HB 155: "An Act relating to public construction contracts."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 155 01 "An Act relating to public construction contracts." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 36.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 04 Sec. 36.05.005. Applicability. This chapter applies only to a public 05 construction contract that exceeds $75,000. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 36.05.010 is amended to read: 07 Sec. 36.05.010. Wage rates on public construction. A contractor or 08 subcontractor who performs work on a public construction contract in the state [, AS 09 DEFINED BY AS 36.95.010,] shall pay not less than the current prevailing rate of 10 wages for work of a similar nature in the region in which the work is done. The 11 current prevailing rate of wages is that contained in the latest determination of 12 prevailing rate of wages issued by the Department of Labor and Workforce 13 Development at least 10 days before the final date for submission of bids for the 14 contract. The rate shall remain in effect for the life of the contract or for 24 calendar 15 months, whichever is shorter. At the end of the initial 24-month period, if new wage
01 determinations have been issued by the department, the latest wage determination 02 shall become effective for the next 24-month period or until the contract is completed, 03 whichever occurs first. This process shall be repeated until the contract is completed. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 36.05.045(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) Before commencing work on a public construction contract, the person 06 entering into the contract with a contracting agency shall designate a primary 07 contractor for purposes of this section. Before work commences, the primary 08 contractor shall file a notice of work with the Department of Labor and Workforce 09 Development. The notice of work must list work to be performed under the public 10 construction contract by each contractor who will perform any portion of work on the 11 contract and the contract price being paid to each contractor. The primary contractor 12 shall pay all filing fees for each contractor performing work on the contract, including 13 a filing fee based on the contract price being paid for work performed by the primary 14 contractor's employees. The filing fee payable shall be the sum of all fees calculated 15 for each contractor. The filing fee shall be one percent of each contractor's contract 16 price. The total filing fee payable by the primary contractor under this subsection may 17 not exceed $5,000. [THERE IS NO FEE FOR A CONTRACT UNDER WHICH THE 18 TOTAL AMOUNT PAYABLE BY THE CONTRACTING AGENCY IS LESS 19 THAN $25,000.] In this subsection, "contractor" means an employer who is using 20 employees to perform work on the public construction contract under the contract or a 21 subcontract. 22 * Sec. 4. AS 36.05.070(a) is amended to read: 23 (a) The advertised specifications for a public construction contract 24 [EXCEEDING $2,000 TO WHICH THE STATE OR A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION 25 OF THE STATE IS A PARTY] that requires or involves the employment of 26 mechanics, laborers, or field surveyors must [SHALL] contain a provision stating the 27 minimum wages to be paid various classes of laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors 28 and that the rate of wages shall be adjusted to the wage rate under AS 36.05.010. 29 * Sec. 5. AS 36.05.070(c) is amended to read: 30 (c) A public construction contract under (a) of this section must [FOR 31 PUBLIC WORKS IN THE STATE OR A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION SHALL]
01 contain provisions that 02 (1) the contractor or subcontractors of the contractor shall pay all 03 employees unconditionally and not less than once a week; 04 (2) wages may not be less than those stated in the advertised 05 specifications, regardless of the contractual relationship between the contractor or 06 subcontractors and laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors; 07 (3) the scale of wages to be paid shall be posted by the contractor in a 08 prominent and easily accessible place at the site of the work; 09 (4) the state or a political subdivision shall withhold so much of the 10 accrued payments as is necessary to pay to laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors 11 employed by the contractor or subcontractors the difference between 12 (A) the rates of wages required by the contract to be paid 13 laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors on the work, and 14 (B) the rates of wages in fact received by laborers, mechanics, 15 or field surveyors. 16 * Sec. 6. AS 36.05.090(a) is amended to read: 17 (a) The state disbursing officer in the case of a state public construction 18 contract and the local fiscal officer in the case of a political subdivision public 19 construction contract shall pay directly to laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors 20 from accrued payments withheld under the terms of the contract the wages due 21 laborers, mechanics, or field surveyors under AS 36.05.070. 22 * Sec. 7. AS 36.05.110 is amended to read: 23 Sec. 36.05.110. Contracts entered into without advertising. The fact that a 24 public construction contract authorized by law is entered into upon a cost-plus-a- 25 fixed-fee basis or otherwise, without advertising for proposals, does not make 26 AS 36.05.070 - 36.05.110 inapplicable if they are otherwise applicable to the contract. 27 * Sec. 8. AS 36.05.900 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 28 (2) "public construction" means the on-site field surveying, erection, 29 rehabilitation, alteration, extension or repair, including painting or redecorating of, 30 buildings, highways, or other improvements to real property under contract for the 31 state or a political subdivision of the state, but does not include maintenance work; in
01 this paragraph, "maintenance work" means work that is necessary to maintain an 02 improvement in a safe and functional state or only returns an improvement to a 03 condition in which the improvement previously existed without improving the original 04 condition of the improvement as constructed or as subsequently improved; 05 (3) "public construction contract" means a contract for public 06 construction; 07 (4) "state or a political subdivision of the state" means a state 08 department, state agency, state university, municipality, or other state subdivision, 09 except for a school district of a municipality or a regional educational attendance area. 10 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11 read: 12 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to a public construction contract that is subject to 13 AS 36.05 and entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. In this section, "public 14 construction contract" has the meaning given in AS 36.05.900, as amended by sec. 8 of this 15 Act.