P.R. Laws tit. 9, § 2004g
The contracts referred to in §§ 2004a and 2004e of this title shall be awarded by means of negotiated competitive bids.
The Secretary of Transportation and Public Works, the Executive Director of the Authority, or any other agency or department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision thereof to which any of these delegate, shall be responsible for negotiating the terms and conditions of the contracts referred to in §§ 2004a and 2004e of this title, subject to the following rules:
(a) The Secretary of Transportation and Public Works and the Executive Director shall establish administratively the procedures and guidelines that shall rule the process of negotiated competitive bids, with the purpose of obtaining the largest number of bidders; to promote competition among them and maintain the confidentiality of the negotiation process prior to the award.
(b) The regulations for negotiated bids shall include the qualifying criteria for bidders and for awarding contracts, among which the following shall be included:
(1) The total estimated cost of the proposed project.
(2) An estimate of the proposed toll tax.
(3) The professional capacity and experience of the bidder to develop, construct, operate and maintain highways and ancillary transit facilities.
(4) The quality and adaptability of the technology, proposed construction materials, as well as the services to be offered by the bidder; Provided, That as of July 1, 2011, recycled aggregates or other similar materials shall be incorporated into the base or subbase material in the construction of new roads, insofar as their quality, standards, and/or specifications meet those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA); and that the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Highway and Transportation Authority, the municipalities, and private entities contracted by any of the above adopt regulatory measures to ensure compliance with this chapter.
(5) The economic capacity of the bidder, his guarantors and underwriters to be responsible for the obligations contracted under the contract to be awarded.
(6) The financing of the project proposed by the bidder.
(7) The quality of the proposal submitted by the bidder with regard to design, engineering, estimated construction time, required capital investment, financing plan, timeframe for recovery of capital, internal rate of return employed by the bidder, the projected net income flow and the estimated toll tax required to recover the capital and cover the cost of the project during the term of the contract.
(8) That any bidder who is interested in being awarded a contract that includes the construction and repair of a pedestrian bridge or overpass whose design stage begins as of June 1, 2012, be notified that the installation of a safety fence must be included as an essential part of the work, the construction of a new work, or the repair or construction in an existing work. The same shall cover the bridge, pedestrian bridges, or comply with the height established by regulations adopted by the Highways and Transportation Authority (HTA) for those bridges through which vehicles and pedestrian pass.
(c) The regulations for the negotiable open bids shall include in its procedures, the following processes among others:
(1) Publish a notice calling for letters of qualification in a newspaper of general circulation.
(2) Communicate the information to be submitted with the letters of qualification and general information about the projects to be done, to the interested parties.
(3) Evaluate the letters of qualification and choose the applicants with the highest number of points to ask for their proposals.
(4) Ask the applicants for proposals on how to carry out the project.
(5) Evaluate the proposals and remit them to the Adjudications Board.
(6) Award through the Adjudications Board, the proposal that best satisfies the requirements of the project and establish the order of preference of the next proposals.
(7) Establish the terms to initiate negotiations, by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works and/or the Executive Director of the Authority, with the person obtaining the highest number of points in the award of the Adjudications Board, as well as the procedures to continue negotiations with the other applicants in a strict order of award, in case an agreement is not reached with the person who was awarded the first place. The procedure shall continue until a contract can be agreed upon, or the Secretary determines that it is not possible to obtain one under the reigning conditions, in which case the project may be discarded, a new process of negotiable open bids may be initiated, or the Commonwealth of the Authority may carry out the project directly.
The Board shall award the bid to the bidder who best satisfies the criteria established in this section and in the regulations approved thereunder.
History —June 23, 1965, No. 74, p. 158, added as § 4-G on Aug. 24, 1990, No. 4, p. 1400, § 7; July 26, 2010, No. 89, § 1; May 24, 2012, No. 97, § 2; Dec. 27, 2013, No. 174, § 5.