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Regular-General Government # 26.
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| Board of Supervisors Meeting |
County Administrator |
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| Subject |
| Receive an update and provide direction to staff regarding the potential addition of apprenticeship requirements to bidding documents for major County public works projects. (No general fund impact) (Nunes) |
| Recommended Action |
| Receive an update and provide direction to staff regarding the potential addition of apprenticeship requirements to bidding documents for major County public works projects. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
| Champion job creation and economic opportunities |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
On September 9, 2014, staff presented information to the Board regarding implementing a pre-qualification process for bidders on public works projects. Pre-qualification would have amended the County's current process from one of bidding each project with set criteria outlining a responsive bid to establishing a list in advance of projects of those contractors who demonstrate competence to perform the proposed project. Following Board discussion, Board direction was that staff consider updating the County criteria for bidding public works projects to include a requirement the bidder participate in a joint labor and management apprenticeship program rather than adopting a full pre-qualification process.
Public Works projects funded by State or Federal funds currently have a requirement that the contractor participate in an apprenticeship program. A joint labor and management apprenticeship program partners the employer with the employee union to develop training programs designed to increase the success of the individual apprentice. A non-joint apprenticeship program can be developed by the employer without the input of the employee union.
Staff consideration of a public works bid requirement to participate in a joint apprenticeship program involved reviewing the number of local contractors who currently participate in joint apprenticeship programs, discussing the impact of this requirement on local firms; ability to bid on County projects and identifying any cost impacts of such a requirement. There are currently nearly 1100 licensed contractors in Yolo County. Northern California Carpenters Regional Council has provided the attached partial list (Attachment A) of those that currently participate in joint apprenticeship programs. Roughly 90 of the 1100 licensed contractors have bid on County projects in recent years. While anecdotally, contractors and construction management firms believe limiting participation in the bid process will increase the cost of public works projects, there is no data to determine the accuracy of that sentiment.
It is evident that joint apprenticeship programs are valuable programs providing a high degree of training and experiential opportunities. These programs can be supported at the local level through awareness campaigns, supporting State and Federal legislation related to apprenticeship programs, and active participation on training councils. Whether that support should include limiting the ability of local contractors to participate in the public works bid process is the policy question before the Board.
Staff has developed three options for Board consideration:
Option 1: No change to current bidding practice. Develop policy platform for the Board to support joint apprenticeship programs through alternate methods. This is staff's preferred option, due to the low number of local licensed contractors participating in the program.
Option 2: Develop a one-year pilot that designates the most responsive bidder as the bidder who participates in a joint apprenticeship program. This may allow staff to determine if there are cost differences between those firms that participate in the program and those that do not.
Option 3: Implement a requirement that all bidders on public works projects in excess of one million dollars participate in a State of California Division of Apprenticeship Standards approved joint labor and management apprenticeship program. As we move forward with space planning and implementation of the strategic space utilization study, there will be a number of remodeling and minor construction projects that should utilize local vendors. Since the majority of these vendors do not currently participate in joint apprenticeship programs, a threshold of less than one million would limit our vendor pool. Larger construction projects (over $1,000,000) would be those that would be subject to the apprenticeship requirement. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| County Counsel, General Services, Planning, Public Works and Environmental Services |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
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