Washington State House of Representatives	BILL ANALYSIS
Transportation

HB 1680

Brief Description:  Extending design‑build for public works.

Sponsors:  Representatives Fisher and Mitchell.

Brief Summary of Bill

$The Department of Transportation, the Department of Licensing, and the Washington State Patrol are each granted authority to utilize the design-build process and other alternative project delivery concepts in projects costing over $10 million.

$The section creating two Department of Transportation pilot projects is repealed.

$The sunset date is repealed.

Hearing Date: 

Staff:  Penny Nerup (786‑7335).

Background: 

In December 1996, the Department of Transportation (DOT) created an in-house task force to investigate the use of design-build (D-B) contracting for DOT projects.  In 1998, the Legislature granted the DOT statutory authority to use D-B contracting on two pilot projects, each of which had to cost over $10 million.  The department was also required to present a detailed report to the Legislative Transportation Committee within one year of completion of the pilot projects.

The law required the DOT to develop criteria for use of the D-B process, which had to include the scope of services, contractor pre-qualification requirements, evaluation criteria, and a dispute resolution procedure.

Further, any request for proposal used had to fulfill the requirements used by higher education, cities, counties and port districts in their design-build contracting.  These contracting provisions sunset on June 30, 2001.

The design-build law sunsets on April 30, 2001.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation recommended that the Legislature grant statutory authority to transportation agencies to use design-build techniques and other alternative delivery concepts, such as design-build-operate, design-build-operate-own, design-build-operate-transfer, and general contractor/construction management.

Summary of Bill: 

The Department of Transportation, the Department of Licensing, and the Washington State Patrol are each granted authority to utilize the design-build process and other alternative project delivery concepts in projects costing over $10 million.  These agencies are required to select projects based upon either greater innovation, highly specialized construction activities, or significant savings in project delivery time.

The contracting rules for any request for proposal remain the same as those for higher education, cities, counties, and port districts.

The section creating two Department of Transportation pilot projects is repealed.

The sunset date is repealed.

Effective Date:  The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not Requested.