NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6275
SPONSOR: Simone TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend chapter 749 of the laws of 2019, authorizing, for
certain public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements,
use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts,
in relation to requiring qualification-based criteria for awarding
certain contracts for services
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow New York City to use qualification-based criteria for awarding
certain contracts for services for the delivery method design-build
contracts.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:•
Section 1. Amends section 2 of chapter 749 of the laws of 2019 to add a
new subdivision (f) that an entity submitting a contract must submit a
statement of qualifications when an authorized entity utilizes a one-
step method.
Section 2. Establishes the process by which a design-build contract is
selected whether through a one-step or two-step method.
Section 3. Sets the effective date of such provisions.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York City spends an excess of $10 billion every year on capital
projects. These projects are limited by a single approach known as
design-bid-build (DBE). Instituting design-build contracts which require
qualification-based criteria for awarding certain contracts for services
would mean that the city can select the vendor that it wants before the
full scope of the project has been established. This enables more
collaboration in the earlier stages of the project which allows for more
time to examine any engineering or construction challenges.
Progressive Design-build has been implemented nationwide on public
projects including in New York State by the Department of Transportation
and other state agencies. Infrastructure projects that are more complex
are better suited for progressive design build as they often are of a
large complex scale with many unknowns. Progressive design builds help
to organize the project into manageable phases that streamline the
project and increase transparency. City agencies believe that this will
lead to at least a 10% reduction in cost and project time as well as
significant risk mitigation and alleviation of change orders.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
07/06/2022 Referred to cities
02/08/2024 Referred to cities
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided however that the amend-
ments to chapter 749 of the laws of 2019 made by sections one and two of
this act shall not affect the repeal of such chapter and shall be deemed
repealed therewith.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6275
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 3, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMONE, GIBBS, TAYLOR -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend chapter 749 of the laws of 2019, authorizing, for
certain public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements,
use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build
contracts, in relation to requiring qualification-based criteria for
awarding certain contracts for services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2 of chapter 749 of the laws of 2019, authorizing,
2 for certain public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agree-
3 ments, use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build
4 contracts, is amended by adding a new subdivision (f) to read as
5 follows:
6 (f) "Qualifications-based" shall mean the basis for awarding a
7 contract for services to an entity that submits a statement of quali-
8 fications in response to a request for qualifications when an authorized
9 entity utilizes a one-step method.
10 § 2. The opening paragraph and paragraph 1 of subdivision (a) of
11 section 4 of chapter 749 of the laws of 2019, authorizing, for certain
12 public works undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements, use of the
13 alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts, are amended
14 to read as follows:
15 A contractor selected by such an authorized entity to enter into a
16 design-build contract shall be selected through a one-step or two-step
17 method, as follows:
18 (1) Step one. Generation of a list of responding entities that have
19 demonstrated the general capability to perform the design-build
20 contract. Such list shall consist of a specified number of responding
21 entities, as determined by an authorized entity, and shall be generated
22 based upon the authorized entity's review of responses to a publicly
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04021-01-5
A. 6275 2
1 advertised request for qualifications. The authorized entity's request
2 for qualifications shall include a general description of the public
3 work, the maximum number of responding entities to be included on the
4 list, the selection criteria to be used and the relative weight of each
5 criteria in generating the list. Such selection criteria shall include
6 the qualifications and experience of the design and construction team,
7 organization, demonstrated responsibility, ability of the team or of a
8 member or members of the team to comply with applicable requirements,
9 including the provisions of articles 145, 147 and 148 of the education
10 law, past record of compliance with the labor law, and such other quali-
11 fications the authorized entity deems appropriate, which may include but
12 are not limited to project understanding, financial capability and
13 record of past performance. The authorized entity shall evaluate and
14 rate all responding entities to the request for qualifications. Based
15 upon such ratings, the authorized entity shall list the responding enti-
16 ties that shall receive a request for proposals in accordance with para-
17 graph two of this subdivision. To the extent consistent with applicable
18 federal law, the authorized entity shall consider, when awarding any
19 contract pursuant to this section, the participation of (i) responding
20 entities that are certified as minority- or women-owned business enter-
21 prises pursuant to article 15-A of the executive law, or certified
22 pursuant to local law as minority- or women-owned business enterprises,
23 or, where the New York city school construction authority acts as the
24 authorized entity, certified pursuant to section 1743 of the public
25 authorities law; and (ii) small business concerns identified pursuant to
26 subdivision (b) of section 139-g of the state finance law. In addition,
27 nothing in this section shall be deemed to supersede any pre-qualifica-
28 tion guidelines or requirements otherwise authorized by law for an
29 authorized entity. If the authorized entity is utilizing a one-step
30 selection, such selection shall be made on criteria set forth in the
31 request for qualifications and award shall be made to the best-qualified
32 contractor. The parties may enter into one contract with two phases or a
33 separate contract for each of the two phases of work.
34 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however that
35 the amendments to chapter 749 of the laws of 2019 made by sections one
36 and two of this act shall not affect the repeal of such chapter and
37 shall be deemed repealed therewith.
