Bill Text: CA SB1509 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: School facilities: design-build contracts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2012-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 736, Statutes of 2012. [SB1509 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1509-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1509 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT CHAPTER 736 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 23, 2012 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 5, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian (Coauthor: Senator Alquist) FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to amend Sections 17250.10, 17250.25, 81700, and 81703 of the Education Code, to amend Section 4 of Chapter 421 of the Statutes of 2001, and to amend Section 4 of Chapter 637 of the Statutes of 2002, relating to school facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1509, Simitian. School facilities: design-build contracts. (1) Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2014, a school district governing board or community college district governing board to enter into a design-build contract for both the design and construction of a school facility or community college facility, respectively, if specified requirements are met. This bill would extend this design-build authority until January 1, 2020. (2) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement by a school district or community college district not be construed to extend, limit, or change in any manner the legal responsibility of public agencies and contractors to comply with existing law. This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement does not replace or eliminate competitive bidding. (3) Existing law requires design-build projects by a school district or community college district to progress in a specified manner, including, among other things, requiring the school district governing board or community college district governing board to prepare a request for proposal setting forth the scope of the project and authorizing the request for proposal to include, but not be limited to, specified information. This bill would require the request for proposal not to include a design-build-operate contract for educational facilities. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 17250.10 of the Education Code is amended to read: 17250.10. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enable school districts to use safe and cost-effective options for building and modernizing school facilities. The Legislature has recognized the merits of the design-build procurement process in the past by authorizing its use for projects undertaken by the University of California, specified local government projects, and state office buildings. (b) The Legislature also finds and declares that school districts using a design-build contract require a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each participant in the design-build process. The benefits of a design-build contract project delivery system include accelerated completion of the projects, cost containment, reduction of construction complexity, and reduced exposure to risk for the school district. The Legislature also finds that the cost-effective benefits to the school districts are achieved by shifting the liability and risk for cost containment and project completion to the design-build entity. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide an optional, alternative procedure for bidding and building school construction projects. (d) In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature that the full scope of design, construction, and equipment awarded to a design-build entity shall be authorized in a single funding phase. The funding phase may be authorized concurrently with, or separately from, the phase that authorizes the creation of the performance criteria and concept drawings. (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement as authorized by the act adding this chapter shall not be construed to extend, limit, or change in any manner the legal responsibility of public agencies and contractors to comply with existing laws. (f) In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement does not replace or eliminate competitive bidding. SEC. 2. Section 17250.25 of the Education Code is amended to read: 17250.25. Design-build projects shall progress as follows: (a) (1) The school district governing board shall prepare a request for proposal setting forth the scope of the project that may include, but is not limited to, the size, type, and desired design character of the buildings and site, performance specifications covering the quality of materials, equipment, and workmanship, preliminary plans or building layouts, or any other information deemed necessary to describe adequately the school district's needs. The performance specifications and any plans shall be prepared by a design professional duly licensed or registered in this state. The request for proposal shall not include a design-build-operate contract for educational facilities pursuant to this chapter. (2) Each request for proposal shall do all of the following: (A) Identify the basic scope and needs of the project or contract, the expected cost range, and other information deemed necessary by the school district to inform interested parties of the contracting opportunity. (B) Invite interested parties to submit competitive sealed proposals in the manner prescribed by the school district. (C) Include a section identifying and describing the following: (i) All significant factors and subfactors that the school district reasonably expects to consider in evaluating proposals, including cost or price and all nonprice related factors and subfactors. (ii) The methodology and rating or weighting scheme that will be used by the school district governing board in evaluating competitive proposals and specifically whether proposals will be rated according to numeric or qualitative values. (iii) The relative importance or weight assigned to each of the factors identified in the request for proposal. (iv) As an alternative to