Departments shall use competitive proposal procedures based on the Brooks Act, paragraph 9-5e, when contracting for A&E services as defined in 40 U.S.C. §541 and 40 U.S.C. §5325(d).. The Brooks Act is federal policy relating to the selection of firms individuals to perform architectural, engineering, and related services. Other types of services considered A&E services include program management, construction management, feasibility studies, preliminary engineering design, surveying, mapping, and services which require performance by a registered or licensed architect or engineer.

The Brooks Act requires that:

  1. An offeror’s qualifications are evaluated;
  2. Price must be excluded as an evaluation factor;
  3. Negotiations be conducted with only the most qualified offeror; and
  4. Failing agreement on price, negotiations with the next most qualified offeror be conducted until a contract award can be made to the most qualified offeror whose price is fair and reasonable to the grantee. This “qualifications based procurement method” can only be used for the procurement of A&E services. This method of procurement cannot be used to obtain other types of services even though a firm that provides A&E services is also a potential source to perform other types of services.