a
commissioning agent, required or permitted under this subsection is an
allowable cost of school construction.
Notes
A copy of the Project Delivery Method Handbook, adopted by reference in 4 AAC 31.080 is available for inspection at the offices of the Department of Education and Early Development, 801 W. 10th St., Suite 200, Juneau, AK 99801 - 1878.
Authority:AS 14.07.060
AS 14.11.020
AS 14.11.132
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