Relates to public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements, use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts

1 Co-sponsor

• Daniel L. Squadron

Title of bill

An act to authorize, for certain public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements, use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

Summary of provisions

This bill would, for any public work undertaken pursuant to a project labor agreement in accordance with section 222 of the labor law, authorize the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York City Department of Design and Construction, and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, to use the alternative delivery method known as design-build procurement for the limited purposes of completing public works related to physical infrastructure. Such an authorized entity would select the proposal providing the best value, based upon a request for proposals specifying certain criteria to be used in evaluation. An entity awarding a design-build contract to a contractor offering the best value would further be authorized (but not required) to use a cost-plus not to exceed guaranteed maximum price contract or lump sum contract. Contracts would be subject to applicable federal, state and local requirements for disadvantaged business enterprises and minority and women-owned business enterprises. The bill would expire five years after its effective date, though public works for which requests for proposals have been issued could continue under the act beyond the expiration date.

Reasons for support

Design-build is a method of project delivery in which one entity works under a single contract to provide design and construction services. This method minimizes project risk for the owner, increases the accountability of contractors and streamlines the delivery schedule by overlapping the design and construction phases of a project.

Design-build contracting saves time and money by eliminating time in procuring design services separately from construction services, and by making a single entity responsible for a project, reducing the possibility of contract claims related to design errors or omissions. Additionally, design-build contracting introduces the possibility of innovation during project performance by incentivizing the project provider to think of creative ways to reduce project schedule and delivery methods.

Today, government entities, including the State of New York, are increasingly embracing design-build contracting as a preferred method of project delivery. Certain State agencies and authorities are authorized to utilize the design-build method of project delivery and have used design-build for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, and for more than 30 other projects including the Kosciuszko Bridge and Long Island Rail Road Rehabilitation of Atlantic Avenue Viaduct. Additionally, the Federal Highway Administration, which funds a significant portion of the City's bridge and road infrastructure capital programs, has indicated that design-build is its preferred method of procurement.

This bill would provide three agencies in the City of New York with the opportunity to use design-build to provide taxpayers with public works projects of superior quality and on a faster timetable. Included in the authorization is a requirement that the City enter into project labor agreements in accordance with section 222 of the Labor Law and provides critical public employee protections including non-displacement safeguards. The authorization would be limited to

twenty five projects that have an estimated total cost of no less than ten million dollars.

The City has identified projects for which design-build contracting would be ideal. A key example includes the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Triple Cantilever, a major project with an estimated cost of $1.9B. Under the design-build project delivery method, the City would realize an expedited time frame for the completion of these projects, while also saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.