(a) It is the policy of the State of Arkansas that state agencies shall follow the procedures stated in this section, except that competitive bidding shall not be used for the procurement of legal, architectural, engineering, construction management, and land surveying professional consultant services if:
(1) State agencies not exempt from review and approval of the Building Authority Division shall follow procedures established by the division for the procurement of architectural, engineering, land surveying, and construction management services; and
(2) Institutions of higher education exempt from review and approval of the division shall follow procedures established by their governing boards for the procurement of architectural, engineering, land surveying, and construction management professional consultant services.
(b) It is the policy of the State of Arkansas and its political subdivisions that political subdivisions shall follow the procedures stated in this section, except that competitive bidding shall not be used for the procurement of legal, financial advisory, architectural, engineering, construction management, and land surveying professional consultant services.
(c) For purposes of this subchapter, a political subdivision of the state may elect to not use competitive bidding for other professional services not listed in subsection (b) of this section with a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the political subdivision's governing body.
(d)
(1) As used in this section, “construction management” means a project delivery method based on an agreement in which a state agency, political subdivision, public school district, or institution of higher education acquires from a construction entity a series of services that include, but are not limited to, design review, scheduling, cost control, value engineering, constructability evaluation, preparation and coordination of bid packages, and construction administration.
(2) “Construction management” includes, but is not limited to:
(A)
(i) “Agency construction management”, in which a public school district selects a construction manager to serve as an agent for the purpose of providing administration and management services.
(ii) The construction manager shall not hold subcontracts for the project or provide project bonding for the project;
(B) “At-risk construction management”, in which the construction entity, after providing agency services during the preconstruction period, serves as the general contractor and the following conditions are met:
(i) The construction manager provides a maximum guaranteed price;
(ii) The public school district holds all trade contracts and purchase orders; and
(iii) The portion of the project not covered by the trade contracts is bonded and guaranteed by the construction manager; and
(C)
(i) “General contractor construction management”, in which the construction entity, after providing agency services during the preconstruction period, serves as the general contractor.
(ii) The general contractor shall hold all trade contracts and purchase orders and shall bond and guarantee the project.
(e) As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Political subdivision” means counties, school districts, cities of the first class, cities of the second class, and incorporated towns; and
(2) “Other professional services” means professional services not listed in subsection (b) of this section as defined by a political subdivision with a two-thirds (2/3) vote of its governing body.