N.Y. State Fin. Law § 136-a

§ 136-a. Contracts for architectural, engineering, geological,\nlandscape architecture and surveying services. 1. As used in this\nsection: the term "professional firm" shall be defined as any individual\nor sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association or other\nlegal entity permitted by law to practice the professions of\narchitecture, engineering, geology, landscape architecture 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 geological and/or\nlandscape architecture and/or surveying services on the basis of\ndemonstrated competence and qualification for the type of professional\nservices required and at fair and reasonable fees.\n 3. In the procurement of architectural, engineering, geological,\nlandscape architecture and surveying services, the requiring state\ndepartment shall encourage professional firms engaged in the lawful\npractice of the profession to submit an annual statement of\nqualifications and performance data. The requiring state department for\neach proposed project shall evaluate current statements of\nqualifications and performance data on file with the department. If\ndesired, the requiring state department may conduct discussions with\nthree or more professional firms regarding anticipated design concepts\nand proposed methods of approach to the assignment. The state department\nshall select, in order of preference, based upon criteria established by\nthe requiring state department, no less than three professional firms\ndeemed to be the most highly qualified to provide 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 landscape architecture and/or\nsurveying services at compensation which the department determines in\nwriting to be fair and reasonable to the state of New York. In making\nthis decision, the department shall take into account the estimated\nvalue of the services to be rendered, including the costs, the scope,\ncomplexity, and professional nature thereof. The department shall not\nrefuse to negotiate with a professional firm solely because the ratio of\nthe "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 landscape architecture\nand/or surveying services in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars.\n