Fall 2023
NSPE Now
New Mexico PE Honored for Championing QBS
For nearly five decades, Jack Sullivan, P.E., P.S., F.NSPE, has served as a major proponent of the qualifications-based selection process and was instrumental in the development of the annual QBS Awards program. He was recently celebrated for his service as long-time QBS judge with a special honor during a luncheon held in Alburquerque, New Mexico.
The QBS Awards program, cosponsored by NSPE and ACEC, annually recognizes public and private entities that are examples of how well the QBS process works, and promotes the practice in jurisdictions that do not use, or underuse, QBS to procure engineering services. "QBS is a fair and transparent way of procuring professional services, an approach that benefits both the owner and the design professional, regardless of the size of either," says Sullivan. "To maintain QBS as the recognized method of professional procurement we must continue to support and recognize those who use QBS and provide practical examples to others."
A Commitment to Professional Responsibility
A dedication to professional responsibility and public service have been hallmarks of Jack Sullivan’s life and career. The Army veteran became an NSPE member in 1976. He served as president of the New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers and on the New Mexico Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. He has also given back to his local community by serving as an elected member of the Santa Fe County Commission and as a member of the Santa Fe Community College Governing Board.
REBECCA BOWMAN, ESQ., P.E., D.F.E., PRESENTED AN EXEMPLARY SERVICE AWARD TO JACK SULLIVAN, P.E., P.S., F.NSPE, FOR HIS DECADES OF SUPPORT OF QUALIFICATIONS-BASED SELECTION.
His strong support of QBS began with his appointment to the PEPP Professional Selection Committee in 1984, which initiated a movement to expand QBS to states and municipalities, modeling the federal Brooks A/E Act of 1972. This legislation applies to the procurement of services which require professionally licensed firms for design and consultation relating to federal construction or related projects.
In New Mexico, he worked closely with the attorney who drafted a comprehensive state procurement code with state legislators to help ensure that Brooks Act language was included in the legislation, which ultimately became law in 1984. In 1989, legislation was added to create a Professional Technical Advisory Committee to assist municipalities, at no cost, in preparing and evaluating qualifications-based proposals. This was another significant victory for the New Mexico PEPP under Sullivan’s guidance. These efforts also resulted in the annual QBS awards.
Sullivan chaired the Professional Selection Committee in 1994 and subsequently recommended that it be joined with the PEPP Government Affairs Committee to create the PEPP Government Relations Committee (established in 1995).
A Legacy of Advocacy
During Sullivan’s three-year term on the New Mexico licensing board, he made important contributions to the profession. Perhaps the most significant was his initiation and preparation of a board-approved letter of questions to the State Attorney General’s office regarding the use and non-use of QBS in New Mexico. In 1994, Sullivan and other professional engineers sought to enact rules that would prohibit engineers from bidding or including pricing information in their proposals for certain public projects in accordance with the Brooks Act and the American Bar Association’s Model Procurement Code. While it was not illegal to submit sealed price estimates or proposed man-hours for project proposals, the selection committee was prohibited from considering that information when evaluating proposals. At the time, Sullivan aptly compared this to something that often happens in jury trials. "That’s like telling the jury to disregard that last comment," he said. "If you’ve already heard it, no one’s going to disregard price."
Sullivan spent a year meeting with the deputy attorney general and her supervisor to explain how QBS works, a tireless effort that ultimately bore fruit when the resulting landmark AG opinion provided concise QBS procurement guidance in New Mexico for years.
Jack Sullivan has left a legacy of advocating for the qualifications-based selection of design professionals, and helping to assure a level playing field for smaller firms. Despite these impressive accomplishments, Sullivan is not one to rest on his laurels. He continues to stress the importance of supporting QBS, which he sees as a long-term endeavor. "Our profession is not static, and neither are the requirements of owners seeking engineering services," he says. "As the engineer’s role in society changes, we must continue to monitor procurement trends and legislation, provide assistance to procuring entities, and respond to changes."