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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The Prevailing Wage Act

Recently, I was asked if the threshold for the Pa. Prevailing Wage Act had been increased to $100,000. The answer is no. The threshold is still $25,000, except for a narrow exception which is explained in this earlier blog post.

In general, the Prevailing Wage Act mandates that workers on Pennsylvania public construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, or repair projects costing more than $25,000, other than those involving “maintenance work,” must be paid the general prevailing minimum wage rates. “Maintenance work” is defined in the Act as “the repair of existing facilities when the size, type or extent of such facilities is not thereby changed or increased.” By definition, “maintenance work” is a subset for “repair” and therefore must be narrowly construed.

Read more

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Posted on November 5, 2019 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Prevailing Wage Comments Off on The Prevailing Wage Act

What Is A Responsible Bidder?

What is a “responsible” bidder? The short answer is one who is competent, qualified, and sufficiently experienced to perform the work in question. The long answer follows.

“Responsibilty” refers to the qualifications, including competence and experience, of a bidder to perform a public contract.  Whether a bidder is responsible or qualified to receive a contract award is ordinarily left up to the discretion of the government officials in charge of awarding the contract.  The courts are extremely reluctant to overrule government decisions to disqualify a bidder as non-responsible. Read more

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Posted on August 8, 2019 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Bidder Responsibility Comments Off on What Is A Responsible Bidder?

Bid Withdrawals, Revisited

Can a bidder withdraw its bid due to an honest and good faith mistake in its bid price? The short answer is yes.

But the bidder must act quickly – written notice to withdraw must be provided within two business days of the bid opening. More importantly, the bidder must submit credible evidence that the reason for the price bid being substantially lower was a clerical mistake, and not a “judgment” mistake, and was actually due to an unintentional and substantial arithmetical error or an unintentional omission of a substantial quantity of work, labor, material or services made directly in the compilation of the bid. See 73 P.S. § 1602. Read more

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Posted on July 9, 2019 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Bid Withdrawal Comments Off on Bid Withdrawals, Revisited

House Committee Votes To Amend HB 163 To Repeal Separations Act

The latest onslaught against the more than 100-year old Separations Act has begun.

On June 19, 2019, the House State Government Committee voted 15-10 in favor of amending House Bill 163 to remove the language which would have allowed public projects to be completed by one of four different project delivery methods. Instead, the amended HB 163 now simply repeals the Separations Act in its entirety. The Committee also voted 15-10 to report the amended HB 163 out of the Committee.

The newly amended HB 163 can be found here.

If you need assistance on a Separations Act issue, feel free to call or email me.  I’ll be happy to assist in anyway possible.

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Posted on June 20, 2019 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Separations Act Comments Off on House Committee Votes To Amend HB 163 To Repeal Separations Act

Is The Separations Act Again In Danger Of Repeal?

Is the Separations Act once again in danger of repeal?

House Bill 163, whose prime sponsor is Representative Garth D. Everett, proposes to fully repeal the Separations Act and further amend the Pa. Procurement Code to allow for public projects to be completed by one of four different project delivery methods: (1) construction management at-risk; (2) design-bid-build with multiple prime contractors; (3) design-bid-build with a single prime contractor; or (4) design-build. Each of these delivery methods is defined in the HB 163.

The memorandum for HB 163 describes the Separations Act as “an entirely outdated law costing the taxpayers of Pennsylvania money unnecessarily.” The Separations Act was enacted in 1913 and requires public entities to solicit and award separate contracts for plumbing, heating, electrical, and ventilating work that is part of a public construction project where the cost of construction exceeds $4,000.

A vote on HB 163 is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18th, before the House State Government Committee.

Time will tell whether the Separations Act survives this latest repeal effort.

If you need assistance on a Separations Act issue, feel free to call or email me.  I’ll be happy to assist in anyway possible.

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Posted on June 17, 2019 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in Separations Act Comments Off on Is The Separations Act Again In Danger Of Repeal?
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