1. (a) Composition of the Consultant Selection Team. The CST shall be composed of:

   1. (1) the managing office staff member designated by the managing officer to be the chair;
   2. (2) the department project manager;
   3. (3) at least one other department employee designated by the managing officer; and
   4. (4) a minimum of one professional engineer for engineering contracts, a minimum of one professional engineer or registered or licensed professional land surveyor for surveying contracts, and a minimum of one registered architect for architectural contracts.

2. (b) Qualification for long list.

   1. (1) The department may disqualify a firm if the department or the firm's references have knowledge that the firm or an employee of the firm has a record of unprofessional conduct, including, but not limited to, whether the appropriate licensing board has cited the firm or an employee of the firm for a violation of its rules concerning conduct.
   2. (2) If firm is not disqualified under paragraph (1), the CST will review each letter of interest to see if it meets the submittal requirements and precertification requirements of §9.33(b)(3) of this subchapter.
3. (c) Long list evaluation. The CST will review the information submitted in the letters of interest and evaluate each team on the long list to determine the short list based on the criteria described in subsection (d) of this section and as listed in the notice.

4. (d) Criteria. The CST will consider the following criteria in its review of long-listed providers:

   1. (1) project understanding and approach;
   2. (2) the provider project manager's experience with similar projects;
   3. (3) similar project related experience of the task leaders responsible for the major work categories identified in the notice; and
   4. (4) other criteria approved by the Design Division and listed in the notice.
5. (e) Score. The CST will assign a relative importance factor (RIF) weight to each criterion. The RIF total for all criteria will equal 100. Each criterion will be scored separately on a 0-10 point scale with 10 considered the best qualified. The maximum possible score that a CST member may give is 1000 points.
6. (f) Short list. For individual contract selections, the CST will prepare a short list containing a minimum of three of the most highly qualified providers unless fewer than three qualified providers submitted a letter of interest. For multiple contract selections, the short list shall contain a minimum number of providers equal to the desired number of contracts plus three unless fewer than the desired minimum submitted a letter of interest.
7. (g) Notification. The department will notify a firm submitting a letter of interest that it was or was not selected for the short list. If a firm is selected for the short list, the department will either notify it that a meeting will be held, or if a meeting is not held, the department will provide a Request for Proposal (RFP) or an Interview and Contract Guide (ICG). The department will also notify selected firms of any additional required reference information and the deadline for submission.

Source Note:The provisions of this §9.34 adopted to be effective April 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 64; amended to be effective March 21, 1999, 24 TexReg 1821; amended to be effective March 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 2053; amended to be effective January 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 363; amended to be effective February 17, 2005, 30 TexReg 725.