Requires contractor bids on school district projects to include information on subcontractors and the commissioner of education to create surveys on the new bidding process

BILL NUMBER:A8777B

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law and the general munic- ipal law, in relation to assignment of contracts by school districts and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 amends Section 305 of the education law requiring the Commissioner of Education to survey school districts 4 years after the enactment of this legislation to examine the effect of this exemption on the cost and duration of school construction projects.

Section 2 amends section 101 of the general municipal law by adding a new subdivision 6 allowing school districts to hire a single contractor for work on school district facilities. School districts electing a single contractor may require the apparent low bidder and second low bidder to submit the names of the bidder's proposed subcontractors. The proposed subcontractors may be rejected by a school district on the same basis an apparent low bidders' bid may be refused. Proposed and approved subcontractors may not be changed without written approval of the school district. Payment of subcontractors shall be in accordance with Section 106-b of the General Municipal Law (prompt payment). The bidder shall specify the value to be paid to each subcontractor. A school district may reject any bid if the business organization, resources, financial standing, or experience of the bidder justifies such rejection.

Section 3 sets the effective date and establishes the length of the terms of the aforementioned provisions to be five years.

Justification

This bill will authorize districts to utilize a single guaranteed maximum price general contractor or a full construction management contract rather than the multiple contractors currently required under the provisions of the Wicks law.

As a part of the 2008 enacted budget the Legislature established new, higher Wick's thresholds. Public works projects were deemed exempt from the compliance with the provision of Wicks for jobs valued at $3 million in New York City, $1.5 million in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk coun- ties, and $500,000 in all other parts of the state. The practical reali- ty is that this change in law had very little effect on school districts. New York City's school construction authority is exempt under current law from compliance with the Wicks law. For those districts outside of New York City, the spending thresholds are too low to capture most construction projects.

This bill would extend to the rest of the state's school districts the same level of exemption currently offered to New York City. In addition to improving the coordination of the work involved in construction projects, it is also anticipated that school districts will realize substantial savings between 10 and 30 percent of the construction cost. The state could also realize savings through this bill because

construction projects will not require as much reimbursement in building aid.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become a law, and has a sunset date of 5 years after its enactment.