PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
July 2014
589
Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Surveying and mapping ser-
vices are included in the federal definition of architecture and
engineering services that are subject to FAR 36.6 and which
require Brooks Act QBS procurement. It is the opinion of AS-
PRS, that FAR 36.6 would, at a minimum, apply to all fed-
eral procurement of photogrammetry and related remote sen-
sor-based services that are defined as surveying by individual
states and, in the absence of such definition, by the NCEES
Model Law and Model Rules. In some circumstances, FAR
36.6 may apply to a broader range of services, depending on
the definition of surveying and specific licensing requirements
applicable in the state or states in which the work is to be
performed.
Many states and local jurisdictions have enacted laws and
rules, based on the federal Brooks Act, which require the use
of QBS for procurement of A/E services for local jurisdictions
and state agencies. Other federal laws may also require state
and local agencies to use QBS when expending federal grant
funds for A/E, including surveying and mapping, services. A
reference summarizing some of these federal grant fund re-
quirements is provided in the references section. Furthermore,
many state registration boards require their licensees (archi-
tects, engineers and surveyors) to adhere to the rules of QBS
when responding to procurement announcements issued by
agencies covered by the public law or state/local equivalents.
In states where such laws and rules apply, licensees who do not
obey those rules when responding to procurement announce-
ments can be individually disciplined by their licensing board.
The recommended decision process for determining the pro-
curement approach that is the most appropriate for a specific
procurement scenario is outlined in Appendix 3, Professional
Geospatial Services Procurement Decision Model.
Guidelines for Other Methods of Procuring Services
ASPRS recognizes that the QBS process is not required by law
in all cases, particularly for services acquired by organizations
not subject to federal or state procurement laws, or in cases
for which the requested services may not be intended to deter-
mine authoritative locations, and therefore may not meet the
NCEES or State Law definitions of surveying services that are
often subject to A/E and QBS procurement laws.
ASPRS has long recommended that the Brooks Act or sim-
ilar qualifications based selection methods be used for pro-
curement of professional photogrammetry and related remote
sensor-based geospatial mapping services. However, ASPRS
recognizes there will be instances when an organization will
choose to use a procurement method wherein initial price sub-
mittals influence which proposer is selected for negotiations.
In those cases, ASPRS emphasizes the importance of imple-
menting procurement criteria that ensure that qualifications,
not cost, is the primary selection factor. ASPRS recommends
the following guidelines be applied to any procurement method
that does not adhere to the process outlined by the Brooks Act
or a similar QBS statute or process:
•
Qualifications should always be the primary selection
factor.
•
Qualifications rankings should not be influenced by cost.
•
The scope of work must be well defined and developed
by a professional who has extensive knowledge of the
work to be performed and is qualified to ensure that the
scope of work will best serve the client’s interests.
•
Projects that have a significant element of design, and
wherein the service provider’s professional judgment is
relied upon to develop the scope of work, methodology
or approach, should always use QBS and should not in-
clude cost as an initial selection criterion.
•
A registered, certified or otherwise qualified profession-
al with specific knowledge or expertise with the services
being procured (either on the client’s staff or hired as a
consultant) should have a significant role in the review
of both the technical proposal and any cost proposals in
order to ensure that the work best meets the end user
and public interests.
•
If project cost information are to be considered in the
selection process, they should be submitted separately
and considered only after proposers are ranked based
on qualifications.
Subcontracted Services
It is recognized that professional geospatial mapping services
may be procured within the scope of a more extensive project,
wherein the specific professional geospatial mapping services
would be considered “incidental” to the project. In cases where
the total dollar value of the geospatial mapping component of
the project is small, it is understood that other procurement
processes may reasonably apply.
However, regardless of the method of procurement for the
larger project, or the size of the geospatial mapping component
of the project, ASPRS recommends that these
Guidelines
be
applied to all professional geospatial mapping subcontracts.
VI. Summary: Procurement of PGMS
This section outlines definitions related to, and examples of,
Professional Geospatial Mapping Services (PGMS). Federal,
State and Local Government agencies, researchers, private
entities and other organizations can use this information to
help determine the best approach and methodology for pro-
curing PGMS. The intent of the information in this section
is to characterize PGMS deliverables and criteria to consider
when evaluating the procurement of geospatial services. Not
addressed in this section are procurement of geospatial prod-
ucts, hardware, software, technical services, or product sup-
port services with the exception of their mention in order to
distinguish them from the items covered herein.