clause (iii), the governing board of a school district shall specifically disclose whether all evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are any of the following: (I) Significantly more important than cost or price. (II) Approximately equal in importance to cost or price. (III) Significantly less important than cost or price. (v) If the school district governing board wishes to reserve the right to hold discussions or negotiations with responsive bidders, it shall so specify in the request for proposal and shall publish separately or incorporate into the request for proposal applicable rules and procedures to be observed by the school district to ensure that any discussions or negotiations are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. (3) Notwithstanding Section 4-315 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, an architect or structural engineer who is party to a design-build entity may perform the services set forth in Section 17302. (b) (1) The school district shall establish a procedure to prequalify design-build entities using a standard questionnaire developed by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations. In preparing the questionnaire, the director shall consult with the construction industry, including representatives of the building trades, surety industry, school districts, and other affected parties. This questionnaire shall require information including, but not limited to, all of the following: (A) If the design-build entity is a partnership, limited partnership, or other association, a listing of all of the partners, general partners, or association members who will participate as subcontractors in the design-build contract, including, but not limited to, electrical and mechanical subcontractors. (B) Evidence that the members of the design-build entity have completed, or demonstrated, the experience, competency, capability, and capacity to complete projects of similar size, scope, or complexity, and that proposed key personnel have sufficient experience and training to competently manage and complete the design and construction of the project. (C) The licenses, registration, and credentials required to design and construct the project, including information on the revocation or suspension of any license, credential, or registration. (D) Evidence that establishes that the design-build entity has the capacity to obtain all required payment and performance bonding, liability insurance, and errors and omissions insurance, as well as a financial statement that ensures the school district that the design-build entity has the capacity to complete the project. (E) Any prior serious or willful violation of the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (Part 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Division 5 of the Labor Code) or the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-596), settled against any member of the design-build entity, and information concerning a contractor member's workers' compensation experience history and worker safety program. (F) Information concerning any debarment, disqualification, or removal from a federal, state, or local government public works project. (G) Any instance where an entity, its owners, officers, or managing employees, submitted a bid on a public works project and were found by an awarding body not to be a responsible bidder. (H) Any instance where the entity, its owners, officers, or managing employees defaulted on a construction contract. (I) Any prior violations of the Contractors' State License Law (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code), excluding alleged violations of federal or state law including the payment of wages, benefits, apprenticeship requirements, or personal income tax withholding, or of Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) withholding requirements, settled against any member of the design-build entity. (J) Information concerning the bankruptcy or receivership of a member of the entity, including information concerning any work completed by a surety. (K) Information concerning all settled adverse claims, disputes, or lawsuits between the owner of a public works project and a member of the design-build entity during the five-year period preceding submission of the bid pursuant to this section, in which the claim, settlement, or judgment exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). Information shall also be provided concerning any work completed by a surety during this period. (L) In the case of a partnership or other association that is not a legal entity, a copy of the agreement creating the partnership or association. (2) The information required pursuant to this subdivision shall be verified under oath by the design-build entity and its members in the manner in which civil pleadings in civil actions are verified. Information that is not a public record pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) shall not be open to public inspection. (c) The school district shall establish a procedure for final selection of the design-build entity. Selection shall be based on either of the following criteria: (1) A competitive bidding process resulting in lump-sum bids by the prequalified design-build entities. Award shall be made on the basis of the lowest responsible bid. (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or of Section 20110 of the Public Contract Code, a school district may use a design-build competition based upon performance and other criteria set forth by the governing board of the school district in the solicitation of proposals. Criteria used in this evaluation of proposals may include, but need not be limited to, the proposed design approach, life cycle costs, project features, and project functions. However, competitive proposals shall be evaluated by using the criteria and source selection procedures specifically identified in the request for proposal. Once the evaluation is complete, all responsive bidders shall be ranked from the most advantageous to least advantageous to the school district. (A) An architectural or engineering firm or individual retained by the governing board of the school district to assist in the