GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 749

Short Title:  Government Construction Contracts.	(Public)

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Senators Hobbs, Kerr, Odom, Plexico, Martin of Pitt, Gulley, Rand, Winner, Carrington, East, and Warren.

─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Judiciary I/Constitution

─────────────────────────────────────── 

April 18, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ALLOW THE USE OF SINGLE-PRIME AND SEPARATE-PRIME CONTRACTS FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Section 4 of Chapter 480 of the 1989 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 4.  This act is effective upon ratification."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-128 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-128.  Specifications for building contracts; responsible contractors.
					" 							Specifications for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building for a government unit shall be prepared and bids shall be received in accordance with the single-prime method, the separate-prime method, or both, as established in this section.  This section does not apply if (i) the total cost of the work is estimated not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), or (ii) the work is for the erection of a prefabricated or relocatable building and the work to be performed at the site of erection is estimated not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(a)	Single Prime. – A government unit may prepare specifications for bid by a single-prime contractor.
Each single-prime bidder must identify on its bid the subcontractor it has selected for each of the categories of work listed in subdivisions (b)(1) through (b)(4) of this section and the amount of the subcontractor's bid.  A subcontractor identified on the bid shall not be replaced without the approval of the contracting authority of the government unit.
(b)	Separate Prime. – A government unit may prepare specifications for bids by separate-prime contractors.  The specifications shall require that bids be received separately on each of the following categories of work:
(1)	Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and accessories (separately or combined into one conductive system) and/or refrigeration for cold storage (where the cooling load is 15 tons or more of refrigeration), and all related work.
(2)	Plumbing and gas fittings and accessories, and all related work.
(3)	Electrical wiring and installation, and all related work.
(4)	General work, not included in subdivisions (1) through (3) of this subsection, relating to the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of the building.
Additional separate specifications for other categories of work may be prepared for bidding and award when the contracting authority for the government unit deems it to be in the best interest of the unit.  When the estimated cost of work to be performed in a single category is less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the work may be included in one of the other categories.
	Each separate contractor shall be directly liable to the government unit and to the other separate contractors for the full performance of all duties and obligations under the terms of its contract and in accordance with the plans and specifications.  The plans and specifications shall specifically identify the duties and obligations of each separate contractor.  The contractor performing the work under subdivision (4) of this subsection is responsible for expediting the project and, in executing this responsibility, may recommend to the contracting authority of the government unit whether payment to a contractor should be approved.
(c)	Prequalification. – The contracting authority of a government unit may prequalify bidders under either method of contracting.
	(d) The State shall have a verifiable ten percent (10%) goal for participation by minority businesses in the total value of work for each project for which a contract or contracts are awarded pursuant to this section.  Each government unit shall adopt, after a notice and public hearing, an appropriate verifiable percentage goal for participation by minority businesses in the total value of work for which a contract or contracts are awarded pursuant to this section.
However, contracts shall be awarded without regard to race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, or handicapping condition, as defined in G.S. 168A-3.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to require contractors or government units to award contracts or subcontracts to or to make purchases of materials or equipment from minority business contractors or minority business subcontractors who do not submit the lowest responsible bid or bids.
(e)	As used in this section:
(1)	'Minority business' means a business:
a.	In which at least fifty-one percent (51%) is owned by one or more minority persons, or in the case of a corporation, in which at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the stock is owned by one or more minority persons; and
b.	Of which the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more of the minority persons who own it.
(2)	' Minority person' means a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is:
a.	Black, that is, a person having origins in any of the black racial groups in Africa;
b.	Hispanic, that is, a person of Spanish or Portugese culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race;
c.	Asian American, that is, a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia and Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Pacific Islands;
d.	American Indian or Alaskan Native, that is, a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America; or
e.	Female.
(3)	'Government unit' means the State, a municipality, a county, school administrative unit, or other political subdivision of the State; and
(4)	' Verifiable goal' means the adoption by the government unit of written guidelines specifying the actions that contractors must take to ensure a good faith effort in the recruitment and selection of minority businesses for participation in contracts awarded under this section; the required actions must be documented in writing by the contractor to the appropriate government unit.
	."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 143-132 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-132.  Minimum number of bids for public contracts.
(a)	No contract to which G.S. 143-129 applies for construction or repairs shall be awarded by any board or governing body of the State, or any subdivision thereof, unless at least three competitive bids have been received from reputable and qualified contractors regularly engaged in their respective lines of endeavor; however, this section shall not apply to contracts which are negotiated as provided for in G.S. 143-129. Provided that if after advertisement for bids as required by G.S. 143-129, not as many as three competitive bids have been received from reputable and qualified contractors regularly engaged in their respective lines of endeavor, said board or governing body of the State agency or of a county, city, town or other subdivision of the State shall again advertise for bids; and if as a result of such second advertisement, not as many as three competitive bids from reputable and qualified contractors are received, such board or governing body may then let the contract to the lowest responsible bidder submitting a bid for such project, even though only one bid is received.
(b)	If bids are received under both the single-prime and separate-prime methods under G.S. 143-128, the following applies:
(1)	Each single-prime bid shall constitute a competitive bid in each of the four categories of work under G.S. 143-128(b).
(2)	Each full set of separate-prime bids shall constitute a competitive single-prime bid in meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this section.
(3)	If there are at least three single-prime bids but there is not at least one full set of separate-prime bids, no separate-prime bids shall be opened.
(c)	The State Building Commission shall develop guidelines governing the opening of bids pursuant to this Article. These guidelines shall be distributed to all public bodies subject to this Article. The guidelines shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes."
Sec. 4.  This act is effective upon ratification.