Readers of our Blog will find of interest three construction related bills that had their first public hearings last week. A link to each bill is provided below.
The first two bills were heard in the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee, the third bill was heard in the Senate Committee on Law and Justice:
1. HB1025-Extending the Application of Prevailing Wage Requirements. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1025.pdf.
HB1025 would extend the application for prevailing wage requirements by extending the definition of “public work” to include all publicly subsidized work, construction, alterations, repairs or improvements other than ordinary maintenance if subsidized by the public. The bill provides that:
(5) “Public work” has the same meaning as in RCW 39.04.010, except for purposes of this chapter, “public work” also includes all publicly subsidized work, construction, alterations, repairs, or improvements other than ordinary maintenance. Work is subsidized by the public if:
(a) One or more parties to the contract received or will receive a qualifying tax preference;
(b) One or more parties to the contract received or will receive a loan from the state or any county, municipality, or political subdivision;
(c) The work occurs on land that a party to the contract leases from the state or any county, municipality, or political subdivision; or
(d) The work occurs on land that a party to the contract purchased from the state or any county, municipality, or political subdivision for less than fair market value as determined by the state, county, municipality, or political subdivision at the time of the sale.
This broad definition of what constitutes “public work” would result in a significant expansion of prevailing wage requirements in our state to projects in which a public entity is not even a party to the contract. This would result in significant cost escalation on the projects captured by this expanded definition. I expect substantial opposition to this bill.
2. HB1026-Requiring Use of Resident Workers on Public Works. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1026.pdf.
HB1026 would require specifications for every public works contract to contain a provision requiring that at least 75% of the labor hours be performed by Washington residents. The language of this bill states that residents of states bordering Washington may be considered Washington residents if the border state does not restrict the right of a Washington resident to be employed on public works project in that state. The full text of this bill can be found in the link above.
3. SB5031-Damages to Real Property Resulting from Construction, Alteration, or Repair on Adjacent Property. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5031.pdf.
SB5031 would overrule the Washington Supreme Court decision in Vern J. Oja & Assoc. v. Washington Park Towers, Inc., 89 Wn.2d 72, 569 P.2d 1141 (1977), which held that claims for damages to real property resulting from construction activities on adjacent property do not accrue until the construction project is complete. In its place, a two year limitations period would be established so that a lawsuit for damage to real property resulting from construction on adjacent property must be commenced within two (2) years after the damaged property owner first discovered or reasonably should have discovered the damage.
Our understanding is that the proponent of this bill is Sound Transit, which is seeking to limit exposure for damage its projects cause to adjacent property to this two (2) year limitation period from the date the damage is discovered or should have been discovered.
We will supplement this post to advise how these bills progress through committee.