development criteria or preparation of the request for proposal shall not be eligible to participate in the competition with the design-build entity. (B) The award of the contract shall be made to the responsible bidder whose proposal is determined, in writing by the school district, to be the best value to the school district. (C) Proposals shall be evaluated and scored solely on the basis of the factors and source selection procedures identified in the request for proposal. However, the following minimum factors shall collectively represent at least 50 percent of the total weight or consideration given to all criteria factors: price, technical expertise, life cycle costs over 15 years or more, skilled labor force availability, and acceptable safety record. (D) The school district governing board shall issue a written decision supporting its contract award and stating in detail the basis of the award. The decision and the contract file must be sufficient to satisfy an external audit. (E) Notwithstanding any provision of the Public Contract Code, upon issuance of a contract award, the school district governing board shall publicly announce its awards identifying the contractor to whom the award is made, the winning contractor's price proposal and its overall combined rating on the request for proposal evaluation factors. The notice of award shall also include the agency' s ranking in relation to all other responsive bidders and their respective price proposals and a summary of the school district's rationale for the contract award. (F) For the purposes of this chapter, "skilled labor force availability" means that an agreement exists with a registered apprenticeship program, approved by the California Apprenticeship Council, which has graduated apprentices in the preceding five years. This graduation requirement shall not apply to programs providing apprenticeship training for any craft that has not been deemed by the Department of Labor and the Department of Industrial Relations to be an apprenticable craft in the two years before enactment of this act. (G) For purposes of this chapter, a bidder's "safety record" shall be deemed "acceptable" if its 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 does 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. SEC. 3. Section 81700 of the Education Code is amended to read: 81700. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enable community college districts to use safe and cost-effective options for building and modernizing community college facilities. The Legislature has recognized the merits of the design-build procurement process in the past by authorizing its use for projects undertaken by the University of California, specified local government projects, including school districts, and state office buildings. (b) The Legislature also finds and declares that community college districts using a design-build contract require a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each participant in the design-build process. The benefits of a design-build contract project delivery system include accelerated completion of the projects, cost containment, reduction of construction complexity, and reduced exposure to risk for the community college district. The Legislature also finds that the cost-effective benefits to the community college districts are achieved by shifting the liability and risk for cost containment and project completion to the design-build entity. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide an optional, alternative procedure for bidding and building community college construction projects. (d) In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature that the full scope of design, construction, and equipment awarded to a design-build entity under this chapter shall be authorized in a single funding phase. The funding phase may be authorized concurrently with, or separately from, the phase that authorizes the creation of the performance criteria and concept drawings. (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement as authorized by this chapter shall not be construed to extend, limit, or change in any manner the legal responsibility of public agencies and contractors to comply with existing laws. (f) In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature that design-build procurement does not replace or eliminate competitive bidding. SEC. 4. Section 81703 of the Education Code is amended to read: 81703. Design-build projects shall progress as follows: (a) (1) The community college district governing board shall prepare a request for proposal setting forth the scope of the project that may include, but is not limited to, the size, type, and desired design character of the buildings and site, performance specifications covering the quality of materials, equipment, and workmanship, preliminary plans or building layouts, or any other information deemed necessary to describe adequately the community college district's needs. The performance specifications and any plans shall be prepared by a design professional duly licensed or registered in this state to perform the services required by the Field Act, as defined in Section 17281. The request for proposal shall not include a design-build-operate contract for educational facilities pursuant to this chapter. (2) Each request for proposal shall do all of the following: (A) Identify the basic scope and needs of the project or contract, the expected cost range, and other information deemed necessary by the community college district to inform interested parties of the contracting opportunity. (B) Invite interested parties to submit competitive sealed proposals in the manner prescribed by the community college district. (C) Include a section identifying and describing the following: (i) All significant factors and subfactors that the community college district reasonably expects to consider in evaluating proposals, including cost or price and all nonprice related factors and subfactors. (ii) The methodology and rating or weighting scheme that will be used by the community college district governing board in evaluating competitive proposals and specifically whether proposals will be rated according to