Section 11-35-3320 - Task order contracts(A) The term "task order contract" means a contract that does not procure or specify a firm quantity of services, other than a minimum or maximum quantity, and that provides for the issuance of task orders for the performance of tasks during the period of the contract. Subject to the requirements of this section and other applicable law, a governmental body may enter into task order contracts to acquire construction services when the exact time or exact quantities of future tasks are not known at the time of contract award. In accordance with Section 11-35-4810, the State Engineer may award task order contracts on behalf of any governmental body and for use by any state public procurement unit authorized by the State Engineer.(B) At any given time, a governmental body may enter into task order contracts with four businesses for each geographic area for each licensing classification and subclassification for construction. Licensing classification and subclassification has the meaning provided by Chapter 11, Title 40. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a task order contract for construction must be procured as provided in Section 11-35-1530, not including paragraph (4) (Request for Qualifications) or paragraph (8) (Negotiations). All evaluations must be conducted by a panel composed of at least three members. A governmental body shall invite the State Engineer or his designee to serve as one of the panel members. Except as provided by regulation, award must be made to the four responsible offerors whose proposals are determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the State, taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals. The contract file must contain the basis on which the awards will be made and must be sufficient to satisfy external audit. Procedures and requirements for the notification of intent to award the contracts must be the same as those provided in Section 11-35-1520(1) (Award). Section 11-35-3023 does not apply to contracts awarded pursuant to this section.(C) Limitations on task order contracts. (1) A task order contract awarded for geographic area may not be used to perform services at a different geographic area.(2) A task order contract may not exceed five years, including extensions.(3) Total expenditures pursuant to all task order contracts for construction resulting from a single solicitation may not exceed four million dollars.(4) The total construction cost of a single project performed using multiple task orders or task orders in combination with other types of contracts may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars. Projects may not be divided artificially to avoid this limitation.(5) A single project must not be performed using task order contracts for construction in combination with contracts awarded pursuant to Section 11-35-1550. Standards for determining whether work constitutes a single project must be established in the Manual for Planning and Execution of State Permanent Improvements.(D) Limitations on task orders.(1) A task order must clearly specify all tasks to be performed or property to be delivered under the order so the full price for the performance of the work can be established when the order is placed. All task orders must be issued on a fixed-price basis.(2) A quote request for construction must be provided to all task order contractors. A task order for construction may not be issued unless the governmental body receives at least two responsive, bona fide, fixed-price quotes. Any award must be issued to the contractor submitting the lowest responsive quote.(3) All task orders must be issued within the period of the contract and must be within the scope and maximum value of the contract.(4) A task order for construction may not be less than ninety thousand dollars and may not exceed three hundred fifty thousand dollars. Work may not be aggregated or divided artificially in order to avoid these limits.(E) Any solicitation for a task order contract must include the following:(1) the period of the contract, including the number of options to extend the contract and the period for which the contract may be extended under each option, if any;(2) the maximum dollar value of the services to be procured under the contract;(3) the minimum and maximum dollar value of the services to be procured under a single task order;(4) a description that reasonably describes the licensing classification and the general scope, nature, complexity, and purposes of the services to be procured under the contract in a manner that will enable a prospective offeror to decide whether to submit an offer;(5) the procedures that the governmental body will use for requesting fixed price quotes and for issuing orders, a restriction on communications between contractors regarding pending quote requests, and a requirement that all contractors must respond to all quote requests;(6) the geographic area to which the task order contract applies. Ordinarily, a geographically contiguous area should not be subdivided; and(7) the number of task order contracts to be awarded.(F) Every award of a task order contract must be approved by the Office of the State Engineer and is subject to procedures or guidelines established in the Manual for Planning and Execution of State Permanent Improvements. A governmental body shall submit to the Office of the State Engineer any reports required by the Manual for Planning and Execution of State Permanent Improvements.(G) Administrative review under Article 17 is not available for the award of an individual task order, except for a protest of the award of a task order on the ground that the order increases the scope, period, or maximum value of the task order contract under which the order is issued.Added by 2019 S.C. Acts, Act No. 41 (SB 530),s 50, eff. 5/13/2019. 2019 Act No. 41, Section 80, provides as follows:
"SECTION 80. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to solicitations issued after that date."