Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee

HB 2327

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Requires that evaluation factors for design-build and general contractor/constructor proposals include a firm's outreach plan to include small, economically and socially disadvantaged businesses and Washington state-certified minority and women's business enterprises, and the firm's past performance in the utilization of small, economically and socially disadvantaged business.
Allows design-build to be used for the construction or erection of portable facilities.
Limits construction or erection of pre-engineered metal buildings under design-build to not more than five buildings per installation site.

Background:

Public works contracts of a large dollar amount that meet certain criteria and have been approved by the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) may be awarded through alternative contracting procedure in which the selection of a contractor is based on factors other than low bid.

Design-build is an alternative contracting method that melds design and construction activities into a single contract. The government agency contracts with a single firm to both design and construct the facility based on the needs identified by the agency. Selection of the firm is based on a weighted scoring of factors, including firms' qualifications and experience, project proposals, and bid prices. In addition to projects that are highly specialized or repetitive in nature, design-build may be used for construction of parking garages, and the erection of pre-engineered metal buildings or prefabricated modular buildings.

General Contractor/Construction Manager (GCCM) is another alternative contracting method that utilizes the services of a project management firm which bears significant responsibility and risk in the contracting process. As with design-bid-build, under GCCM the public entity contracts with an architectural and engineering firm to design a facility. The public entity also contracts with a GCCM firm to assist in the design of the facility (particularly in the areas of material selection, construction methods, value engineering, and constructability), manage the construction of the facility, act as the general contractor, and guarantee that the facility will be built within budget. When the plans and specifications for a project phase are complete, the GCCM firm subcontracts with construction firms to construct that phase. Initial selection of GCCM finalists is based on the qualifications and experience of the firm. Final selection is based on bid price of GCCM fees.

Summary of Bill:

Evaluation factors for design-build and GCCM proposals must include a firm's outreach plan to include small, economically and socially disadvantaged businesses and Washington state-certified minority and women's business enterprises, and the firm's past performance in the utilization of small, economically and socially disadvantaged business.

The design-build procedures may be used for the construction or erection of portable facilities without seeking approval of the CPARB. Construction or erection of pre-engineered metal buildings under design-build is limited to not more than five buildings per installation site.

"Portable facility" means any factory-built structure, transportable in one or more sections, which requires a chassis to be transported, and is designed to be used as an educational space with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The structure shall be trailerable and capable of being demounted and relocated to other locations as needs arise.