Tuesday, October 26, 2010

County Establishes Construction Roster for Small Contractors

King County (Washington) is establishing a public works construction roster that will be limited to contractors with gross annual revenues less than $1 million.  

Small Projects for Small Contractors:  The "Limited Public Works Roster" will be used for projects less than $35,000, and is an attempt to help ensure that small contractors, many of whom are owned by minorities or women, are afforded an opportunity to compete on the County's public works projects.

State Law:  The roster is a tool authorized by Washington State law (RCW 39.04.155) that permits public agencies to take into account the annual gross revenues of contractors (as reported on their federal tax returns) as follows:
  • Solicit and award small works roster contracts to contractors with gross revenues under $1 million.
  • Encourage contractors with gross revenues under $250,000 to submit quotations or bids on small works roster contracts.  
Categories for Revenue Thresholds:  King County is establishing two categories on the roster based on the two revenue thresholds.  It's unclear to me how the County intends to use these two categories, especially since there doesn't appear to be authority to restrict competition to contractors with revenues less than $250,000, but only to "encourage" these firms to submit bids.

Roster Projects Not Advertised:  These small public works projects will not be advertised in the newspaper, but the County will invite a minimum of three contractors to submit bids, and will then rotate invitations to other contractors on the roster until all contractors in a trade category have been provided the opportunity to submit a bid before asking firms a second time.

More Information:  More information and the County's application form for the Limited Public Works Roster are available online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/procurement/Contractors/Limited_Public_Works.aspx.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog (© 2010 by Michael E. Purdy Associates) 
http://PublicContracting.blogspot.com

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