Proposed Legislation Amending Alternative Public Works Contracting Methods

On Friday, February 1, 2008, the House Committee on State Government and Tribal Affairs will hold a public hearing on HB 2780 in Hearing Room D of the John L. O'Brien Building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia at 8:00 a.m.

The proposed legislation is a recommendation from the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) to amend legislation from the 2007 legislative session, primarily relating to the use of Design-Build as an alternative public works project delivery system.

Some of the key elements of the proposed legislation that would amend a half-dozen sections of RCW 39.10 are as follows:

1) The legislation would permit the use of ten Design-Build demonstration projects between $2 million and $10 million, subject to review and approval by CPARB's Project Review Committee. The current threshold for the use of Design-Build is that a project must be greater than $10 million.

2) The legislation would also permit two of the demonstration projects using a Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) model for a period greater than the current three year cap on operations and maintenance.

3) The legislation would clarify that the public owner must pay an appropriate honorarium to finalists submitting responsive proposals that are not awarded a Design-Build contract, instead of the language in the current law that honorariums should be paid to those submitting best and final proposals.

4) The legislation clarifies language relating to a public agency seeking certification for use of Design-Build and GC/CM (General Contractor/Construction Manager). It specifies that in order to be approved as an experienced public owner by the Project Review Committee for the use of Design-Build, the agency must have successfully completed one Design-Build project, and in order for an agency to be approved to use GC/CM contracting as an experienced public agency, the agency must have successfully completed one GC/CM project. The current language is ambiguous, leading some to believe that an agency could use Design-Build experience to obtain GC/CM approval and GC/CM experience to obtain Design-Build certification.