CCNA stands for the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act, Florida Statutes section 287.055. For covered public projects, an agency announces the need, ranks at least three qualified firms, and only then negotiates fees with the top-ranked firm. Price comes last, not first.
If you sell engineering services to Florida cities, counties, school boards or state agencies, this is the rulebook behind many of the notices you see. Here is how it works, step by step. This is a plain-language guide to the statute, not legal advice. Always read the statute itself and the specific notice.
What services CCNA covers
Section 287.055(2)(a) defines professional services as those "within the scope of the practice of architecture, professional engineering, landscape architecture, or registered surveying and mapping." These are the services that agencies buy through qualifications-based selection rather than by lowest price.
Step 1: The public announcement
Each agency must "publicly announce, in a uniform and consistent manner, each occasion when professional services must be purchased." The notice must include a general description of the project and how interested consultants may apply. The announcement requirement applies above certain thresholds: construction cost above the Category Five amount, or a study fee above the Category Two amount, with exceptions such as valid public emergencies (s. 287.055(3)(a)). Under section 287.017, Category Five is $325,000 and Category Two is $35,000 as printed in the 2026 statute text.
What you do: watch the places agencies post notices, and keep a tracker of due dates. Public notice aggregators and agency procurement portals are the usual places. Always verify details on the official notice.
Step 2: Statements of qualifications
Interested firms submit qualifications. The agency must find a firm "fully qualified to render the required service," considering "capabilities, adequacy of personnel, past record, and experience" (s. 287.055(3)(c)). The evaluation can also consider certified minority business enterprise status and other factors the agency sets (3)(d). Proceedings are public: "The public must not be excluded from the proceedings" (3)(e).
What you do: keep a current package ready: team resumes, relevant project experience, licenses, references. Updating it takes hours if you start from last time's version, and days if you start from nothing.
Step 3: Shortlist and ranking
The agency evaluates the submittals and "shall conduct discussions with, and may require public presentations by, no fewer than three firms" (4)(a). It then selects "in order of preference no fewer than three firms deemed to be the most highly qualified" (4)(b). The statute lists the factors, including ability of professional personnel, past performance, willingness to meet time and budget requirements, location, and recent, current and projected workloads.
Notice the point on price. Fee proposals are not part of ranking: "The agency may request, accept, and consider proposals for the compensation to be paid under the contract only during competitive negotiations under subsection (5)" (4)(b).
What you do: prepare the people who will present. Agree who speaks, which projects you show, and how you describe your current workload honestly.