numeric or qualitative values. (iii) The relative importance or weight assigned to each of the factors identified in the request for proposal. (iv) As an alternative to clause (iii), the governing board of a community college district shall specifically disclose whether all evaluation factors other than cost or price, when combined, are any of the following: (I) Significantly more important than cost or price. (II) Approximately equal in importance to cost or price. (III) Significantly less important than cost or price. (v) If the community college district governing board wishes to reserve the right to hold discussions or negotiations with responsive bidders, it shall so specify in the request for proposal and shall publish separately or incorporate into the request for proposal applicable rules and procedures to be observed by the community college district to ensure that any discussions or negotiations are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. (3) Notwithstanding Section 4-315 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, an architect or structural engineer who is party to a design-build entity may perform the services set forth in Section 81138. (b) The community college district shall establish a procedure to prequalify design-build entities using a standard questionnaire developed by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 17250.25. (c) The community college district shall establish a procedure for final selection of the design-build entity. Selection shall be based on either of the following criteria: (1) A competitive bidding process resulting in lump-sum bids by the prequalified design-build entities. Award shall be made on the basis of the lowest responsible bid. (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or of Section 20650 of the Public Contract Code, a community college district may use a design-build competition based upon performance and other criteria set forth by the governing board of the community college district in the solicitation of proposals. Criteria used in this evaluation of proposals may include, but need not be limited to, the proposed design approach, life cycle costs, project features, and project functions. However, competitive proposals shall be evaluated by using the criteria and source selection procedures specifically identified in the request for proposal. Once the evaluation is complete, all responsive bidders shall be ranked from the most advantageous to least advantageous to the community college district. A community college district that limits the number of responsible bidders participating in the design-build competition, at any time after a request for a proposal has been issued, shall use the source selection procedures and minimum factors set forth in subparagraph (C). (A) An architectural firm, engineering firm, construction manager, contractor, subcontractor, consultant, or individual retained by the governing board of the community college district directly or indirectly before the award of the project to assist in the planning of the project, including, but not necessarily limited to, the development criteria or preparation of the request for proposal, shall not be eligible to participate in the competition with the design-build entity or to perform work on the project as a subcontractor. (B) The award of the contract shall be made to the responsible bidder whose proposal is determined, in writing by the community college district, to be the best value to the community college district. (C) Proposals shall be evaluated and scored solely on the basis of the factors and source selection procedures identified in the request for proposal. However, the following minimum factors shall each represent at least 10 percent of the total weight or consideration given to all criteria factors: price, technical expertise, life cycle costs over 15 years or more, skilled labor force availability, and acceptable safety record. (D) The community college district governing board shall issue a written decision supporting its contract award and stating in detail the basis of the award. The decision and the contract file must be sufficient to satisfy an external audit. (E) Notwithstanding any provision of the Public Contract Code, upon issuance of a contract award, the community college district governing board shall publicly announce its awards identifying the contractor to whom the award is made, the winning contractor's price proposal and its overall combined rating on the request for proposal evaluation factors. The notice of award shall also include the agency' s ranking in relation to all other responsive bidders and their respective price proposals and a summary of the community college district's rationale for the contract award. (F) For purposes of this chapter, "skilled labor force availability" means that an agreement exists with a registered apprenticeship program, approved by the California Apprenticeship Council, which has graduated apprentices in each of the immediately preceding five years. This graduation requirement shall not apply to programs providing apprenticeship training for any craft that has not been deemed by the Department of Labor and the Department of Industrial Relations to be an apprenticable craft in the five years before enactment of the act adding this section. (G) For purposes of this chapter, a bidder's "safety record" shall be deemed "acceptable" if its 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 does 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. (H) For purposes of this chapter, when a community college district determines a design-build entity's "experience," the community college district shall give credit only to design-build experience and to California school design and construction experience. SEC. 5. Section 4 of Chapter 421 of the Statutes of 2001, as amended by Section 9 of Chapter 471 of the Statutes of 2007, is amended to read: Sec. 4. This act shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 6. Section 4 of Chapter 637 of the Statutes of 2002, as amended by Section 10 of Chapter 471 of the Statutes of 2007, is amended to read: Sec. 4. This act shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.