Rep. Carolyn Maloney recently introduced the Construction Quality Assurance Act of 2013, H.R. 1942, which would mandate general contractors’ bid listing of subcontractors for federal projects. Specifically, if enacted, H.R. 1942 would require general contractors who bid directly with federal construction agencies on projects over $1 million to list each subcontractor that will perform over $100,000 of work on their bids. AGC, which strong opposes the legislation, is urging its members to take action and urge Representatives to oppose H.R. 1942.
Among other things, mandatory bid listing undermines the government’s attempts to streamline procurement and deliver essential projects in a timely and cost efficient fashion. Such a mandate would cause delays in project delivery by increasing opportunities for bid protests at a time when bid protests are reaching record highs and administratively burdening chronically understaffed federal agency procurement personnel during an era of hiring and pay freezes, furloughs and retirements. Such delays would increase costs as a result of time lost, legal expenses, procurement personnel attention, and rising material and labor costs. In addition, mandatory bid listing would severely reduce a general contractor’s flexibility for efficiently bidding a project.
