§286. Retaining of consultants warranted; authorization

A. There are three conditions which shall warrant the retention of the services of consultants by the department:

(1) The magnitude of the work involved in a project is determined to be so taxing to the department's available manpower that it will be necessary to defer other essential work if the work is performed by the department staff.

(2) The work required by a project is determined to be of such a specialized nature that the department will be required to go outside its own staff for experts in the appropriate fields to accomplish the work.

(3) The time frame within which the work must be completed is determined to be such that the department cannot undertake the work and maintain its program on schedule.

B.(1) When it is determined by any department section that consulting services are warranted, the section head shall submit a recommendation to the chief engineer, assistant secretary for operations, assistant secretary for planning and programming, or assistant secretary of public works, hurricane flood protection, and intermodal transportation, whichever is applicable to the project, stating the need and the supportive reasons for the services, including a description of the project and the estimated cost of the work to be performed.

(2) The chief engineer, assistant secretary for operations, assistant secretary for planning and programming, or assistant secretary of public works, hurricane flood protection, and intermodal transportation, whichever is applicable to the project, shall decide if the need to use consultants for professional services for a project is warranted based upon information provided by the section head and the criteria established by Subsection A of this Section.

(3) Approval, when granted, shall be considered as being of a general nature, including not only the obvious components of the project which are immediately identifiable, but also ancillary components identified at any time during the life of the project. An additional selection process shall be used for ancillary components when the total of such ancillary components amounts to more than seventy-five percent of the original contract.

(4) When it is determined by the chief engineer, assistant secretary for operations, assistant secretary for planning and programming, or assistant secretary of public works, hurricane flood protection, and intermodal transportation, whichever is applicable to the project, that there is a need for an outside consultant, the selection shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

Acts 1991, No. 784, §1; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §1; Acts 2009, No. 255, §1, eff. July 1, 2009.