Town, school officials present project‑labor‑agreement study and recommend PLA study to preserve contractor access amid tight Rhode Island market

Representatives for the South Kingstown school building project updated the Town Council on March 10 about a completed project‑labor‑agreement (PLA) study and recommended next steps to preserve contractor access and schedule certainty amid a tight regional construction market.

Chris Spiegle of Left Field told the council that Rhode Island is seeing a large number of concurrent school projects and roughly $2 billion in overlapping work, constraining the pool of subcontractors. He described a PLA study as a way to preserve flexibility: the study is not binding, he said, but “it gives you the ability to have a PLA if you decide you want one.”

Attorney Dylan Conley, who performed the study, described a PLA study as “a cost‑benefit analysis of the risks associated with going with a labor agreement, or the risks associated without going for a project labor agreement.” He said the question the study answers is whether a PLA would deliver municipal value that outweighs risks; if so, a negotiated PLA would follow. Conley said he had received a letter from the trades indicating they would not seek “double benefits,” a point his firm said reduces the typical cost‑difference concerns tied to PLAs on a prevailing‑wage project.

Spiegle and Conley told the council the study found the market for the high school project — a large, roughly $150 million effort with an estimated $30 million mechanical/electrical/plumbing package — is dominated by firms that typically work under union agreements in Rhode Island, which reduces concerns that a PLA would unduly narrow competition. Conley said a PLA also provides a mechanism to guard against work stoppages and to bring additional labor when schedule pressures mount.

Conley said the firm’s completed study recommends entering into a PLA. The study was paid through a contract of $9,900, and Conley estimated a negotiated PLA, if the town elects one, could be prepared for a flat fee (the consultant mentioned $5,000 as a likely fee for drafting and negotiations).

Town officials and school building committee members emphasized the council was not being asked to approve a PLA on March 10. Kate Maslany, chair of the school building committee, told the council the purpose of the presentation was to give councilors time to digest the study and ask questions ahead of any formal recommendation.

Why it matters: The PLA choice affects procurement, contractor availability and schedule risk on a large school construction project. The study gives the town a documented market assessment and a negotiating path should the committee and council elect to pursue a PLA.

Next steps noted in the meeting: The school building committee will continue to review the study and, if it recommends a PLA, will return to the council with a proposed agreement and supporting documentation for approval. Other concurrent project work — programming meetings, a phase 2 environmental site assessment and abutter outreach — is underway and will continue through design development.