BILL REQ. #: Z-0419.2
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HOUSE BILL 1533
_____________________________________________| State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
By Representatives Clibborn and Morris; by request of Department of TransportationRead first time 01/22/09. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to bond amounts for department of transportation
highway contracts; amending RCW 39.08.030; and providing an expiration
date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 39.08.030 and 2007 c 218 s 89 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The bond mentioned in RCW 39.08.010 shall be in an amount equal
to the full contract price agreed to be paid for such work or
improvement, except under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, and
shall be to the state of Washington, except as otherwise provided in
RCW 39.08.100, and except in cases of cities and towns, in which cases
such municipalities may by general ordinance fix and determine the
amount of such bond and to whom such bond shall run: PROVIDED, The
same shall not be for a less amount than twenty-five percent of the
contract price of any such improvement, and may designate that the same
shall be payable to such city, and not to the state of Washington, and
all such persons mentioned in RCW 39.08.010 shall have a right of
action in his, her, or their own name or names on such bond for work
done by such laborers or mechanics, and for materials furnished or
provisions and goods supplied and furnished in the prosecution of such
work, or the making of such improvements: PROVIDED, That such persons
shall not have any right of action on such bond for any sum whatever,
unless within thirty days from and after the completion of the contract
with an acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the board,
council, commission, trustees, officer, or body acting for the state,
county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district,
the laborer, mechanic or subcontractor, or material supplier, or person
claiming to have supplied materials, provisions or goods for the
prosecution of such work, or the making of such improvement, shall
present to and file with such board, council, commission, trustees or
body acting for the state, county or municipality, or other public
body, city, town or district, a notice in writing in substance as
follows:
Such notice shall be signed by the person or corporation making the
claim or giving the notice, and said notice, after being presented and
filed, shall be a public record open to inspection by any person, and
in any suit or action brought against such surety or sureties by any
such person or corporation to recover for any of the items hereinbefore
specified, the claimant shall be entitled to recover in addition to all
other costs, attorney's fees in such sum as the court shall adjudge
reasonable: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That no attorney's fees shall be
allowed in any suit or action brought or instituted before the
expiration of thirty days following the date of filing of the notice
hereinbefore mentioned: PROVIDED FURTHER, That any city may avail
itself of the provisions of RCW 39.08.010 through 39.08.030,
notwithstanding any charter provisions in conflict herewith: AND
PROVIDED FURTHER, That any city or town may impose any other or further
conditions and obligations in such bond as may be deemed necessary for
its proper protection in the fulfillment of the terms of the contract
secured thereby, and not in conflict herewith.
(2) Under the job order contracting procedure described in RCW
((39.10.130)) 39.10.420, bonds will be in an amount not less than the
dollar value of all open work orders.
(3)(a) On highway construction contracts administered by the
department of transportation with an estimated contract price of two
hundred fifty million dollars or more, the department may authorize
bonds in an amount less than the full contract price of the project.
If a bond less than the full contract price is authorized by the
department, the bond must be in the form of a performance bond and a
separate payment bond. The department shall fix the amount of the
performance bond on a contract-by-contract basis to adequately protect
one hundred percent of the state's exposure to loss. The amount of the
performance bond must not be less than two hundred fifty million
dollars. The payment bond must be in an amount fixed by the department
but must not be less than the amount of the performance bond. The
secretary of transportation must approve each performance bond and
payment bond authorized to be less than the full contract price of a
project. All the requirements of this chapter apply respectively to
the individual performance and payment bonds to the same extent as if
the two bonds were a single combined performance and payment bond. The
performance bond is solely for the protection of the department. The
payment bond is solely for the protection of laborers, mechanics,
subcontractors, and suppliers mentioned in RCW 39.08.010.
(b) The department shall develop risk assessment guidelines and
gain approval of these guidelines from the office of financial
management before implementing (a) of this subsection. The guidelines
must include a clear process for how the department measures the
state's exposure to loss and how the performance bond amount,
determined under (a) of this subsection, adequately protects one
hundred percent of the state's exposure to loss.
(c) The department shall report to the house of representatives and
senate transportation committees by December 1, 2012: Each project
where the department authorized bonds that were less than the full
contract price; the difference between the project amount and the bond
requirements; the number of bidders on the project; and other
information that documents the effects of the reduced bond amounts on
the project.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 This act expires June 30, 2016.
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