Bill Text: CA AB1185 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Los Angeles Unified School District: best value procurement: pilot program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 786, Statutes of 2015. [AB1185 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1185-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1185 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 786
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add and repeal Article 3.3 (commencing with Section
20119) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code, relating to best value procurement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1185, Ridley-Thomas. Los Angeles Unified School District: best
value procurement: pilot program.
The Local Agency Public Construction Act requires the governing
board of any school district to let any contract for a public
project, as defined, involving an expenditure of $15,000 or more, to
the lowest responsible bidder that gives security as the board
requires, or else reject all bids.
This bill would establish a pilot program to authorize the Los
Angeles Unified School District to use, before December 31, 2020, a
best value procurement method for bid evaluation and selection for
public projects that exceed $1,000,000. The bill would establish
various requirements applicable to the use of the best value
procurement method under this authorization. The bill would require
the school district to submit an interim and final report to the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the
use of the best value procurement method pursuant to the bill, in
accordance with a specified schedule. These provisions would be
repealed on January 1, 2021.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 20119) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, to
read:
Article 3.3. Los Angeles Unified School District -- Best Value
Procurement
20119. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enable school
districts to use cost-effective options for building and modernizing
school facilities. The Legislature has recognized the merits of the
best value procurement method process in the past by authorizing its
use for projects undertaken by the University of California.
(b) The Legislature also finds and declares that school districts
using the best value procurement method require a clear understanding
of the roles and responsibilities of each participant in the best
value process. As reflected in the University of California report to
the Legislature, the benefits of a best value procurement method
include a reduction in contract delays, change orders, and claims
producing a savings in both contract costs and administration.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide an optional,
alternative procedure for bidding and building school construction
projects.
20119.1. As used in this article:
(a) "Apprenticeable occupation" means an occupation for which the
Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards had approved an
apprenticeship program pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
prior to January 1, 2015.
(b) "Best value" means a procurement process whereby the selected
bidder may be selected on the basis of objective criteria for
evaluating the qualifications of bidders with the resulting selection
representing the best combination of price and qualifications.
(c) "Best value contract" means a competitively bid contract
entered into pursuant to this article.
(d) "Best value contractor" means a properly licensed person,
firm, or corporation that submits a bid for and is awarded a best
value contract.
(e) "Best value score" means the resulting score when the school
district divides the bidder's price by the bidder's qualification
score.
(f) "Demonstrated management competency" means the experience,
competency, capability, and capacity of the proposed management
staffing to complete projects of similar size, scope, or complexity.
(g) "Financial condition" means the financial resources needed to
perform the contract. The criteria used to evaluate a bidder's
financial condition shall include, at a minimum, capacity to obtain
all required payment bonds and required insurance.
(h) "Governing board" or "governing board of the school district"
means the governing board of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
(i) "Labor compliance" means the ability to comply with, and past
conformance with, contract and statutory requirements for the payment
of wages and qualifications of the workforce. The criteria used to
evaluate a bidder's labor compliance shall include, at a minimum, the
bidder's ability to comply with the apprenticeship requirements of
the California Apprenticeship Council and the Department of
Industrial Relations, its past conformance with such requirements,
and its past conformance with requirements to pay prevailing wages on
public works projects.
(j) "Project" has the same meaning as "public project" as defined
in subdivision (c) of Section 22002.
(k) "Qualifications" means financial condition, relevant
experience, demonstrated management competency, labor compliance, the
safety record of the bidder, and, to the extent relevant, the
preceding qualifications as they pertain to all subcontractors
proposed to be used by the bidder for designated portions of the
work.
(l) "Relevant experience" means the experience, competency,
capability, and capacity to complete projects of similar size, scope,
or complexity.
(m) "Safety record" shall be deemed "acceptable" if a contractor's
experience modification rate for the most recent three-year period
is an average of 1.00 or less, and its average total recordable
injury or illness rate and average lost work rate for the most recent
three-year period do not exceed the applicable statistical standards
for its business category or if the bidder is a party to an
alternative dispute resolution system as provided for in Section
3201.5 of the Labor Code.
(n) "School district" means the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
(o) "Skilled and trained workforce" means a workforce that meets
all of the following conditions:
(1) All the workers are either skilled journeypersons or
apprentices registered in an apprenticeship program approved by the
Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.
