Follow-up on Washington's New Public Works Bid Preference Law

As a follow-up to my blog posting of March 11, 2012 about the State of Washington's new public works bid preference law, there are three additional things to keep mind.

• Federally Funded Projects:  If federal funding agencies prohibit the application of the bid preferences, then the provisions of the new law, RCW 39.04.380, do not apply.  I have been informed by WSDOT that projects funded by FHWA prohibit the use of bid preferences.

• Optional or Mandatory?  Short of federal prohibitions on the application of the bid preference, the bid preference is mandatory on competitively public works projects, except projects awarded through the Small Works Roster. "In any bidding process for public works in which a bid is received from a nonresident contractor from a state that provides a percentage bidding preference, a comparable percentage disadvantage must be applied to the bid of that nonresident contractor." (RCW 39.04.380 (3))

• Addition of More States with Bid Preference Laws:  The Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (formerly General Administration) is charged with updating the list of states with a public work bid preference law "periodically as needed."  Currently, only Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, and New Mexico have public works bid preference laws - each at 5%.

Implementation Issues:  If you have questions or comments about the implementation of this new bid preference law, please contact me.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog 

© 2012 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLC 

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