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| CRBJ Home > February 2007 | |||||
Proposed ordinance unfriendly to contractorsBy Bob Barker
This ordinance may increase construction costs for city of Madison projects by increasing the administrative burden on contractors and the city engineer. Additionally, the ordinance may discourage developers from considering projects within the city when there are more contractor- and developer-friendly cities nearby. The hidden cost behind the BVC ordinance is that working for the city may be relegated to the last choice for contractors. Instead, the city could get "Best Value" by becoming more contractor-friendly and increasing the pool of contractors willing to bid on their projects. A review of the bidders lists reveals that many qualified contractors already choose not to bid on city work, and the BVC ordinance may further discourage their participation. The basis of the ordinance is prequalification of general contractors, prime contractors and subcontractors. General contractors shoulder the additional burden of ensuring all of their subcontractors have completed the necessary paperwork and are prequalified prior to starting work. As part of the prequalification process, contractors must certify that they: • Have the technical expertise and resources to perform the project; • Possess appropriate licenses; • Meet bonding and insurance requirements as required by law; • Maintain a substance abuse policy; • Pay prevailing wages; • Participate in an approved apprenticeship program; • Abide by equal employment opportunity and affirmative action requirements; • Have not been debarred or had license or certification revoked or suspended. The requirements of the certification process seem harmless enough. It is likely that all contractors who currently bid or work on city projects will have no problem in meeting the requirements. This is in part due to the fact that many BVC certification requirements are duplicative of regulations already in place: apprentices on state projects are controlled by Executive Order 108, safety programs are mandated by OSHA, city projects are already subject to prevailing wages and Madison already has subcontracting requirements for minority business enterprises, women business enterprises and disadvantaged business enterprises. The AGC supports apprenticeship, safety, standardized wages and efforts to recruit qualified minorities into the industry. We find it difficult to understand an ordinance that could make working for the city even more difficult and discourages developers from initiating projects in the city. Additionally, it is no secret that some authors of this ordinance want BVC ordinances functioning in municipalities throughout Wisconsin. A patchwork of ordinances will exacerbate the burden on contractors and create an environment in Wisconsin that is very contractor-unfriendly. Furthermore, municipalities struggling with budget challenges and construction costs should avoid increasing administrative burdens. We at AGC hope that the authors of the ordinance will consider BVC reforms that will make working for the city a good business choice for contractors. Bob Barker is the executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin. madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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