(2) (A) As of January 1, 2016, at least 20 percent of the skilled
journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by
the entity and each of its subcontractors at every tier are
graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation
that was either approved by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
or located outside California and approved for federal purposes
pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the United
States Secretary of Labor.
(B) As of January 1, 2017, at least 30 percent of the skilled
journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by
the entity and each of its subcontractors at every tier are
graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation
that was either approved by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
or located outside California and approved for federal purposes
pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the United
States Secretary of Labor.
(C) As of January 1, 2018, at least 40 percent of the skilled
journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by
the entity and each of its subcontractors at every tier are
graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation
that was either approved by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
or located outside California and approved for federal purposes
pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the United
States Secretary of Labor.
(D) As of January 1, 2019, at least 50 percent of the skilled
journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by
the entity and each of its subcontractors at every tier are
graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation
that was either approved by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
or located outside California and approved for federal purposes
pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the United
States Secretary of Labor.
(E) As of January 1, 2020, at least 60 percent of the skilled
journeypersons employed to perform work on the contract or project by
the entity and each of its subcontractors at every tier are
graduates of an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation
that was either approved by the Chief of the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor Code
or located outside California and approved for federal purposes
pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the United
States Secretary of Labor.
(3) For an apprenticeable occupation in which no apprenticeship
program had been approved by the chief prior to January 1, 1995, up
to one-half of the graduation percentage requirements of paragraph
(2) may be satisfied by skilled journeypersons who commenced working
in the apprenticeable occupation prior to the chief's approval of an
apprenticeship program for that occupation in the county in which the
project is located.
(p) "Skilled journeyperson" means a worker who either:
(1) Graduated from an apprenticeship program for the applicable
occupation that was approved by the chief or located outside
California and approved for federal purposes pursuant to the
apprenticeship regulations adopted by the federal Secretary of Labor.
(2) Has at least as many hours of on-the-job experience in the
applicable occupation as would be required to graduate from an
apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation that is approved
by the chief.
20119.2. (a) This article provides for a pilot program for the
Los Angeles Unified School District to use best value procurement for
projects over one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(b) The governing board, for projects over one million dollars
($1,000,000), before December 31, 2020, may use the best value
procurement method in accordance with this article.
(c) The bidder may be selected on the basis of the best value to
the governing board of the school district. In order to implement
this method of selection, the governing board of the school district
shall adopt and publish procedures and required guidelines for
evaluating the qualifications of the bidders that ensure the best
value selections by the school district are conducted in a fair and
impartial manner. These procedures and guidelines shall conform to
this article and shall be mandatory for the school district when
using best value selection.
(d) If the governing board of the school district deems it to be
for the best interest of the school district, the governing board of
the school district, on the refusal or failure of the selected bidder
for a project to execute a tendered contract, may award it to the
bidder with the second lowest best value score. If the second bidder
fails or refuses to execute the contract, the governing board of the
school district may likewise award it to the bidder with the third
lowest best value score.
(e) The governing board of the school district shall let any
contract for a project pursuant to this article to the selected
bidder that represents the best value or else reject all bids.
(f) (1) If the school district elects to award a project pursuant
to this section, retention proceeds withheld by the district from the
selected best value contractor shall not exceed 5 percent if a
performance and payment bond, issued by an admitted surety insurer,
is required in the solicitation of bids.
(2) In a contract between the selected best value contractor and a
subcontractor, and in a contract between a subcontractor and any
subcontractor thereunder, the percentage of the retention proceeds
withheld shall not exceed the percentage specified in the contract
between the district and the selected best value contractor. If the
selected best value contractor provides written notice to a
subcontractor that, prior to or at the time the bid is requested, a
bond may be required and the subcontractor subsequently is unable or
refuses to furnish a bond to the selected best value contractor, then
the selected best value contractor may withhold retention proceeds
in excess of the percentage specified in the contract between the
district and the selected best value contractor from any payment made
by the selected best value contractor to the subcontractor.
(g) All subcontractors bidding on contracts pursuant to this
chapter shall be afforded the protection contained in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 4100) of Part 1.
20119.3. The governing board of the school district shall proceed
in accordance with the following when awarding best value contracts
under this article:
(a) The school district shall prepare a solicitation for bids and
give notice pursuant to Section 20112.
(b) (1) The school district shall establish a procedure to
prequalify bidders as required by this code. Information submitted by
the bidder as part of the evaluation process shall not be open to
public inspection to the extent that information is exempt from
disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code).
