AN ACT Relating to the inclusion of willful violations of chapters 49.46, 49.48, and 49.52 RCW to the state's responsible bidder criteria; amending RCW 39.04.350 and 39.26.160; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 2.  RCW 39.04.350 and 2010 c 276 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Before award of a public works contract, a bidder must meet the following responsibility criteria to be considered a responsible bidder and qualified to be awarded a public works project. The bidder must:

(a) At the time of bid submittal, have a certificate of registration in compliance with chapter 18.27 RCW;

(b) Have a current state unified business identifier number;

(c) If applicable, have industrial insurance coverage for the bidder's employees working in Washington as required in Title 51 RCW; an employment security department number as required in Title 50 RCW; and a state excise tax registration number as required in Title 82 RCW;

(d) Not be disqualified from bidding on any public works contract under RCW 39.06.010 or 39.12.065(3);

(e) If bidding on a public works project subject to the apprenticeship utilization requirements in RCW 39.04.320, not have been found out of compliance by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council for working apprentices out of ratio, without appropriate supervision, or outside their approved work processes as outlined in their standards of apprenticeship under chapter 49.04 RCW for the one-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation; ((and))

(f) Until December 31, 2013, not have violated RCW 39.04.370 more than one time as determined by the department of labor and industries; and

(g) Within the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation, not have been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the department of labor and industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated, as defined in RCW 49.48.082, any provision of chapter 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52 RCW.

(2) Before award of a public works contract, a bidder shall submit to the contracting agency a signed statement in accordance with RCW 9A.72.085 verifying under penalty of perjury that the bidder is in compliance with the responsible bidder criteria requirement of subsection (1)(g) of this section. A contracting agency may award a contract in reasonable reliance upon such a sworn statement.

(3) In addition to the bidder responsibility criteria in subsection (1) of this section, the state or municipality may adopt relevant supplemental criteria for determining bidder responsibility applicable to a particular project which the bidder must meet.

(a) Supplemental criteria for determining bidder responsibility, including the basis for evaluation and the deadline for appealing a determination that a bidder is not responsible, must be provided in the invitation to bid or bidding documents.

(b) In a timely manner before the bid submittal deadline, a potential bidder may request that the state or municipality modify the supplemental criteria. The state or municipality must evaluate the information submitted by the potential bidder and respond before the bid submittal deadline. If the evaluation results in a change of the criteria, the state or municipality must issue an addendum to the bidding documents identifying the new criteria.

(c) If the bidder fails to supply information requested concerning responsibility within the time and manner specified in the bid documents, the state or municipality may base its determination of responsibility upon any available information related to the supplemental criteria or may find the bidder not responsible.

(d) If the state or municipality determines a bidder to be not responsible, the state or municipality must provide, in writing, the reasons for the determination. The bidder may appeal the determination within the time period specified in the bidding documents by presenting additional information to the state or municipality. The state or municipality must consider the additional information before issuing its final determination. If the final determination affirms that the bidder is not responsible, the state or municipality may not execute a contract with any other bidder until two business days after the bidder determined to be not responsible has received the final determination.

(((3))) (4) The capital projects advisory review board created in RCW 39.10.220 shall develop suggested guidelines to assist the state and municipalities in developing supplemental bidder responsibility criteria. The guidelines must be posted on the board's web site.

Sec. 3.  RCW 39.26.160 and 2012 c 224 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) After bids that are submitted in response to a competitive solicitation process are reviewed by the awarding agency, the awarding agency may:

(i) Reject all bids and rebid or cancel the competitive solicitation;

(ii) Request best and final offers from responsive and responsible bidders; or

(iii) Award the purchase or contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

(b) The agency may award one or more contracts from a competitive solicitation.

(2) In determining whether the bidder is a responsible bidder, the agency must consider the following elements:

(a) The ability, capacity, and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service required;

(b) The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience, and efficiency of the bidder;

(c) Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified;

(d) The quality of performance of previous contracts or services;

(e) The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws relating to the contract or services; ((and))

(f) Whether, within the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation, the bidder has been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the department of labor and industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated, as defined in RCW 49.48.082, any provision of chapter 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52 RCW; and

(g) Such other information as may be secured having a bearing on the decision to award the contract.

(3) In determining the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, an agency may consider best value criteria, including but not limited to:

(a) Whether the bid satisfies the needs of the state as specified in the solicitation documents;

(b) Whether the bid encourages diverse contractor participation;

(c) Whether the bid provides competitive pricing, economies, and efficiencies;

(d) Whether the bid considers human health and environmental impacts;

(e) Whether the bid appropriately weighs cost and noncost considerations; and

(f) Life-cycle cost.

(4) The solicitation document must clearly set forth the requirements and criteria that the agency will apply in evaluating bid submissions. Before award of a contract, a bidder shall submit to the contracting agency a signed statement in accordance with RCW 9A.72.085 verifying under penalty of perjury that the bidder is in compliance with the responsible bidder criteria requirement of subsection (2)(f) of this section. A contracting agency may award a contract in reasonable reliance upon such a sworn statement.

(5) The awarding agency may at its discretion reject the bid of any contractor who has failed to perform satisfactorily on a previous contract with the state.

(6) After reviewing all bid submissions, an agency may enter into negotiations with the lowest responsive and responsible bidder in order to determine if the bid may be improved. An agency may not use this negotiation opportunity to permit a bidder to change a nonresponsive bid into a responsive bid.

(7) The procuring agency must enter into the state's enterprise vendor (([registration])) registration and bid notification system the name of each bidder and an indication as to the successful bidder.

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