R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-2-68: Final selection — Public agency — Directors.

(a) The chief purchasing officer shall select no more than (3) firms (or two (2) if only two (2) apply) evaluated as being professionally and technically qualified. The firms selected, if still interested in providing the services, shall make a representative available to the directors of the public agency at such time and place as they shall determine, to provide such further information as they may require.

(b) The directors of the public agency shall negotiate with the highest qualified firm for a contract for architectural, engineering, or consultant services for the public agency at compensation which the directors determine to be fair and reasonable to the public agency. In making the determination, the directors shall take into account the professional competence of the offerors, the technical merits of the offerors, and the price for which the services are to be rendered. The directors of the public agency shall be responsible for the final selection of the providers of architectural, engineering, or consultant services.