P.R. Laws tit. 22, § 62
The Advisory Committee for the Development of the Puerto Rico Standard Contracting Act is hereby created to be attached to the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico. The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, or his/her designee, who shall preside it; the Executive Director of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, or his/her designee; the Executive Director of the Infrastructure Financing Authority, or his/her designee; the Executive Director of the Electric Power Authority, or his/her designee; a member of the College of Architects and Landscape Architects of Puerto Rico; a member of the College of Engineers and Land Surveyors of Puerto Rico; and a member of the Associated General Contractors of America, Puerto Rico chapter. Committee members who do not hold public office shall be considered members of the public interest and shall be appointed by the Governor, with the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works. No member of the Committee shall receive any compensation whatsoever for his/her services. The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works shall appoint an Executive Director, who shall have the powers and authority designated by the Committee.
All Committee members shall be appointed for a term of four (4) years. Any vacancy resulting from the resignation, death, disability, or removal of a Committee member of the public interest shall be filled by a successor appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico. Said successor shall serve until the end of such term.
Committee members who do not hold public office shall be exempt from the application of the provisions of §§ 1801 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Ethics in Government Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”. Therefore, the filing of reports concerning the non-salaried nature of their duties shall not be required.
Four (4) members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for purposes of any meeting, and all decisions must be approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members. However, at least one (1) of such affirmative votes must be cast by a member of the public interest.
The Committee shall be empowered to require information and cooperation from any agency or municipality in order to fulfill the purposes for which it was created.
The Committee shall have the following duties and functions:
(a) Draft a set of rules that allow for a flexible, uniform process that adjusts to the current needs of the public works of the government and to the practice of related professions. Such process must safeguard the general wellbeing and the fiscal resources of the People of Puerto Rico in the most efficient manner practicable;
(b) evaluate the process of contracting public works in municipalities in accordance with §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, known as the “Autonomous Municipalities Act”;
(c) prepare a standard document for contracting professional services, which shall provide a reasonable framework to streamline the contracting process and result in a cost-effective public investment carried out efficiently and in the shortest time possible, and
(d) adopt the Standard General Conditions approved by Act No. 198 of May 15, 1943, as amended.
The established agreement forms to be used by the agencies and, if it is deemed necessary and advisable, by the municipalities of the Government of Puerto Rico, to contract public works shall include, without it being construed as a limitation, the following:
(1) Professional design services (architects/engineers);
(2) professional construction management services (architects/engineers);
(3) professional inspection services (architects/engineers), and
(4) construction services (construction contract), including an individual
General Specifications for Construction Services that include:
(a) Lump Sum Projects.
(b) Unit Price Projects.
The Committee shall have eighteen (18) months to file the standard contract documents for the scheduling, management, design, inspection, and construction of public works in Puerto Rico.
The Committee’s recommendations regarding the general specifications and model agreements shall be submitted to the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works so that he/she may continue to follow the process provided in §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”.
Contractual agreements and standard general conditions authorized by this chapter shall have full force of law, and their application and use shall be mandatory for all agencies of the Government of Puerto Rico.
The Committee shall review the agreements and the standard general conditions three (3) years after their initial adoption. Subsequently, the Committee shall review the agreements every six (6) years. Any change, amendment, repeal, or adoption of new general specifications shall follow the procedure established in §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3.
History —Dec. 28, 2010, No. 218, § 4.