Local Agency Public Construction Act: change orders: County of Los Angeles: County of Santa Clara.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information about keeping existing caps or specifying new limits for the number of contracts with change orders.

Change Orders for Construction Projects in LA and Santa Clara Counties

This law removes limits on the number of construction contracts that can have change orders and eliminates review report requirements for Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties, while extending special rules allowing higher caps on extra costs for large projects.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the limit of seven contracts for change orders in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties.
• Eliminates the requirement for review reports from both counties about their construction contract changes.
• Extends indefinitely the special rules allowing higher caps on extra costs for large construction projects in these two counties.

Who It Names or Affects

• Los Angeles County
• Santa Clara County

Terms To Know

Change order

An adjustment in a construction contract that changes the scope of work, price, or schedule.

Cap

A limit on how much extra money can be added to a construction project due to changes.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is unclear what will happen if these counties exceed their cap amounts in future projects.

Official Summary Text

AB 1658, as introduced, Kalra.
Local Agency Public Construction Act: change orders: County of Los Angeles: County of Santa Clara.
Existing law, the Local Agency Public Construction Act, regulates contracting by local agencies, including counties and special districts. The act includes specific provisions for contracting by counties and contracting for county highways, bridges, and subways, and county waterworks districts. Those provisions include change order authorization for contracts, as prescribed, and impose caps on the extra cost of any change order, varying with the value of the original contract. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes the County of Los Angeles and the County of Santa Clara to add a change order cap of $400,000 for contracts whose original cost exceeds $25,000,000 and of $750,000 for contracts whose original cost exceeds $50,000,000, both of which are adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index. Existing law imposes similar caps for both
counties with regard to county highways and similar caps for the County of Los Angeles with regard to county bridges, subways, waterworks districts, and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. That law requires the provisions specific to the County of Los Angeles and the County of Santa Clara modify no more than 7 contracts and requires those counties to provide a review report to the Assembly Committee on Local Government and the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance no later than July 1, 2026.
This bill would no longer require the County of Los Angeles and the County of Santa Clara to modify no more than 7 contracts and no longer require those counties to provide a review report, as described above. The bill would delete the January 1, 2027 repeal date, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special
statute for the County of Santa Clara and the County of Los Angeles.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF