Counties: public works contracts.

Existing law provides that if the estimated cost of construction of any county building or the cost of any painting or repairs thereto, exceeds a specified sum, the work shall be done by contract and that any such contract not let pursuant to specified provisions is void. Existing law requires a board of supervisors to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Existing law also authorizes a county, with approval of the board of supervisors, to utilize an alternative procedure for bidding on construction projects in the county in excess of $2,500,000 and to award the project using either the lowest responsible bidder or by best value, as specified. This bill would authorize a county, until January 1, 2018, with approval of the board of supervisors, to utilize construction manager at-risk construction contracts for the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any building owned or leased by the county. The bill would provide that a construction manager at-risk contract may be used only for projects in the county in excess of $1,000,000 and may be awarded using either the lowest responsible bidder or best value method, as defined, to a construction manager at-risk entity that possesses or that obtains sufficient bonding. The bill would require that subcontractors that were not listed by a construction manager at-risk entity as partners, general partners, or association members in a partnership, limited partnership, or association in the entity's construction manager at-risk bid submission, be awarded certain work by the construction manager at-risk entity in accordance with the process set forth by the county, as provided. This bill would require a county that elects to use a construction manager at-risk contract to make a copy of the contract available for public inspection on its Internet Web site and to notify the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature with instructions on finding and accessing the stored contract.