List Of Exempt Steel Products Issued For 2022

On February 19, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) issued the list of machinery and equipment steel products which are exempt for calendar year 2022 under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act. The list was published in Read more

Recent Commonwealth Court Decision Affirms Core Bidding Principles

A recent decision concerning a bid protest filed on a PennDOT contract re-affirmed core principles of public bidding and bid protests on Commonwealth contracts. In Sidelines Tree Service, LLC v. Department of Transportation, the Commonwealth Court considered an appeal from a Read more

PA Supreme Court Clarifies The Meaning Of "Cost" Under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act

The PA Steel Products Procurement Act was first enacted in 1978. At its core, the Act provides that any steel products used or supplied on a public works project in Pennsylvania must be U.S. steel products. Under the Act, a product Read more

Can A Public Owner Recover Legal Fees From A Bidder Who Loses A Challenge To A Bid Rejection?

Can a public entity include in its bid instructions the right to recover its legal fees from a bidder if the bidder's bid protest lawsuit is unsuccessful? In the course of providing advice recently to a client, I came across Read more

List Of Exempt Steel Products Issued For 2020

On June 27, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) issued the list of machinery and equipment steel products which are exempt for calendar year 2020 under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act.  The list was published in Read more

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Oral Promise To Pay Subcontractor Ruled Enforceable Against School District

In a departure from the usual rule, but not surprising given the facts of the case, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently enforced a subcontractor’s claim for payment against a public owner.

In 2009, West Allegheny School District terminated Flaherty Mechanical Contractors, LLC, the prime contractor on a school alterations project, for failure to pay various subcontractors.  After the termination, to prevent further delay, the school district asked F. Zacherl, Inc., the sheet metal subcontractor, to return to the project and complete the work remaining under its subcontract with Flaherty.

Zacherl orally agreed with school district, provided it was paid its then outstanding invoices. These invoices were paid, and Zacherl completed its work, but the school district made no further payments for either the work Zacherl had performed for Flaherty or the work Zacherl performed for the school district. Zacherl sued Flaherty’s surety and the school district for payment.  The trial found in favor of Zacherl, with the surety liable for payment for Zacherl’s work for Flaherty, and the school district liable for Zacherl’s work for the school district.  The school district appealed. Read more

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Posted on July 7, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Court Decisions, Public School Code Comments Off on Oral Promise To Pay Subcontractor Ruled Enforceable Against School District

No-Bid Busing Contracts Cost School Districts An Extra $53.7 Million Over State Reimbursement

According to recent audits conducted by the Pa. Department of the Auditor General, Pennsylvania school districts spent at least $53.7 million in excess of the state’s transportation reimbursement formula through the use of no-bid busing contracts.

The conclusion of the Auditor General was based on audits of about 450 of the state’s 500 public school districts. As a result, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale called on the Pa. General Assembly to mandate competitive bidding for such transportation services, saying:

To get the best possible price and ensure transparency for taxpayers, student transportation contracts should be re-bid every time they are up for renewal. I’m calling on the General Assembly to enact legislation to ensure school districts are getting the best possible price by requiring them to seek competitive bids for transportation services. Amending the Public School Code to require schools to competitively bid transportation services will improve transparency and could put more money in our classrooms.

The Auditor General press release issued on May 12, 2016, can be found here.  A PennLive story on the Auditor General’s findings can be found here.

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Posted on June 21, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Com. of Pa., Public School Code Comments Off on No-Bid Busing Contracts Cost School Districts An Extra $53.7 Million Over State Reimbursement

Executive Order Prohibits Discrimination On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity Or Expression By Contractors Doing Business With State

On April 7, 2016, Pa. Governor Tom Wolf signed a new Executive Order establishing that future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contracts must ensure that contractors doing business with the state will not discriminate in the award of subcontracts or supply contracts, or in hiring, promotion, or other labor matters, on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. The Executive Order also mandates that contractors receiving state funds must have, as a condition of payment, a written sexual harassment policy and that employees of the contractor are aware of the policy. Read more

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Posted on June 7, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Com. of Pa., DGS Comments Off on Executive Order Prohibits Discrimination On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity Or Expression By Contractors Doing Business With State

Procurement Code Protest Allowed Where Late Filing Was Due To Extraordinary Circumstances

Under the Pa. Procurement Code, a protest must be filed within seven days after the protestant knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to the protest.  If the protest is untimely, it will be rejected. Recently, in a published opinion and in a departure from the usual rule, the Commonwealth Court decided that equitable principles would allow a late-filed protest to be considered.

The case concerned Pa. Department of Transportation (PennDOT) inspection contracts on which Bureau Veritas (BV), the protestant, had submitted a statement of interest.  PennDOT ranked BV fifth in its statement of rankings.  BV learned of the rankings on November 13, 2014.  Seven days later, on November 20, 2014, BV filed a protest, but the email of its protest was rejected by PennDOT’s computer server due to improper formatting of the file attachment.  On November 21, 2014, BV learned of the email rejection and promptly re-sent the email with the proper formatting of the file attachment, eight days after the publication of the rankings.  PennDOT rejected BV’s protest as untimely and on the merits.  BV then argued that it should be allowed to file its protest nunc pro tunc (literally, “now for then”). PennDOT issued a final determination rejecting the protest, as well as the request that the protest be considered nunc pro tunc.  BV appealed to the Commonwealth Court. Read more

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Posted on June 2, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Bid Protests, Court Decisions, PennDOT, Procurement Code Comments Off on Procurement Code Protest Allowed Where Late Filing Was Due To Extraordinary Circumstances

Minimum Wage Increased For Employees Of Certain State Contractors

On March 7, 2016, Governor Tom Wolf signed an Executive Order that raises the minimum wage to $10.15 an hour for employees of certain state contractors.

The employees covered the Executive Order include:

Employees who: (1) directly perform services or construction; or (2) directly perform services for the Commonwealth and are employed by a lessor of property to the Commonwealth; or (3) spend at least 20 percent of their working time in a given work week performing an ancillary service called for in a new lease of property or contract for services or construction exceeding the applicable small purchase threshold entered into with a Commonwealth agency under the jurisdiction of the Governor, including bilateral modifications to existing such leases or contracts, after the effective date of this Executive Order.

According to a 6ABC Action News report:

[The Executive Order] also will affect a narrow set of state contracts – potentially 109 vendors that provide janitorial, landscaping, delivery and food preparation services – that does not include hospitals, nursing care or state universities, administration officials said. The overall cost to the state and its contractors was projected at just above $4 million.

Executive Order No. 2016-02, which takes effect on July 1, 2016, for employees of state contractors, can be found here.

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Posted on May 12, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Com. of Pa. Comments Off on Minimum Wage Increased For Employees Of Certain State Contractors
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