§ 161. Requirements on State construction projects

(a) Bids; selection.

(1) When the construction cost of any State project exceeds the sum of $50,000.00, the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services shall publicly advertise or invite three or more bids. The contract for any such State project or improvement shall be awarded to one of the three lowest responsible bidders, conforming to specification, with consideration being given to quantities involved, time required for delivery, purpose for which required, competency and responsibility of bidder, and his or her ability to render satisfactory service, but the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services with the approval of the Secretary of Administration, shall have the right to reject any and all bids and to invite other bids.

(2) When using the design-build construction delivery process, the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services shall publicly advertise or invite three or more bids. The award of a design-build contract shall be to the bidder determined by the Commissioner to be most responsive to evaluation criteria established by the Commissioner. Such criteria may include physical plant characteristics proposed, program response to space needs, ability of the design-build team, anticipated development schedule, and overall cost considerations, including alternates, allowances, and schedule of values.

(3) All bids on State projects shall be required to comply with all applicable provisions of Title 21.

(b) Each contract awarded under this section for any State project with a construction cost exceeding $100,000.00, a construction project with a construction cost exceeding $200,000.00 that is authorized and at least 50 percent funded by a capital construction act pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 701a, or a construction project with a construction cost exceeding $200,000.00 that is at least 50 percent funded by the Cash Fund for Capital Infrastructure and Other Essential Investments established in 32 V.S.A. § 1001 shall provide that all construction employees working on the project shall be paid not less than the mean prevailing wage published periodically by the Vermont Department of Labor in its occupational employment and wage survey plus an additional fringe benefit of 42 and one-half percent of wage, as calculated by the current Vermont prevailing wage survey. As used in this section, “fringe benefits” means benefits, including paid vacations and holidays, sick leave, employer contributions and reimbursements to health insurance and retirement benefits, and similar benefits that are incidents of employment.

(c) In the construction of any State project, local capable labor shall be utilized whenever practicable, but this section shall not be construed to compel any person to discharge or lay off any regular employee.

(d) Subsections (a) through (c) of this section shall not apply to maintenance or construction projects carried out by the Agency of Transportation and by the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.

(e) The Agency of Administration shall ensure that the State and any of its subdivisions do not contract, directly or indirectly, with employers who are prohibited from contracting by the Commissioner of Labor pursuant to 21 V.S.A. §§ 692, 708, and 1314a or the Commissioner of Financial Regulation pursuant to 8 V.S.A. § 3661.

(f) The Agency of Administration shall maintain a current list of employers that have been prohibited from contracting with the State or any of its subdivisions, and the Agencies of Administration and of Transportation shall publish that list on their websites. (Added 1973, No. 115, §§ 1-3, eff. April 25, 1973; amended 1983, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(b), eff. April 11, 1984; 1993, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), § 76, eff. June 21, 1994; 1995, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(b), eff. May 6, 1996; 1997, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 72, eff. April 29, 1998; 1999, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 43, eff. May 24, 2000; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2009, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 5b; 2015, No. 26, § 24a, eff. May 18, 2015; 2015, No. 26, § 24b, eff. July 1, 2017; 2015, No. 69 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2023, No. 78, § C.106, eff. June 20, 2023.)