1. The public body or its authorized representative shall appoint a panel consisting of at least three but not more than seven members, a majority of whom must have experience in the construction industry, to rank the proposals submitted to the public body by evaluating the proposals as required pursuant to subsections 2 and 3.

2. The panel appointed pursuant to subsection 1 shall rank the proposals by:

(a) Verifying that each applicant satisfies the requirements of NRS 338.1691; and

(b) Evaluating and assigning a score to each of the proposals received by the public body based on the factors and relative weight assigned to each factor that the public body specified in the request for proposals.

3. When ranking the proposals, the panel appointed pursuant to subsection 1 shall assign a relative weight of 5 percent to the applicant’s possession of a certificate of eligibility to receive a preference in bidding on public works if the applicant submits a signed affidavit that meets the requirements of subsection 1 of NRS 338.0117. If any federal statute or regulation precludes the granting of federal assistance or reduces the amount of that assistance for a particular public work because of the provisions of this subsection, those provisions of this subsection do not apply insofar as their application would preclude or reduce federal assistance for that work.

4. After the panel appointed pursuant to subsection 1 ranks the proposals, the public body or its authorized representative shall, except as otherwise provided in subsection 8, select at least the two but not more than the five applicants whose proposals received the highest scores for interviews.

5. The public body or its authorized representative may appoint a separate panel to interview and rank the applicants selected pursuant to subsection 4. If a separate panel is appointed pursuant to this subsection, the panel must consist of at least three but not more than seven members, a majority of whom must have experience in the construction industry.

6. During the interview process, the panel conducting the interview may require the applicants to submit a preliminary proposed amount of compensation for managing the preconstruction and construction of the public work, including, without limitation, the cost of general overhead and profit, but in no event shall the proposed amount of compensation be less than 5 percent or more than 20 percent of the scoring for the selection of the most qualified applicant. All presentations made at any interview conducted pursuant to this subsection or subsection 5 may be made only by key personnel employed by the applicant, as determined by the applicant, and the employees of the applicant who will be directly responsible for managing the preconstruction and construction of the public work.

7. After conducting such interviews, the panel that conducted the interviews shall rank the applicants by using a ranking process that is separate from the process used to rank the applicants pursuant to subsection 2 and is based only on information submitted during the interview process. The score to be given for the proposed amount of compensation, if any, must be calculated by dividing the lowest of all the proposed amounts of compensation by the applicant’s proposed amount of compensation multiplied by the total possible points available to each applicant. When ranking the applicants, the panel that conducted the interviews shall assign a relative weight of 5 percent to the applicant’s possession of a certificate of eligibility to receive a preference in bidding on public works if the applicant submits a signed affidavit that meets the requirements of subsection 1 of NRS 338.0117. If any federal statute or regulation precludes the granting of federal assistance or reduces the amount of that assistance for a particular public work because of the provisions of this subsection, those provisions of this subsection do not apply insofar as their application would preclude or reduce federal assistance for that work.

8. If the public body did not receive at least two proposals, the public body may not contract with a construction manager at risk.

9. Upon receipt of the final rankings of the applicants from the panel that conducted the interviews, the public body or its authorized representative shall enter into negotiations with the most qualified applicant determined pursuant to the provisions of this section for a contract for preconstruction services, unless the public body required the submission of a proposed amount of compensation, in which case the proposed amount of compensation submitted by the applicant must be the amount offered for the contract. If the public body or its authorized representative is unable to negotiate a contract with the most qualified applicant for an amount of compensation that the public body or its authorized representative and the most qualified applicant determine to be fair and reasonable, the public body or its authorized representative shall terminate negotiations with that applicant. The public body or its authorized representative may then undertake negotiations with the next most qualified applicant in sequence until an agreement is reached and, if the negotiation is undertaken by an authorized representative of the public body, approved by the public body or until a determination is made by the public body to reject all applicants.

10. The public body or its authorized representative shall:

(a) Make available to all applicants and the public the following information, as determined by the panel appointed pursuant to subsection 1 and the panel that conducted the interviews, as applicable:

(1) The final rankings of the applicants;

(2) The score assigned to each proposal received by the public body; and

(3) For each proposal received by the public body, the score assigned to each factor that the public body specified in the request for proposals; and

(b) Provide, upon request, an explanation to any unsuccessful applicant of the reasons why the applicant was unsuccessful.

(Added to NRS by 2007, 2892; A 2009, 439; 2011, 50, 3696; 2013, 2976; 2015, 454; R 2013, 2986; A 2017, 4028; R 2017, 4035, effective July 1, 2021)