March 30, 2007
In 2007 so far, 50 design-build bills in 22 states have been considered. Three of those bills have been signed into law. For more details see the State Information page.
March 27, 2007
In Mississippi a dual-phase design-build law was signed in to law by Governor Barbour. The new law provides for dual-phase design-build construction as authorized by the legislature. It also allows state universities to use design build if authorized to do so by the state board of trustees for state institutions of higher learning. The bill has no impact on transportation contracts.
In Montana a bill making the design-build highway program permanent was signed into law by Governor Schweitzer.
March 9, 2007
The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 720, The Water Quality Financing Act. This is the first reauthorization of the Clean Water Act in 20 years and would authorize $14 billion in federal grants over 5 years to capitalize clean water state revolving funds. DBIA supports this bill. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
February 23, 2007
Wyoming signs into law design-build authority for public projects. DBIA applauds Patrick McManus and the Rocky Mountain Chapter for their hard work in successfully leading the charge to get design-build authority in Wyoming. This brings the number of states without design-build statutory authority down to four. The other four are Alabama (no legislation introduced yet), Iowa (where legislation has been introduced this year), Michigan (also has 2007 introduced legislation) and Rhode Island (also has 2007 legislation).
January 31, 2007
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment voted to approve the 2007 Water Quality Financing Act and send it to the full committee for consideration on Wednesday, January 31, 2007. This bill introduced by Representative James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the full Committee, would reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) at $20 billion over five years. DBIA applauds the committee's committment to increasing funding for clean water infrastructure.
July 21, 2006
DBIA submitted written comments to the U S Department of Transportation regarding a proposed design-build rule-making by the FHWA.
DBIACommentsFHWANPRMDesignBuildJuly2006.pdf
July 1, 2006
Performance Based Requirements Highlighted in NEWLY Revised OMB Policy!
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has just released a landmark revision of its Capital Programming Guide — a document meant to provide policy direction for Federal Agencies during the budgeting process. DBIA members, particularly public agencies, have frequently asked DBIA for guidance on how to implement performance based requirements, integrated project teams, and stipends in an effort to improve project delivery. Performance based requirements describe the nature of the project in terms of desired performance outcomes and an owner’s goals, challenges, and problems, rather than through restrictive design specifications. Moreover, performance based requirements can capture owner requirements more effectively while dramatically reducing statement of work paperwork by more than 90%.
DBIA is delighted that OMB is encouraging expanded use of performance-based requirements and integrated financial rewards for meeting performance evaluations; these changes will maximize private sector ingenuity, while simultaneously providing government agencies tools to reward superlative contractor performance. In addition, the new Capital Programming Guide also specifically states that construction projects are also considered capital assets. This revised policy document will be very important in helping federal agencies integrate these concepts more effectively into their procurement process.
DBIA advocacy staff worked closely with OMB staff on revising the policy document and provided numerous comments and examples during the revision process. View a press release (PDF) with more general information.