Public works/bidding

AN ACT Relating to prime contractor bidding submission 1
requirements on public works contracts; and amending RCW 39.30.060.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 39.30.060 and 2021 c 103 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) Every invitation to bid on a prime contract that is expected 6
to cost $1,000,000 or more for the construction, alteration, or 7
repair of any public building or public work of the state or a state 8
agency or municipality as defined under RCW 39.04.010 or an 9
institution of higher education as defined under RCW 28B.10.016 shall 10
require each prime contract bidder to submit: 11
(a) Within one hour after the published bid submittal time, the 12
names of the licensed subcontractors with whom the bidder, if awarded 13
the contract, will subcontract for performance of the work of: HVAC 14
(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning); plumbing as described 15
in chapter 18.106 RCW; and electrical as described in chapter 19.28 16
RCW, or to name itself for the work , if it is licensed to perform the 17
work for which it has named itself; and 18
(b) Within 48 hours after the published bid submittal time, the 19
names of the subcontractors with whom the bidder, if awarded the 20
H-0076.1
HOUSE BILL 1633
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Hill, Waters, Bergquist, Obras, Taylor, Ormsby,
Berry, Peterson, Gregerson, Parshley, Reed, Reeves, Simmons, Thomas,
and Nance
Read first time 01/27/25. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
p. 1 HB 1633
contract, will subcontract for performance of the work of structural 1
steel installation and rebar installation. 2
(2) The prime contract bidder shall not list more than one 3
subcontractor for each category of work identified, unless 4
subcontractors vary with bid alternates, in which case the prime 5
contract bidder must indicate which subcontractor will be used for 6
which alternate. Failure of the prime contract bidder to submit as 7
part of the bid the names of such subcontractors or to name itself to 8
perform such work or the naming of two or more subcontractors to 9
perform the same work shall render the prime contract bidder's bid 10
nonresponsive and, therefore, void. 11
(3) Substitution of a listed subcontractor in furtherance of bid 12
shopping or bid peddling before or after the award of the prime 13
contract is prohibited and the originally listed subcontractor is 14
entitled to recover monetary damages from the prime contract bidder 15
who executed a contract with the public entity and the substituted 16
subcontractor but not from the public entity inviting the bid. It is 17
the original subcontractor's burden to prove by a preponderance of 18
the evidence that bid shopping or bid peddling occurred. Substitution 19
of a listed subcontractor may be made by the prime contractor for the 20
following reasons: 21
(a) Refusal of the listed subcontractor to sign a contract with 22
the prime contractor; 23
(b) Bankruptcy or insolvency of the listed subcontractor;24
(c) Inability of the listed subcontractor to perform the 25
requirements of the proposed contract or the project;26
(d) Inability of the listed subcontractor to obtain the necessary 27
((license,)) bonding, insurance, or other statutory requirements to 28
perform the work detailed in the contract; 29
(e) Refusal or inability to provide a letter of bondability from 30
a surety company; or 31
(f) The listed subcontractor is barred from participating in the 32
project as a result of a court order or summary judgment.33
(4) The requirement of this section to name the prime contract 34
bidder's proposed subcontractors applies only to proposed HVAC, 35
plumbing, electrical, structural steel installation, and rebar 36
installation subcontractors who will contract directly with the prime 37
contract bidder submitting the bid to the public entity.38
(5) This section does not apply to design-build requests for 39
proposals under RCW 39.10.330, to general contractor/construction 40
p. 2 HB 1633
manager requests for proposals under RCW 39.10.350, or to job order 1
contract requests for proposals under RCW 39.10.420.2
(((6) The legislature finds that there are hundreds of capital 3
construction projects completed each year which include complex 4
contracting and bidding requirements. It is the intent of the 5
legislature to review current subcontractor listing requirements to 6
allow fair, transparent, and competitive bidding while prohibiting 7
bid shopping. The capital projects advisory review board must submit 8
a report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the 9
legislature by November 1, 2020, and a second report by November 1, 10
2022. The reports must:11
(a) Evaluate current subcontractor listing policies and 12
practices;13
(b) Recommend appropriate expansion of the number of 14
subcontractors that may be listed in order to improve transparency 15
and fairness without reducing competitive bidding and access to 16
public works by minority and women-owned businesses; and17
(c) Recommend possible project threshold and time frames for 18
purposes of subcontractor listings for all scopes of work that are 19
not required to list under law, including: The timing of 20
subcontractor listing, bond requirements for subcontractors, general 21
contractors standard contract request, and general contractor/22
construction manager and design-build applications.))23
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p. 3 HB 1633