2001 SESSION

01-1035

03/10

HOUSE BILL 516

COMMITTEE: Public Works and Highways

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes employment practices which a contractor must comply with in order to participate in the competitive bidding process for capital projects.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01-1035

03/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Competitive Bid Participation. Amend RSA 228 by inserting after section 4-a the following new section:

228:4-b Competitive Bid Participation.

I.(a) The provisions of subparagraph (b) shall be attached to and made a part of the bid specifications for any project subject to the competitive bidding requirements of RSA 228:4.

(b) All contractors shall, as a condition for bidding on projects subject to the competitive bidding requirements of RSA 228:4, certify under oath and in writing at the time of bidding that the contractor shall comply with the following obligations:

(1) The contractor and all subcontractors shall comply with the obligations established under the state and federal prevailing wage laws to pay the appropriate lawful prevailing wage rates to their employees.

(2) The contractor and all subcontractors shall maintain or participate in a bona fide apprentice training program, for each apprenticeable trade or occupation represented in their workforce, and they must abide by the apprentice-to-journeymen ratio for each trade prescribed therein in the performance of any work on the project.

(3) The contractor and all subcontractors shall furnish at their expense comprehensive health and hospitalization benefits for their employees and their families.

(4) The contractor and all subcontractors shall maintain appropriate industrial accident insurance coverage for all of their employees.

(5) The contractor and all subcontractors shall properly classify employees as employees rather than independent contractors and treat them accordingly for purposes of workers' compensation insurance coverage, unemployment taxes, social security taxes, and income tax withholding.

(6) The contractor and all subcontractors shall comply with any local employment plan as it may currently exist and as it may, from time to time, be amended.

(7) The contractor and all subcontractors shall submit certified payroll records to the awarding authority on a weekly basis. The payroll records shall include the name, address, hourly rate of pay, and trade classification for each worker and any deductions from said hourly pay. The weekly certified payroll record shall be a public record.

(c) At the time of bidding, all contractors shall furnish written proof of their maintenance or participation in an apprenticeship program, and of their provision of health and hospitalization benefits and workers compensation insurance as described above.

II A bid submitted by any contractor that does not comply with any of the requirements of this section shall be rejected.

III. All contractors who are awarded or who otherwise obtain contracts on projects subject to the competitive bidding requirements of RSA 228:4 shall comply with each of the obligations established in paragraph I for the entire duration of their work on the project, and an officer of each contractor shall certify under oath and in writing on a weekly basis that it is in compliance with those obligations.

IV. Any contractor that fails to comply with any one of the obligations established in paragraph I for any period of time shall be, at the sole discretion of the awarding authority, subject to one or more of the following penalties:

(a) Cessation of work on the project until compliance is obtained.

(b) Withholding of payment due under any contract until compliance is obtained.

(c) Permanent removal from any further work on the project.

(d) Liquidated damages to the awarding authority in the amount of 5 percent of the dollar value of the contract.

V. A contractor shall be liable for the violations of any subcontractor. Any contractor that has been determined by the awarding authority or by any court or agency to have violated any of the provisions of this section shall be barred from performing any work on any future projects for 6 months for a first violation, for 3 years for a second violation, and permanently for a third violation.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.