What's A Public Work?

Public agencies - State, cities, counties, school districts, special districts, and others have to perform what is in law called a "Public Work". Public works are construction projects funded in whole or part by public funds on public land (mostly), meaning the taxpayers of CA have dollars paying into the project. Because of that the government, via many laws and regulating bodies, enforces codes and regulations lawmakers have put in place over the last 50+ years. The ebb and flow of the political environment often show up in the rules and laws as the years go by.

These types of rules include, but certainly are not limited to: Prevailing wages (wages that are regionally based to provide something closer to a 'living wage' compared to minimum or market-based wages); detailed pricing methods including taking the lowest bidder in most cases; requiring prequalification of contractors for larger projects and when using most delivery methods where you want to find the best contractor instead of the cheapest, and many more rules.

These laws were created for various reasons, some maybe not that great for the best use of public funds, others very helpful. Some are politically based, others happened because government agencies like school districts, cities, and others tried to do things they shouldn't have so a law was made. These laws are spread through multiple codes such as the Education Code, the Government Code, and the Public Contract Code, and more which makes it very hard for one person to know and understand them all!

Because politicians are generally better at writing code than removing it, the public works procurement laws are now very complex and hard to learn, let alone do it well. For instance, did you know that procuring a painting project has special code rules? Yep! Public Contract Code 20115 says anything more than "touch-up" is a public work for procurement purposes! There's more, but that's another article!

Laws, regulations, and interpretations of them often change so keeping up with that is tough and requires continuous education effort. (Take a look at Public Contract Code 20110-20118.4 for a deeper look at the basics.) Our public agencies need folks who are educated in public works procurement to help them and provide guidance. If you know of a good school or other places to get a deeper how-to understanding of public works procurement, please share/comment so we can find more education on these complex requirements. Our folks at COLBI are here to help, too!