Construction Law Blog

The 2017 Virginia General Assembly has enacted several laws that affect public procurement and professional regulation.

Public Procurement: 

Design-Build Advances:  On the procurement front, public bodies may not procure construction through construction management or design-build contracts.  Before taking advantage of this contracting structure, the public bodies must determine that competitive sealed bidding is not practicable or fiscally advantageous.

A/E Contract Increases:  Public architectural and engineering term contracts have also increased to $150,000 per project.

Energy Performance-Based Contracts:  Public Bodies may now use cooperative procurement in EPC contracts.

Prequalification Waiver: Localities may now waive prequalification of bidders for non-bonded projects between $100k -- $300k.  

Professional Regulation:

License bonds in lieu of financial statements:  Contractors may obtain a Class A or B license without providing DPOR with a financial statement if they provide a $5,000 surety bond.

License waiver for minor work:  Minor construction work valued at under $2,500 no longer requires a contractor’s license.

A more detailed analysis of these bills may be found here.