New Washington Public Works Laws Effective July 26, 2009

A variety of new laws impacting public works contracting in Washington State will become effective on July 26, 2009.

Among these new laws are the following:

• Bid and Purchase Limits
• HB 1196 - Increasing the Dollar Limit for Small Works Roster projects from $200,000 to $300,000.
• ESHB 1847 - Increasing the Bid Limit thresholds for cities, towns, counties, water & sewer districts, metropolitan park districts, fire districts, public hospital districts, school districts, and higher education. Different limits apply depending on the type of agency.
• SB 5228 - Construction projects by County forces
  
  
• Apprenticeship
• SB 5873 - Requiring use of apprentices on certain higher education public works projects, adding a mandatory bidder responsibility criterion related to compliance with apprenticeship requirements, and authorizing the state to debar contractors who fail to comply with apprenticeship standards
  
  
• Prevailing Wages
• SB 5903 - Public Works Contracts for Residential Construction. Making public agencies responsible for accurately identifying whether a project is subject to residential prevailing wages and requiring agencies to pay the difference in wages if an incorrect determination is made in the bidding process.
• SSB 5904 - Establishing standards for what constitutes an independent contractor with respect to prevailing wages.
  
  
• Change Orders
• HB 1195 - Requiring public agencies to execute change orders for undisputed work in a timely manner.
  
  
• Retainage and Bonding
  
• HB 1199- Eliminating outdated sections of state law related to retainage
• HB 1555 - Expanding the purpose of retainage to include the state Employment Security Department and Department of Labor and Industries, requiring public agencies to notify these agencies and receive their approval prior to release of retainage, and other provisions. I'm hoping that Labor and Industries will issue some type of instructions about how they intend to implement this legislation with respect to agencies requesting and receiving releases from them, and whether they will have this in place by the July 26, 2009 effective date. Look for something later this week.
  
• SSB 5499 - Permitting the Department of Transportation to reduce the amount of Payment and Performance Bonds on highway projects

• Alternative Public Works Contracting
• HB 1197 - Various clarifying provisions related to Design-Build, General Contractor/Construction Manager (GC/CM), and Job Order Contracting

If you would like detailed training on all or any of these legislative changes, or have questions, please contact me.