§4852 Diplomatic construction program

Summary

Only U.S. companies or qualifying U.S. joint ventures can get diplomatic construction or design contracts when there is enough competition and the project is over $25,000,000 or involves technical security, unless the Secretary of State says the technology is low-level. If a foreign country bans U.S. contractors, the rule does not apply there, but the exemption only kicks in 30 days after the Secretary of State tells the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Senate Committee on Appropriations what he has done to ask that country to allow U.S. contractors and what he will do under the Foreign Missions Act. Each year, at least 10 percent of the money for diplomatic construction or design projects should go, when possible, to American minority contractors and at least 10 percent should go, when possible, to American small business contractors. For a diplomatic construction project, a prime contractor may not subcontract more than 50 percent of the contract’s total value. Definitions: adequate competition = three or more qualified bidders; United States person = a U.S.-organized company with its main office in the U.S., incorporated more than 5 years before a large construction bid (or more than 2 years before a security-related bid), that has done similar work and meets U.S.-employee rules (65 percent of top managers and 65 percent of site supervisors must be U.S. citizens and more than half of permanent U.S. staff must be U.S. citizens); qualified United States joint venture person = a joint venture where U.S. person(s) own at least 51 percent of the assets.