N.Y. State Fin. Law § 136-a

§ 136-a. Contracts for architectural, engineering and surveying\nservices. 1. As used in this section: the term "professional firm" shall\nbe defined as any individual or sole proprietorship, partnership,\ncorporation, association or other legal entity permitted by law to\npractice the professions of architecture, engineering or surveying.\n The term "state department" shall be defined as those state government\ndepartments, divisions or commissions empowered by the state to enter\ninto contractual agreements on behalf of the state of New York.\n 2. It is the policy of New York state to negotiate contracts for\narchitectural and/or engineering services and/or surveying services on\nthe basis of demonstrated competence and qualification for the type of\nprofessional services required and at fair and reasonable fees.\n 3. In the procurement of architectural, engineering and surveying\nservices, the requiring state department shall encourage professional\nfirms engaged in the lawful practice of the profession to submit an\nannual statement of qualifications and performance data. The requiring\nstate department for each proposed project shall evaluate current\nstatements of qualifications and performance data on file with the\ndepartment. If desired, the requiring state department may conduct\ndiscussions with three or more professional firms regarding anticipated\ndesign concepts and proposed methods of approach to the assignment. The\nstate department shall select, in order of preference, based upon\ncriteria established by the requiring state department, no less than\nthree professional firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to\nprovide the services required.\n 4. The requiring state department shall negotiate a contract with the\nhighest qualified professional firm for architectural and/or engineering\nservices and/or surveying services at compensation which the department\ndetermines in writing to be fair and reasonable to the state of New\nYork. In making this decision, the department shall take into account\nthe estimated value of the services to be rendered, including the costs,\nthe scope, complexity, and professional nature thereof. The department\nshall not refuse to negotiate with a professional firm solely because\nthe ratio of the "allowable indirect costs" to direct labor costs of the\nprofessional firm or the hourly labor rate in any labor category of the\nprofessional firm exceeds a limitation generally set by the department\nin the determination of the reasonableness of the estimated cost of\nservices to be rendered by the professional firm, but rather the\ndepartment should also consider the reasonableness of cost based on the\ntotal estimated cost of the service of the professional firm which\nshould include, among other things, all the direct labor costs of the\nprofessional firm for such services plus all "allowable indirect costs,"\nother direct costs, and negotiated profit of the professional firm.\n"Allowable indirect costs" of a professional firm are defined as those\ncosts generally associated with overhead which cannot be specifically\nidentified with a single project or contract and are considered\nreasonable and allowable under specific state contract or allowability\nlimits. Should the requiring state department be unable to negotiate a\nsatisfactory contract with the professional firm considered to be the\nmost qualified, at a fee the department determines to be fair and\nreasonable to the state of New York, negotiations with that professional\nfirm shall be formally terminated. The requiring state department shall\nthen undertake negotiations with the second most qualified professional\nfirm. Failing accord with the second most qualified professional firm,\nthe department shall formally terminate negotiations. The requiring\nstate department shall then undertake negotiations with the third most\nqualified professional firm. Should the requiring state department be\nunable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with any of the selected\nprofessional firms, it shall select additional professional firms in\norder of their competence and qualification and it shall continue\nnegotiations in accordance with this section until an agreement is\nreached.\n 5. This legislation shall only apply to engineering and/or\narchitectural services and/or surveying services in excess of\ntwenty-five thousand dollars.\n