Finance Highlights 2007 0207 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Public Works vs. Maintenance Proiects How to differentiate and Meet prevailin~ wa~e requirements. I. Executive Summary Purchasing Departments often find themselves in conflict with varying departments regarding whether the procurement should be a Public Works project. Generally, the procurement officer will review the Scope of Work (SOW) to determine which method of procurement should be carried out - Public Works through engineering or Non-Public Works through Maintenance Department. Some Public Agencies may have committees in place to decide if a project is public's or non-public works. Usually, this occurs in advance of starting the procurement process. In many cases the procurement officer may disagree with decisions made by committees and/or other authority regarding which laws will apply for the bidding process. Questions that arise through the process are as follows: 1. How the projects can be classified? 2. Who has the authority for classification? 3. What are the laws governing this dilemma? II. Definitions 1. Definition of Public Works. 2. Definition of Public Projects. 3. Definition of Maintenance Projects. 4. The difference between Maintenance Projects and Public Works. 5. Can ANY PUBLIC AGENCY define Public Works? 6. What are the risks when Public Works projects are handled as Maintenance Projects? This analysis is based on California Public Contract code, Labor Code and Lusardi Construction Co. v. Aubry, 4 Cal.Rptr.2d 837, hereafter Lusardi. To resolve various issues, we need to go through: III. Definition of Public Works: Public Contract Code section 1101 defines a Public works Contract as "an agreement for the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any public structure, building, road, or other public improvement of any kind."