On the Engineering Influence podcast, sponsored by the ACEC Life/Health Trust, ACEC Illinois Executive Director Kevin Artl discusses how his Member Organization worked to defeat a proposed bill that would have weakened the state's Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) law. 

QBS is a central pillar of ACEC’s advocacy program. QBS is a competitive process in which public agencies evaluate and select consulting engineers based on their qualifications, and then the parties negotiate the project scope of work, schedule, budget, and fee.

QBS was originally passed on the federal level in 1972 and over the years its use has expanded to many states, which recognize that public safety requires contracting with the most qualified design firms.

Over the years there have been many challenges to QBS on both the federal and state levels and ACEC and its Member Organizations have been diligent in defeating them.