AIA Maine Submits Testimony In Support Of LD 100, An Act to Increase the Expenditure Limit for the Informal Bidding Process for the Selection of Professional, Architect and Engineer Services

Senator Baldacci, Representative Salisbury, and Honorable Members of the State and Local Government Committee;

My name is Elizabeth Frazier, and I am pleased to submit the following testimony on behalf of the Maine Chapter of the Architectural Institute of America (AIA Maine) in support of LD 100, An Act to Increase the Expenditure Limit for the Informal Bidding Process for the Selection of Professional, Architect and Engineer Services. 

AIA Maine supports this bill because it modernizes the statute to better reflect the cost realities of today’s projects and architectural services. To streamline government processes and shorten project timelines, this legislation proposes to raise the threshold for enabling an informal bid process for professional, architectural or engineering services from the current $25,000 limit to $50,000. 

Specifically, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), Bureau of General Services (the Department) currently maintains a list of professional, architectural and engineering entities in Maine that meet minimum requirements to be considered pre-approved for contractual work on certain projects. The Department can utilize that list today to request an informal bid process from the pre-approved entities, so long as the work does not exceed $25,000. If the work does exceed that amount, must go through a formal Request for Proposal process, which adds time and administrative work for the Department.

AIA Maine believes the proposed cap increase reflects the realities of project costs in today’s professional services market. Very few, if any, projects would run less than $25,000 in costs today – even the design on a single-family home could be that high – meaning that the Department is no longer able to take advantage of their informal bid process in the way it was originally intended.  By increasing the threshold to $50,000, we believe the Department will be able to streamline processes to benefit both Department staff and the professional services community, including architects.
We appreciate the committee’s consideration of this proposal to improve efficiency and thank you for your consideration!

Elizabeth Frazier
On behalf of AIA Maine
efrazier@pierceatwood.com