Design-Build Legislation - Design-Build for Water and Wastewater Projects - page 40

through design and construction. The engineer may be a full-time employee or staff mem-
ber of the local government or an employee of a private firm, and would be selected on
the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications (Texas Local Government Code,
Chapter 271.187, 2007). There are also certain population-based limitations to the use of
DB by local governments.
Design-Build in the State of California
As of 2010, authorization and utilization of DB in California are broader at the local level
than at the state level. The prevalence of labor compliance programs that are embedded in
local design statutes differentiates California's approach from most of the nation, and the
inclusion of DB sunset laws may limit the state's use of DB in the future, because local gov-
ernments often find compliance with these programs on DB projects to be too onerous.
All of these characteristics are the product of a legislative compromise struck among
local officials, contractors, and labor unions in 2000, when a procurement bill (i.e.,
AB2296) was under consideration by legislators (Ho 2009a). Local officials wanted the
flexibility and potential cost savings offered by DB; contractors wanted fair access to
DB projects; and labor unions wanted labor compliance provisions. These negotiations
resulted in the passage of four DB laws that year (Ho 2009a), and some of them have sun-
set clauses, meaning that the authority to perform or use DB will be eliminated unless
legislative action restores the authority.
As of 2010, all counties in California are authorized to use DB for the construc-
tion and improvement of buildings and wastewater treatment facilities on contracts that
exceed $2.5 million. This authority is set to expire, or sunset, on Jan. 1, 2014 (California
Public Contract Code, 20133, 2007). In 2008, legislation was passed to authorize a pilot
program for cities, counties, and special districts to use DB for the construction of 20
local water recycling, wastewater treatment, and solid waste facilities. This authority is
set to sunset in 2020 (California Public Contract Code, 20193, 2008). Similar to the DB
authority granted to county officials, these projects must have a contract value in excess of
$2.5 million. In separate legislation, the Santa Clara Valley Water District was granted DB
authority, which will sunset Jan. 1, 2014 (California Public Contract Code, 21162, 2011).
Procurement of most local DB projects in California includes four activities. First,
local officials prepare criteria documents that determine the project scope, and these doc-
uments may include preliminary plans and performance specifications. These documents
must be prepared by a licensed and registered California design professional. Next, an
RFQ is issued. During this stage, owners engage in an evaluation of the DB teams' expe-
rience, competency, financial information, capacity to complete similar projects, licenses
and other accreditations, safety record, and the existence of claims or disputes with pre-
vious owners. Third, an RFP that explains the project scope, anticipated cost, selection
methodology, and evaluation criteria is issued to the teams that were prequalified by the
RFQ stage.
The fourth and final step in the process is the selection phase. Owners may use a
lump-sum price-based selection (i.e., low bid) or best-value selection (BVS; see chapter
7 for more information). When using BVS, each of the following five criteria must be
weighted to be at least 10 percent of the total score: (1) price; (2) technical expertise; (3) life
cycle costs over 15 years or more; (4) skilled labor force availability; and (5) acceptable