SB 918, as amended, Gaines. Department of Transportation.
(1) Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of the state highway system and associated property. Existing law authorizes the department to purchase or rent any necessary supplies, instruments, tools, equipment, and conveniences as may be necessary for the proper discharge of its duties.
This bill would require the departmentbegin insert, on or before February 1, 2015,end insert to develop and implement an asset management program that will efficiently and effectively catalog the department’s assets to ensure the most efficient usage and maintenance of thosebegin delete assets.end deletebegin insert
assets, and would require the department to update the program at least once every 5end insertbegin insert years.end insert
(2) Existing law, the State Records Management Act, imposes certain requirements on state agencies with respect to retention of records that have administrative, legal, or fiscal value.
This bill would impose additional record retention requirements on the Department of Transportation with respect to documents that are associated with construction projects. The bill would provide that the department shall be liable for any loss or damage to any party resulting from failure to retain these documents, and would provide for a civil penalty of up to $500 for each occurrence of a missing document.
(3) Existing law, the State Contract Act, generally provides for a contracting process by state agencies for public works of improvement via a competitive bidding process, under which bids are awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, with certain alternative bidding procedures authorized in certain cases. Existing law requires a department, as defined for purposes of the State Contract Act, including the Department of Transportation, to prepare full, complete, and accurate plans and specifications and estimates of cost before entering into any competitively bid contract for a public works project.
This bill would, with respect to competitively bid projects, require the department, before it commences the design of a project’s plans, to first obtain full, complete, and accurate survey information of the field conditions existing in the location where construction of the project is to be performed. The bill would also require the department, when preparing the project’s plans, to use state-of-the-art design software that allows for the preparation of full, complete, and accurate plans and that does not automatically fix errors in the design but rather requires the project designer to correct errors on an individualized, contemplative basis.
(4) Existing law requires the department to annually prepare and submit to the Governor a proposed budget, and to inform the California Transportation Commission of all pertinent assumptions and policy directions it intends to use in preparing the budget. Existing law also requires the department to develop budgeting, accounting, fiscal control, and management information systems in order to support its proposed budgets and to improve its program management, as specified.
This bill would require the department, in preparing the proposed budget, to include detailed information about outstanding contractor claims, as defined, relating to construction projects, and to reserve sufficient moneys in each budget to pay accumulated outstanding claims, as specified, and to report on those claims and reserves in budget-related reports.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 14104.1 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
begin deleteThe end deletebegin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertOn or before February 1, 2015, the end insert
4department shall develop and implement an asset management
5program that will efficiently and effectively catalog the
6department’s assets to ensure the most efficient usage and
7maintenance of those assets.
8(b) The department shall update the asset management program
9at least once every five years.
Section 14106 is added to the Government Code, to
11read:
(a) The requirements of this section shall be in addition
13to the requirements for document retention applicable to all state
14agencies pursuant to the State Records Management Act (Chapter
155 (commencing with Section 14740) of Part 5.5).
16(b) (1) For purposes of this subdivision, “document” includes,
17but is not limited to, a document subject to subdivision (a), email
18messages and associated attachments, text messages, and
19handwritten notes of any kind, including, but not limited to, diaries,
20measurement notes, inspection notes, calculations, and meeting
21minutes. “Document” also includes any other writing that would
22normally be retained as part of a
construction project file.
23(2) The department shall retain, as part of a construction
24project’s file, all documents that are in any way related to the
25design, construction, or administration, at every stage, of a
26construction project. The documents shall be retained by the
27department until final closeout and payment in full for each element
28of the project is complete, and all outstanding claims relating to
29the project have been resolved, including any available appeal.
30(c) If the department fails to retain a document required to be
31retained pursuant to subdivision (b) or as required by any other
32applicable law, it shall be liable for any loss or damage to any
33party resulting from that failure and shall also be subject to a civil
34penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each
occurrence
35of a missing document. An action under this subdivision for
36recovery of a civil penalty may be brought by the Attorney General
37or a district attorney.
Section 10120 of the Public Contract Code is amended
2to read:
(a) Before entering into any contract for a project, the
4department shall prepare full, complete, and accurate plans and
5specifications and estimates of cost, giving such directions as will
6enable any competent mechanic or other builder to carry them out.
7(b) (1) Before the Department of Transportation commences
8the design of a project’s plans, it shall first obtain full, complete,
9and accurate survey information of the field conditions existing
10in the location where construction of the project is to be performed.
11The Department of Transportation, when preparing a project’s
12plans, shall ensure that the plans match existing conditions and
13shall
use state-of-the-art design software that allows for the
14preparation of full, complete, and accurate plans and that does not
15automatically fix errors in the design but rather requires the project
16designer to correct errors on an individualized, contemplative basis.
17(2) Upon award of a contract, the Department of Transportation
18and the contractor shall engage in a joint postbid constructability
19review to identify any remaining issues and seek to resolve them
Section 172 is added to the Streets and Highways Code,
21to read:
(a) As used in this section, “claim” includes, but is not
23limited to, a claim with respect to a construction project that is
24submitted through the notice of potential claims procedures, an
25after contract acceptance claim, or a lien. This section applies to
26a construction project regardless of the contracting method used
27for the project.
28(b) Each proposed budget prepared by the department shall
29include detailed financial information about all outstanding claims
30submitted by contractors, including passthrough claims submitted
31by contractors on behalf of subcontractors. Each budget shall
32contain a reserve of moneys sufficient to pay outstanding
33accumulated claims for
all construction projects, as determined
34pursuant this section.
35(c) For each construction project for which the department
36receives a claim through the notice of potential claims procedures
37or an after contract acceptance claim, stating a monetary value,
38moneys shall be reserved that are sufficient to pay, at a minimum,
3960 percent of the claim’s value as stated by the contractor, except
40that if a claim is heard by the project’s dispute resolution board
P5 1and a majority of the board finds in favor of the claimant, or if a
2board of review, or the department’s district director in the district
3having jurisdiction of the project, finds in favor of the claimant,
4moneys shall be reserved that are sufficient to pay 100 percent of
5the claim’s value as determined by the applicable board or district
6director.
7(d) The department shall continue to report, in its budget
8documents and otherwise, the value of each outstanding claim as
9determined pursuant to this section, and to reserve funding to pay
10each claim as required by this section, until the claim is finally
11resolved.
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