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School board approves streamlined procurement rules to speed maintenance projects
Summary
The board voted to elect SFUSD to the state's uniform public construction cost accounting procedures, allowing negotiated contracts up to $45,000 and solicited proposals up to $175,000 from prequalified contractors to reduce administrative burden on small maintenance work; vote passed 6-1 after suspension of rules.
The San Francisco Unified School District Board on Tuesday approved a resolution to adopt the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Procedures (UPCCAA) and revise district bidding policy to speed small maintenance and repair projects.
Chief Facilities Officer David Golden told the board the existing Education Code threshold for public bidding on projects involving labor and materials remains $15,000, a level he said is cumbersome for routine repairs. Under the UPCCAA election and the revised policy, the district would be able to: negotiate directly with prequalified contractors for projects up to $45,000, solicit three or four proposals from prequalified lists for projects up to $175,000, and continue public bidding for projects above $175,000.
"This will enable us to raise the threshold to $45,000 on certain kinds of simple projects where, with a prequalified list of contractors, we can negotiate quickly a contract and go do the work," Golden said.
The board first voted to suspend the rules to hear the item and begin the state prequalification process. The resolution passed on a roll call of six ayes; Commissioner Janet Feuer cast the lone recorded no vote and said she needed more time to review the change.
Board members and staff emphasized prevailing-wage requirements remain unchanged: every public construction project remains subject to the state's prevailing-wage laws, and only larger bond projects remain subject to project labor agreements.
Supporters said the change will reduce procurement lead times on routine maintenance, free staff time and allow saved funds to be used for additional projects. Opponents urged care with transparency and sufficient oversight of prequalification and selection procedures.
The resolution took effect immediately to allow the district to begin the state prequalification process and implement new solicitation procedures for the next fiscal cycle.
