Update on Public Works Legislation in Washington State

In my blog postings of January 16, 2012 and February 1, 2012, I described a number of bills that had been introduced into the Washington State Legislature affecting public works contracting.  Here is an update on the status of the bills (along with a couple of others), only two of which passed the Legislature.

Changes to Job Order Contracting:  Engrossed House Bill 2328 unanimously passed both the Senate and House, and was signed by the Governor on March 29, 2012.

• Authorized Agencies:  Permits the following additional agencies to use Job Order Contracting: regional universities, The Evergreen State College, and Sound Transit as a regional transit authority. 
• Work Order Threshold:  Increases the maximum amount of each work order from $300,000 to $350,000.
• Reporting Year:  Standardize reporting to be based on a July 1st to June 30th year, rather than a contract year basis in order to make aggregation of statewide reports easier.

Filing of Affidavits of Wages Paid by Contractor on Behalf of Subcontractor:  Substitute Senate Bill 6421 was unanimously approved by both the Senate and the House, and is awaiting the Governor's signature.  The bill allows a contractor or subcontractor to file an Affidavit of Wages Paid on behalf of a subcontractor if the subcontractor "has ceased operations or failed to file" the Affidavit as required.  

Increasing Use of Design-Build on WSDOT Projects: Second Substitute Senate Bill 5250 passed the Senate by a vote of 47 to 1.  The House did not vote on the bill.  

Allowing Regional Transit Authorities to Use Job Order Contracting:  House Bill 2369 was not voted on by either the Senate or the House.  

Limiting Prevailing Wage Complaints:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on Senate Bill 6480. 

Requiring Certified Payrolls on Public Works Projects:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on Senate Bill 6416.

Evaluation Criteria for Design-Build and GC/CM:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on House Bill 2327.  

Streamlining Small Public Works Projects:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on House Bill 1970.  

No Retainage on Federally Funded Transit Projects:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on Senate Bill 6063.  

Small Works Roster and Small Businesses:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on Substitute House Bill 1173.   

Subcontractor Selection on GC/CM Projects:  Neither the Senate nor the House voted on House Bill 1971. 

2013 Legislative Session:  I expect that some of these bills will be introduced into the 2013 legislative session.  In addition, there will likely be proposed legislation from the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) that will re-authorize alternative public works contracting (Design-Build, GC/CM, and Job Order Contracting) with some changes.  Without new legislation, these alternative public works contracting methods will expire in June 2013.  A CPARB committee is now evaluating and discussing potential legislative changes.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog 

© 2012 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLC 

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