ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 586
(By Senator Tomblin
, Mr. President)
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[Passed April 14, 2001; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section fifteen, article fifteen-a,
chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to competitive
bids; and raising the threshold for bids on infrastructure
construction projects.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article fifteen-a, chapter thirty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15A. WEST VIRGINIA INFRASTRUCTURE AND JOBS DEVELOPMENT
COUNCIL.
§31-15A-15. Projects not to be considered public improvements;
competitive bid requirements.
(a) No project or infrastructure project acquired, constructed, maintained or financed, in whole or in part, by the
water development authority shall be considered to be a "public
improvement" within the meaning of the provisions of article
five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code as a result of the
financing.
(b) The state and its subdivisions shall, except as provided
in subsection (c) of this section, solicit competitive bids and
require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in article
five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code for every project or
infrastructure project funded pursuant to this article exceeding
twenty-five thousand dollars in total cost.
Following the solicitation of the bids, the construction
contract shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible
bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance and payment
bond: Provided, That the state and its subdivisions may reject all
bids and solicit new bids on the project.
(c) This section does not:
(1) Apply to work performed on construction or repair projects
not exceeding a total cost of fifty thousand dollars by regular
full-time employees of the state or its subdivisions: Provided,
That no more than fifty thousand dollars shall be expended on an
individual project in a single location in a twelve-month period;
(2) Prevent students enrolled in vocational educational
schools from being used in the construction or repair projects when
such use is a part of the students' training program;
(3) Apply to emergency repairs to building components and
systems: Provided, That the term "emergency repairs" means repairs
that, if not made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the
building components and systems or cause danger to those persons
using the building components and systems; or
(4) Apply to any situation where the state or a subdivision of
the state comes to an agreement with volunteers, or a volunteer
group, by which the governmental body will provide construction or
repair materials, architectural, engineering, technical or any
other professional services and the volunteers will provide the
necessary labor without charge to, or liability upon, the
governmental body: Provided, That the total cost of the
construction or repair projects does not exceed fifty thousand
dollars.
(d) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section does
not
apply to privately owned projects or infrastructure projects
constructed on lands not owned by the state or a subdivision of the
state.