Training Last Week

Last Thursday, I was in Vancouver, Washington where I presented three training workshops at the annual conference of WASBO (Washington Association of School Business Officials).  Here are the three topics I taught on:

What is the Davis-Bacon Act?  Complying with Federal Prevailing Wage Requirements:  Public works construction project with any federal funding require that the contractor and all subcontractors comply with federal prevailing wages, in addition to state prevailing wages and regulations.  Public agencies must monitor and enforce compliance with these requirements.

• What is the Davis-Bacon Act?
• Check Your Federal Grant Requirements
• When Do Federal Prevailing Wages Apply?
• Federal vs. State Prevailing Wages
• Effective Date for Prevailing Wages
• Types of Prevailing Wage Rates
• Fringe Benefits
• Apprentices
• Public Agency Responsibilities
• Reviewing Payrolls
• Typical Compliance Problems 

Public Works Contract Close-out: Bonding, Retainage, and Claims:  How should public agencies handle claims filed against the retainage and payment bond, and when should retainage be released to the contractor?

• Retainage and Payment Bonds
• Completion Dates
• Filing, Renewing, and Releasing Claims
• Pre-Claim Notices
• Deadlines for Filing and Renewing Claims
• Foreclosure of Claims and Payment
• Priority of Claims Against Retainage
• Release of Retainage

When Bad Things Happen to Bids: Strategies for Ensuring a Successful Public Works Project:  The public works bidding process is fraught with potential for mistakes, protests, and appeals.  What can public agencies do to help prevents such problems?

• Why Aren't Bidders More Careful?
• Why do Bidders Make Mistakes?
• Missing Bid Prices
• Conflict Between Words and Numbers
• Bid Calculation Errors
• Claims of Error
• Is Your Bidder Playing Games?
• Bid is Too Low
• Unbalanced Bids
• Conditioned or Qualified Bids
• Will the Real Low Bidder Please Stand Up
• Additive and Alternate Bids
• Allowances
• Tie Bids
• Responsive Bids
• Responsible Bidders
• Local Bid Preferences
• Bid Protests and Appeals

Contact me if you are interested in discussing bringing training to your agency.  In addition to the training noted above, I can provide training on a wide array of other public procurement and contracting issues.  Please contact me if you would like to discuss training.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog 
© 2013 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLC 
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