Prevailing Wage Rate Retracted

The emergency wage rates for Construction Site Surveyor published by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries on March 2, 2010 that became effective on March 3, 2010 have been retracted by L&I due to an error in not surveying a number of contractors.  

The corrected prevailing wage rates become effective on March 9, 2010 for the following counties:  Chelan, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Stevens, Thurston, Whatcom.

Thus, for projects with a bid submittal deadline of March 3, 2010 through March 8, 2010, the prevailing wage rates for Construction Site Surveyor for the counties listed above are the wages in effect as of September 2, 2009.

Additional information about this error and correction may be found at the following website address of L&I:  http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/PrevWage/files/CorrectionNotices/Re-CorrectionConstructionSiteSurveyor.pdf.

Emergency Prevailing Wage Rates Adopted

The Washington State Department published new prevailing wages to become effective on March 3, 2010.  On March 2, 2010, L&I made a number of corrections to the newly published wages.  

Under normal processes, the corrections would become effective 30 days following their publication.  However, L&I has the authority to declare that the correction wages constitute an emergency, something L&I did in this case.  Thus, the emergency corrections also became effective on March 3, 2010.

Impact of Emergency Prevailing Wages:  If you have been in the process of preparing bidding documents and printed the prevailing wage rates from L&I's website prior to March 2, 2010 (the date L&I provided the notification of the emergency corrections), you will probably need to go back to the website and reprint the wage rates and include the new wage rates with the emergency corrections in your bidding documents, by addendum if necessary.

Trades and Counties Affected:

• Construction Site Surveyor (Chelan, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Thurston, Whatcom)
• Brick Mason (Clark, Grant)
• Drywall Taper (Franklin, Skagit)
• Glazier (Island, Whatcom, Yakima)
• Plumber, Pipefitter and Steamfitter (Lincoln, Skamania)
• Residential Glazier (Yakima)
• Residential Laborer (King)
• Residential Plumber (Yakima)
• Residential Soft Floor Layer (Grant, San Juan)
• Roofer (Clallam, Jefferson, Lewis, Thurston)
• Sheet Metal Worker (Clark, Grant)
• Terazzo Worker (Spokane)

Publish Prevailing Wage Rates in Bidding and Contract Documents:  As a reminder, prevailing wage rates must be included in all bidding documents and contracts for all public works projects, including Small Works Roster projects.  It is not sufficient to simply reference that prevailing wages apply or to provide a link to L&I's website with the prevailing wages.

Do Subcontractor Listing Requirements Apply to Design-Build?

Background:  In Washington State, RCW 39.30.060 requires bidders to list subcontractors for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work on all public works projects estimated to cost $1 million or more.  The list of such subcontractors (or the listing by the prime contractor that they will perform such work themselves) must be submitted either with the bid, or within one hour of the bid submittal deadline.

Question:  Do these requirements apply to Design-Build projects (chapter 39.10 RCW) when firms are responding to either an RFQ or RFP (the two parts of the selection process)?

Not Applicable:  It is my opinion that the subcontractor listing requirements do not apply to either an RFQ or RFP as part of a Design-Build project.  I base my opinion on the following:

1. No Invitation to Bid:  RCW 39.30.060 (1) states that the requirements for subcontractor listing applies to "every invitation to bid" estimated to cost $1 million or more.  Selection of a Design-Builder is not conducted through an "invitation to bid" but through the two step process of an RFQ followed by an RFP for short-listed finalists.
   
2. No Subcontract Bidding:  The very nature of a response to an RFQ or RFP for Design-Build is different from the process in place for responding to a bid under a Design-Bid-Build project, in which the prime contractor solicits bids as part of developing their bid for a project.  Under a Design-Build RFQ or RFP, while the proposer may engage in some discussions with subcontractors, there is no design for subcontractors to bid on, since the project hasn't been designed.  

Thus, the purpose of RCW 39.30.060, which is to prevent bid shopping from occurring on public works projects, doesn't appear to be applicable for firms responding to an RFQ or RFP for a Design-Build project.

If you have different thoughts on this subject, I would be interested in hearing your opinion.

Resources and News on Design-Build

Check out Design-Build Board, a new blog by Patrick Miller, a construction attorney with Baker & Daniels LLP of Chicago.  

Patrick is also the President of the Design-Build Institute of America's Great Lakes Region.

2 Hour Seminar: Contract Indemnity and Risk Transfer Requirements

2 hour breakfast seminar on "Understanding Contract Indemnity and Risk Transfer Requirements"

Content:  This seminar will focus on understanding common contract clauses and requirements that serve to transfer risk between owners, general contractors and subcontractors on construction projects.  Common risk transfer provisions and mechanism include indemnification and hold harmless requirements, additional insured requirements, waivers of subrogration, limitations of liability and contract flow down provisions.  

When:  March 23, 2010 (8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.)

Where: Tukwila, Washington (635 Andover Park West, Suite 101, UCAW Educational Classroom)

Sponsored by:  Utility Contractors Association of Washington (UCAW)

Cost:  $30 (includes breakfast)

Speaker:  Mike Grace of Groff Murphy PLCC

Information:  For more information and to register, click here.

Writing Effective Technical Specifications

I am teaching a 6 hour training seminar on "Writing Effective Technical Specifications" on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 in Vancouver, Washington.  The class is primarily focused on public works projects. 

Here are the main agenda items:

• State law requires specifications
• Why good specifications are important
• Tips in writing specifications
• Controlling quality in specifications
• Sources of specification language
• Types of specifications
• Interpretation of specifications
• Warranties
• Bidder responsibility criteria

I also teach a more general class, not focused so much on public works projects, on developing and reviewing scopes of work for other types of consultant and service contracts.  Please contact me if you are interested in having me provide this training.

Design-Build: Collaborating on the Future

Design-Build: Collaborating on the Future

When:  Tuesday, March 16, 2010 (7:15 a.m. to noon)

Topics:

• Risk allocation
• Getting into the Federal arena
• Teaming
• Quality Controlling costs
• Protecting design

Where:  Coast Bellevue Hotel (Bellevue, WA)

Sponsored by:

• Northwest Region of Design Build Institute of America (DBIA)
• American Council of Engineering Companies of Washington (ACEC)

Cost: 

• $195 for DBIA members
• $295 for non-DBIA members

 Speakers include:

• Robynne Parkinson, Law Offices of Robynne Thaxton Parkinson, PLLC
• Larry Bradbury, Chief, Military Construction, Army Corps of Engineers
• Doug Brinley, Principal, KPG, Inc.
• Bob Gaiteland, President, Reid Middleton
• Dan Callan, Vice President, Tetra Tech

For more information and to register, click here.