ACEC Florida CCNA Letter Campaign

ACEC Florida directs an educational letter campaign to educate public entities regarding the Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA).  This campaign is driven by ACEC Florida members who anonymously send Request for Proposal (RFP) to Headquarters.  This method ensures the government agency does not know which firm filed the complaint.  ACEC Florida staff corresponds with government officials to educate them on the CCNA law and encourage them to amend their RFP process.

In recent months, ACEC Florida has seen an increase in public entities asking for preliminary fee proposals in a separate sealed envelope.  The law reads under 287.055 section 4(b), “The agency may request, accept, and consider proposals for the compensation to be paid under the contract only during competitive negotiations under subsection five.”  So, even the act of requesting fees (even though they claim it won’t be a factor for consideration) is a violation since this phase of the RFP doesn’t involve “competitive negotiations.” ACEC Florida has seen success in turning these requests around and many entities have amended their RFP’s and returned the sealed bids.

This has been a successful program and we encourage all members to participate.  ACEC Florida created a brochure and PowerPoint presentation to educate both members and others who will be procuring professional services.  If you see an RFP that may be violating the CCNA law, please e-mail Laura Heiselman, Director of Political & Governmental Affairs, and be sure to include a copy of the document.

If a member firm or licensed engineer within a member firm knowingly violates CCNA, ACEC Florida believes you may be in violation of Chapter 471, rules and regulations.