N.Y. State Fin. Law § 136-a

§ 136-a. Contracts for architectural, engineering, geological and\nsurveying services. 1. As used in this section: the term "professional\nfirm" shall be defined as any individual or sole proprietorship,\npartnership, corporation, association or other legal entity permitted by\nlaw to practice the professions of architecture, engineering, geology or\nsurveying.\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 geological and/or\nsurveying services on the basis of demonstrated competence and\nqualification for the type of professional services required and at fair\nand reasonable fees.\n 3. In the procurement of architectural, engineering, geological and\nsurveying services, the requiring state department shall encourage\nprofessional firms engaged in the lawful practice of the profession to\nsubmit an annual statement of qualifications and performance data. The\nrequiring state department for each proposed project shall evaluate\ncurrent statements of qualifications and performance data on file with\nthe department. 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 geological service and/or surveying services at\ncompensation which the department determines in writing to be fair and\nreasonable to the state of New York. In making this decision, the\ndepartment shall take into account the estimated value of the services\nto be rendered, including the costs, the scope, complexity, and\nprofessional nature thereof. The department shall not refuse to\nnegotiate with a professional firm solely because the ratio of the\n"allowable indirect costs" to direct labor costs of the professional\nfirm or the hourly labor rate in any labor category of the professional\nfirm exceeds a limitation generally set by the department in the\ndetermination of the reasonableness of the estimated cost of services to\nbe rendered by the professional firm, but rather the department should\nalso consider the reasonableness of cost based on the total estimated\ncost of the service of the professional firm which should include, among\nother things, all the direct labor costs of the professional firm for\nsuch services plus all "allowable indirect costs," other direct costs,\nand negotiated profit of the professional firm. "Allowable indirect\ncosts" of a professional firm are defined as those costs generally\nassociated with overhead which cannot be specifically identified with a\nsingle project or contract and are considered reasonable and allowable\nunder specific state contract or allowability limits. Should the\nrequiring state department be unable to negotiate a satisfactory\ncontract with the professional firm considered to be the most qualified,\nat a fee the department determines to be fair and reasonable to the\nstate of New York, negotiations with that professional firm shall be\nformally terminated. The requiring state department shall then undertake\nnegotiations with the second most qualified professional firm. Failing\naccord with the second most qualified professional firm, the department\nshall formally terminate negotiations. The requiring state department\nshall then undertake negotiations with the third most qualified\nprofessional firm. Should the requiring state department be unable to\nnegotiate a satisfactory contract with any of the selected professional\nfirms, it shall select additional professional firms in order of their\ncompetence and qualification and it shall continue negotiations in\naccordance with this section until an agreement is reached.\n 5. This legislation shall only apply to engineering and/or\narchitectural services and/or geological and/or surveying services in\nexcess of twenty-five thousand dollars.\n