House Panel Approves Bill Prohibiting Reverse Auctions for Construction

Take Action: Urge Your U.S. Senators and Representative to Support H.R. 2751  On March 5, the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee unanimously approved by voice vote the Common Sense Construction Contracting Act of 2013, H.R. 2751, introduced by Representative Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.).  This legislation would essentially prohibit federal agencies from procuring construction services through reverse auctions.  This is the first major hurdle the bill had to jump before coming law. However, more hurdles remain ahead in the legislative process. Please take action and urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to support H.R. 2751. The bill was introduced shortly after AGC’s May 2013 testimony before the House Small Business Committee on the need for this legislation. AGC also testified before a joint House Veterans Affairs and House Small Business Committee hearing on the need to prohibit procurement of construction services through reverse auctions in December 2013.  Several agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of the Interior, are using reverse auctions to procure construction services for full-range construction projects, including million dollar building renovations, national park road construction, and material supply and delivery. In addition, the General Services Administration launched its own web-based reverse auction platform—which includes the option of procuring construction services—for federal agency use last year. Again, please take action and urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to support H.R. 2751. For more information, please see AGC of America’s summary on this issue and bill here. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at (703) 837-5325 orchristiansonj@agc.org.