(2) A best value entity shall not be prequalified or shortlisted
unless the entity provides an enforceable commitment to the governing
board that the entity and its subcontractors at every tier will use
a skilled and trained workforce to perform all work on the project or
contract that falls within an apprenticeable occupation in the
building and construction trades.
(3) An entity's commitment that a skilled and trained workforce
will be used to perform the project or contract may be established by
any of the following:
(A) The entity's agreement with the school district that the
entity and its subcontractors at every tier will comply with the
requirements of this subdivision and that the entity will provide the
governing board of the school district with evidence, on a monthly
basis while the project or contract is being performed, that the
entity and its subcontractors are complying with the requirements of
this subdivision.
(B) If the governing board has entered into a project labor
agreement that will bind all contractors and subcontractors
performing work on the project or contract and that includes the
requirements of this subdivision, the entity's agreement that it will
become a party to that project labor agreement.
(C) Evidence that the entity has entered into a project labor
agreement that includes the requirements of this subdivision and that
will bind the entity and all its subcontractors at every tier
performing the project or contract.
(c) Each solicitation for bids shall do all of the following:
(1) Invite prequalified bidders to submit sealed bids in the
manner prescribed by this article.
(2) Include a section identifying and describing the following:
(A) Criteria that the school district will consider in evaluating
the qualifications of the bidders.
(B) The methodology and rating or weighting system that will be
used by the school district in evaluating bids.
(C) The relative importance or weight assigned to the criteria for
evaluating the qualifications of bidders identified in the request
for bids.
(d) Final evaluation of the bidders shall be done in a manner that
prevents the identity of the bidders and the cost or price
information from being revealed in evaluating the qualifications of
the bidders prior to completion of qualification scoring.
20119.4. Selection of the best value contractor shall be made as
follows:
(a) (1) The school district shall evaluate the qualifications of
the bidders based solely upon the criteria set forth in the
solicitation documents, and shall assign a qualification score to
each bid.
(2) Qualification scores shall be determined by using only the
criteria and selection procedures specifically identified in the
request for proposals. The following minimum factors, however, shall
be weighted as deemed appropriate by the school district:
(A) Relevant experience.
(B) Safety record.
(C) Other factors identified in the request for proposal.
(b) To determine the best value contractor, the school district
shall divide each bidder's price by its qualifications score. A
preference of up to 5 percent shall be applied to the price of a bid
submitted by a small business, as defined by the school district,
before dividing the bidder's price by its qualification score. The
lowest resulting cost per quality point will represent the best value
bid. The award of the contract shall be made to the bidder whose bid
is determined, by the school district in writing, to be the best
value to the school district.
(c) The school district shall issue a written decision of its
contract award or else reject all bids.
(d) Upon issuance of a contract award, the school district shall
publicly announce its award identifying the project, the project
price, the best value contractor to which the award is made, as well
as the prices, qualification scores, and resulting costs per
qualification point for all responsive bidders. The contract file
shall include documentation sufficient to support the decision to
award.
20119.5. (a) (1) A school district that uses the best value
procurement method pursuant to this article shall submit to the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature an
interim and final report on the use of the best value procurement
method. The reports shall be prepared by an independent third party
and the school district shall pay for the cost of the report. The
reports shall be submitted to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature as follows:
(A) An interim report on or before July 1, 2018.
(B) A final report on or before January 1, 2020.
(2) A report shall include, but is not limited to, the following
information:
(A) A description of the projects awarded using the best value
procedures.
(B) The contract award amounts.
(C) The best value contractors awarded the projects.
(D) A description of any written protests concerning any aspect of
the solicitation, bid, or award of the best value contracts,
including the resolution of the protests.
(E) A description of the prequalification process.
(F) The criteria used to evaluate the bids, including the
weighting of the criteria and an assessment of the effectiveness of
the methodology.
(G) If a project awarded under this article has been completed, an
assessment of the project performance, to include a summary of any
delays or cost increases.
(b) The requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to
subdivision (a) is inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
20119.6. Except as otherwise provided in this article, the best
value procurement method is not intended to change any guideline,
criterion, procedure, or requirement of the governing board of the
school district to let a contract for a project to the lowest
responsible bidder or else reject all bids.
20119.7. This article shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the need to establish a pilot project for the Los Angeles
Unified School District to determine the potential benefits and
consequences of using best value procurement to facilitate
infrastructure improvements and ease fiscal impacts.
