Denver committee advances contractor-responsibility bill for city projects

Denver’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 6-0 on Nov. 4 to approve for filing a proposal requiring contractors on city construction projects of $1 million or more to certify they meet standards for safety, wages, insurance and qualifications, according to the committee’s action record. The City Council has not taken final action on the revised bill.

The draft would require covered bidders to certify matters including licensing, comparable project experience, labor-law and prevailing-wage compliance, insurance, workplace safety and workforce requirements. It also calls for skilled craft workers to complete 10-hour safety training from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The requirements would apply to contracts advertised after final passage, if the bill is enacted.

For covered contracts, prime contractors would have to identify known subcontractors, describe their work and estimated contract values, and provide applicable certifications for those firms. The draft does not exempt subcontracts valued below $500,000. Sponsors opposed creating such an exemption, arguing it could leave substantial subcontracted work outside the requirements. Their revised proposal presentation also identifies a possible exemption for minority- and women-owned businesses as an issue under discussion; the draft does not include one.

City officials raised a question about how a prime contractor could replace a subcontractor that does not certify while following existing rules that limit when a certified minority- or women-owned business may be replaced. The draft also makes a willfully false responsibility certification a potential ground for debarment. During the committee’s review, officials raised concern that the wording could be read to cover an inadvertent false statement, while discussion described the intended standard as knowing falsification.

At the committee’s Oct. 21 meeting, a motion to postpone the bill failed 3-3, leaving it without final committee action at that meeting, according to the October minutes. Sponsors said they expected a Mayor-Council discussion on Nov. 10 and a first reading on Nov. 16, while allowing that introduction could be delayed if outstanding issues remained.