Procedures

A summary of State Designer Selection Board (SDSB) procedures is listed below. Click on a procedure category to read more.

These procedures were last approved by board members on July 10, 2007.

Request for Proposals
The SDSB process begins with a request for proposals (RFP).
1. Executive Secretary receives draft copy of RFP by email from user agency.
2. Executive Secretary assigns a board member (based on rotation of board members) and forwards the draft RFP to that member for review. Executive Secretary notifies the agency which board member will be reviewing the draft RFP.
3. Board member reviews and electronically (email/fax) responds to agency, with a cc to Executive Secretary. (If the board member is unable to review the RFP, the member notifies the Executive Secretary who will assign a new member to review it.)
4. Executive Secretary and agency establish a calendar of events for the project that is incorporated into the RFP, et al. Whatever changes the agency makes in response to the board member's comments to the RFP are forwarded to the Executive Secretary in the final draft RFP, together with the Project Initiation Form (PIF) and the Notice for the State Register.
5. Executive Secretary receives documents and date stamps them. Executive Secretary dates the PIF, calculates the 60 day calendar, and enters this information on the PIF. Executive Secretary reviews Notice and forwards it to the State Register for publication on specified dates.
6. On the first date of publication, the Executive Secretary posts the project summary on the SDSB Website. The Agency posts the RFP and associated documents on their Website on the first date of publication.
7. Agency posts any addenda on their website and notifies Executive Secretary of its posting.
8. On the day the RFP responses are due, the Executive Secretary downloads project specific information from agency's website to copy for the board's evaluation of proposals.
Proposal Receipt
The SDSB follows a specific process when receiving proposals.
1. Usually, the submission deadline for receipt of proposals from firms will be 12:00 p.m. on the Monday two weeks after the last date the Notice of RFP was published in the State Register¹.
2. All proposals are received electronically at the email noted in the RFP.
3. Time/Date received is the time/date the email is auto dated/time stamped as received with the proposal attached.
4. The Executive Secretary prepares a Submittal Evaluation Worksheet for the board members to use when reviewing the proposals.
5. The Executive Secretary labels each proposal by letter in the order of arrival, collates the proposals, and sends a packet to each board member by U.S. Mail as soon as possible after the proposals are received². The packet includes the following:
  - One copy of each proposal
  - RFP
  - Any Addenda
  - Reading Day Submittal Evaluation worksheet
  - Executive Summary of the Predesign, or the Predesign if available
  - Project site/location map
¹Any late proposal is rejected and the firm is sent a letter of disqualification.

²The mailing must occur no later than the following morning to allow time for the board members to review the documents when the shortlisting meeting is the following week.
Preliminary Review
Next, SDSB members read and review all proposals.
1. Prior to the shortlisting meeting of the board, each member reads and reviews all proposals.
2. On the date scheduled in the RFP, the board meets to discuss proposals. The board discusses each proposal in alphabetical order by the letter assigned to it. Note: The board includes one voting member from the user agency, and the non-voting representative from the Dept. of Administration.
3. The user agency is encouraged to comment on any aspect of the project under consideration which, in their judgment, may not have been covered adequately in the Request for Proposal's (RFP) Project Description. In addition, the board's voting members may request clarification from the user agency on any aspect of the project, which will assist them in their evaluations.
4. The board especially values the user agency's input relative to user's mission and operations, past experiences in working with designers, the merit of the proposals, the subsequent presentations, and the site, architectural, and engineering characteristics important to the facility's design.
5. The board votes to determine the number of firms to interview.
6. The board then votes to determine the time length of the interviews and question and answer periods.
7. Finally, the Board votes to select the firms to be interviewed. Each member is given the same number of votes as there are firms being interviewed. (Typically three.) Each member is polled for their votes. After each member states their votes, the totals are tallied, and the top vote getters, equaling the previously determined number of interviews, are shortlisted.
8. Within a day of the shortlisting meeting, the Executive Secretary prepares a letter to the shortlisted firms notifying them of their selection and the time and date of their interview. The firms that are not shortlisted are copied on the letter. The letter is sent out by email to the email address provided on that firm's Transmittal Form included with their proposal.
9. The Executive Secretary then updates the project summary information on the SDSB website.
Interview Selection
Next, the SDSB coordinates interviews with finalists.
1. Each firm, in turn, is welcomed and congratulated for having been shortlisted for the project. (Board chair)
2. Introduction of participants (board voting/non-voting members; department and user agency representatives; State or agency project manager; and, board's Executive Secretary). (Board chair)
3. Introduction of observers, if any. (Board chair)
4. Each firm, in turn, is informed of the time limits for the presentation and question/answer portions of the interview with the chair being the timekeeper.
5. Upon completion of each firm presentation, board initiates the question/answer portion of the interview until the time set for the question/answer period has expired.
6. At the completion of each interview, the board chair will thank the firm for their appearance before the board. Each firm is told when they can expect to be informed of the board's decision by the board's Executive Secretary.
7. After the interviews, the board will discuss each firm using the RFP criteria. After discussion, the agency will caucus to determine the firm(s) they want to choose.
8. Following the agency caucus, the user agency-voting representative will be asked to inform the board both (1) the results of the caucus and (2) the strengths and weaknesses of each firm interviewed, as perceived by the caucus.
9. The Chair asks the board if there are any additional comments. Each of the board's voting members may make final comments if they choose.
10. For State projects, the board then votes to select the designer. Each member votes once and the team with the greatest number of votes is selected. In the event of a tie, the non-voting representative from the Dept. of Administration will cast the deciding vote. The board then determines which team will be an alternate in case the selected firm is unable to finalize contract terms. The remaining firm with the next greatest number of votes is chosen as the alternate. If needed, the board will vote for the alternate team. For University of Minnesota or MnSCU projects, the board determines the number of firms that will be forwarded to the agency for further consideration by vote. After determining the number of firms to be forwarded, each board member votes for that number of firms. The top vote-getters are forwarded for further consideration. In the event of a tie, the board will consider whether to forward the names of the firms that tied for further consideration.
11. After completion of the vote, the board states the RFP criteria upon which the selected firm(s) was chosen. The selected firm(s) and reasons for selection are recorded in the meeting minutes.
12. Within a day of the interviews, the Executive Secretary prepares a letter to the interviewed firms notifying them of the board's decision. All interviewed firms are copied on the letter. The letter is sent out by email to the email address provided on that firm's Transmittal Form included with their proposal.
13. The Executive Secretary then updates the project summary information on the SDSB website.
14. For higher education projects, once the Executive Secretary is told who the final selection is, the secretary will post this information on the SDSB website project summary.
More information on interviews: Finalist Interviews Information Sheet (PDF) - Board Approved November 25, 2014
Meeting Minutes
The SDSB process for recording meeting minutes is below.
1. All meetings will be digitally recorded. These recordings are uploaded to the SDSB website and are left on the site for two weeks following the interviews. Thereafter, they are available upon request.
2. Following each meeting, the Executive Secretary drafts written minutes for review and approval by the board. After approval, the Executive Secretary signs and distributes them to the board members, Dept. of Admin. Commissioner's Office, and the Attorney General's Office. Written minutes are kept by the Executive Secretary in SDSB files.