Washington State Releases Updated List of Debarred Contractors

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries recently released an updated list of debarred contractors. Debarred contractors are not allowed to work on any public works project in Washington State. 

Reasons for Debarment: Contractors can be debarred for violations of laws relating to:

• Prevailing wages (RCW 39.12)
• Contractor registration (RCW 18.27)
• Workers’ compensation (RCW 51.48).

The list of debarred contractors includes additional details such as the beginning and (where applicable) ending date of debarment, the RCW section violated, and whether penalties and/or wages are owed.

Most of the 107 contractors were debarred for violation of prevailing wage law (RCW 39.12):

And, not surprisingly, a similar portion of contractors are debarred until wages or penalties are paid:

Checking State Debarment:  Who should use this list and when?

• Public agencies must check the list before awarding a public works contract to make sure they don't award a contract to a debarred contractor (part of the mandatory bidder responsibility criteria of RCW 39.04.350)

• Contractors must check the list before signing a contract with a subcontractor for a public works project to make sure the subcontractor is not on the list (part of the subcontractor responsibility criteria of RCW 39.06.020)

Checking Federal Debarment:  In addition to checking the Washington State debarment list, projects receiving federal dollars must ensure that firms signing contracts worth $25,000 or more are not debarred or suspended from doing business with the federal government.

I have written several posts on federal debarment in the past:

• Multiple Audit Findings on Not Conducting Federal Debarment Checks
• Performing Federal Debarment Checks for Sub-Recipients
• Federal Funding Brings Federal Requirements
• And many more...

Additional State Debarment Requirements:  In addition, contractors may be debarred based on infractions related to other laws.  Contractors must:

• Be in compliance with apprenticeship requirements, and
  
• Properly report items pre-fabricated for the project outside of Washington

So far it appears that no contractors have been debarred for violating either of these provisions.  Presumably, the Department of Labor and Industries will add violations of these provisions to their existing list of debarred contractors.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog 

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