Bill Text: HI HB640 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Procurement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-12-10 - Carried over to 2022 Regular Session. [HB640 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB640-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
640 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to procurement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the delivery and award of public works construction projects can be hindered by bid challenges resulting in a lapse of funding and other procurement issues. The legislature further finds that the execution and completion of public works projects are often delayed due to bid protests by non-lowest bidders challenging technical mistakes in the lowest bidder's proposal. As a result of bid protests, projects are delayed, funding lapses, and awards to non-low bidders increase final project costs.
Specifically, section 103D-302, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires that all subcontractors or joint contractors to be used on a public works project, along with their scope of work, be listed on the bid proposal submitted to any state or county agency subject to the procurement code. The legislature further finds that many recent bid protests have been based on subcontractor listing and licensing issues, including where a bidder has failed to list a required subcontractor or when a listed subcontractor, unbeknownst to the general contractor, did not possess the appropriate license and was not qualified to perform the work.
The legislature further finds that time constraints between the time a bidder receives all subcontractor bids and the bid submission deadline can cause inadvertent failure to list a required subcontractor or listing of an improperly licensed subcontractor in a bid, resulting in a bid protest. Often, inadvertent errors occur due to the complexity of the laws regarding contractor licenses under chapter 444, Hawaii Revised Statutes; title 16, Hawaii Administrative Rules; and judicial, quasi-judicial, and agency interpretations of these laws and rules. The contractors license board currently recognizes over one hundred different specialty contractor licenses that a prime bidder must sort through to determine the appropriate subcontractor specialty to be listed on a bid. Hence, bidders and subcontractors sometimes misunderstand the licensing requirements.
In comparison, the federal government does not require the listing of subcontractors on any bid proposal. In fact, the federal government does not require a general contractor's license to bid on or perform construction work, nor do over twenty states. The legislature further recognizes that the 2000 American Bar Association's Model Procurement Code, the model for Hawaii's procurement code, does not include such a subcontractor listing requirement.
Therefore, the legislature finds that it is necessary to amend the State's procurement code to allow greater flexibility in the listing of subcontractors for construction contracts, thereby reducing the number of opportunities to challenge bids on the basis of subcontractor listing errors. However, the legislature also finds that amending the State's procurement code should not in any way change the statutory requirement to use licensed subcontractors under chapter 444, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to amend the procurement code to require bidders for construction contracts to submit the final list of all joint contractors and subcontractors no later than five days after the bid submission deadline.
SECTION 2. Section 103D-302, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) An invitation for bids shall be issued, and
shall include a purchase description and all contractual terms and conditions
applicable to the procurement. If the invitation for bids is for construction, it shall specify that [all bids include] the
final list of the name of each person or firm to be engaged by the bidder
as a joint contractor or subcontractor in the performance of the contract and
the nature and scope of the work to be performed by each[.] shall be submitted no later
than five days after the bid submission deadline. Construction bids that do not comply with
this requirement may be accepted if acceptance is in the best interest of the
State and the value of the work to be performed by the joint contractor or
subcontractor is equal to or less than one per cent of the total bid amount."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Procurement; Contract Bids; Joint Contractor and Subcontractor Listing
Description:
Requires bidders for construction contracts to submit the final list of all joint contractors and subcontractors no later than five days after the bid submission deadline.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
