6577 AMH SG REIL 1

SB 6577 - H COMM AMD Adopted March 6, 2002

By Committee on State Government

     Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

ANEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  This act is intended to discourage bid shopping and bid peddling on Washington state public building and works projects.

     Sec. 2.  RCW 39.30.060 and 1999 c 109 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every invitation to bid on a prime contract that is expected to cost one million dollars or more for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public work of the state or a state agency or municipality as defined under RCW 39.04.010 or an institution of higher education as defined under RCW 28B.10.016 shall require each prime contract bidder to submit as part of the bid, or within one hour after the published bid submittal time, the names of the subcontractors with whom the bidder, if awarded the contract, will subcontract for performance of the work of: HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning((,)); plumbing as described in chapter 18.106 RCW((,)); and electrical as described in chapter 19.28 RCW, or to name itself for the work.  The prime contract bidder shall not list more than one subcontractor for each category of work identified, unless subcontractors vary with bid alternates, in which case the prime contract bidder must indicate which subcontractor will be used for which alternate.  Failure of the prime contract bidder to submit as part of the bid the names of such subcontractors or to name itself to perform such work or the naming of two or more subcontractors to perform the same work shall render the prime contract bidder's bid nonresponsive and, therefore, void. 

(2) Substitution of a listed subcontractor in furtherance of bid shopping or bid peddling before or after the award of the prime contract is prohibited and the originally listed subcontractor is entitled to recover monetary damages from the prime contract bidder who executed a contract with the public entity and the substituted subcontractor but not from the public entity inviting the bid.  It is the original subcontractor=s burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that bid shopping or bid peddling occurred.  Substitution of a listed subcontractor may be made by the prime contractor for the following reasons:

(a) Refusal of the listed subcontractor to sign a contract with the prime contractor;

(b) Bankruptcy or insolvency of the listed subcontractor;

(c) Inability of the listed subcontractor to perform the requirements of the proposed contract or the project;

(d) Inability of the listed subcontractor to obtain the necessary license, bonding, insurance or other statutory requirements to perform the work detailed in the contract; or

(e) The listed subcontractor is barred from participating in the project as a result of a court order or summary judgment.

(3) The requirement of this section to name the prime contract bidder's proposed ((heating, ventilation and air conditioning))HVAC, plumbing, and electrical subcontractors applies only to proposed ((heating, ventilation and air conditioning))HVAC, plumbing, and electrical subcontractors who will contract directly with the ((general contractor))prime contract bidder submitting the bid to the public entity.@

EFFECT: The burden of proving that bid shopping occurred is on the original subcontractor, and is by a preponderance of the evidence. Conditions under which substitution of a listed subcontractor may be made by the prime contractor are included.