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II. LEGISLATION

HB 1801Board for Contractors: Changes to Rules and Procedures for Recovery Against the

Contractors FundThis bill changes many of the rules and procedures for claims against the contractors recoveryfund, including removing commercial contractors from the definition of regulant; adding adefinition of verified claim that requires a completed form designed by the Board which must benotarized, and supporting documentation; changes the means by which the Contractors Boardmust be notified of the action to only require forwarding of the Complaint by certified mail orequivalent; requires a claim to be made to the Director no later than 12 months after the entry ofa final order; changes the actions that must be taken before a claim can be submitted to includemaking a reasonable attempt to conduct debtors interrogatories and to take all legally availableactions to execute against the assets identified in the debtors interrogatories; allows the filing ofa claim against the contractors fund if the claimant filed a claim in bankruptcy against the

contractor, but the distribution in bankruptcy court failed to satisfy the claim; changes thedocumentation that must be submitted as part of a claim to a copy of the contract with all changeorders and, if there is no contract, an affidavit attesting to the terms of the contractual agreement,all pleadings filed in the court action, all orders and opinions, a transcript of debtorsinterrogatories if available, if not, an affidavit affirming that debtors interrogatories were taken,a statement of all actions taken to collect or why collection is not possible, a statement of thebalance remaining on the judgment, a statement that the claimant will notify the Board if itreceives further payment against the judgment and any documents the claimant wants the Boardto consider; the Department will consider verified claims administratively, if the claim is notcomplete, the claimant will be notified of the deficiency and will have 12 months from the initialclaim submission to submit a complete and correct claim; it is now within the discretion of theDepartment to grant an informal fact finding if the claimant requests it within 15 days of theclaimants receipt of the Departments recommendation, but a hearing is not required; a claimwill not be denied because the order of final judgment fails to find improper or dishonestconduct, the Board can look to any language in the order that supports that conclusion and, ifthe order is silent, the Board may determine whether the contractors conduct was improper anddishonest; and the Board can consider any amount owed to the Board for repayment to the fundwhen determining whether to grant a license. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

HB 1802Board for Contractors: Creation of Residential and Commercial ClassificationsCreates new Residential and Commercial classifications in the Class A, Class B and Class CContractor classes. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

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HB 1960Board for Contractors: Licensure Requirements for Public Works ArtA contractors license is not required for bidding to design or undertake public works art for theCommonwealth, a municipality or a not-for-profit; however, the installation and related workmust be performed by a licensed contractor. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

HB 1913Mechanics Liens: Liens by Licensed ContractorsProvides that a person who performs labor without the proper contractors license is not entitledto a mechanics lien, requires that all memoranda of mechanics lien include the license orcertificate number, and the issue and expiration dates of the license. The bill also updates themodel lien forms to include the licensure information and provides that no lien will be invalid foran inaccuracy in the licensure information. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

SB 811Mechanics lien: Penalty for Filing a False Lien

Makes it a class 5 felony to maliciously file a mechanics lien that the claimant knows is false.Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

HB 1692/SB 977

Public Private Transportation Act of 1995; Review of Proposals

Requires public entities to post a notice when they receive a proposal under the PPTA, and allowa 120-day submission period for competing proposals. The notice must include information onthe proposal and the public comment opportunities. In addition, after negotiations are completeand a decision to award is made, the public entity must post the major business points of theagreement and outline how the public can submit comments. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

HB 2079

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Methods of ProcurementReorganizes the definitions of and processes for competitive sealed bidding and competitivenegotiation. Also adds a definition of job order contracting and specifies procedures to be usedby public bodies when utilizing job order contracting. The provisions do not become effectiveuntil July 1, 2014. The bill also requires the chairs of the House Committee on General Lawsand the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology to convene a work group in 2013 toexamine the provisions of the VPPA. The bill also contains technical amendments. EffectiveDate: As noted above.

HB 1994

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Contract Pricing ArrangementsThe VPPA does not prohibit pricing arrangements for a policy or contract of insurance orprepaid coverage having a premium computed on the basis of claims paid or incurred, plus theinsurance carriers administrative costs and retention stated in whole or part as a percentage ofsuch claims. The VPPA also does not prohibit pricing arrangements for a cost plus a percentageof the private investment made by a private entity as a basis for the procurement of commercialor financial consulting services related to a qualifying transportation facility under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1955 ( 56-556 et seq.) or a qualifying project under the Public-

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Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 ( 56-575.1 et seq.) where thecommercial or financial consulting services are sought to solicit or to solicit and evaluateproposals for the qualifying transportation facility or the qualifying project. As used in thissection, private entity and qualifying transportation facility mean the same as those terms aredefined in 56-557 and qualifying project means the same as that term is defined in 56-

575.1. Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

HB 2128

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Small Procurements; LocalitiesProvides that local public bodies are not required to post on the Department of General Servicescentral electronic procurement website for small purchase procurements. Effective Date: July 1,2013.

HB 2316/SB 1246

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Multiple Project Contracts for Architectural or

Professional Engineering Services Relating to Construction

Raises, in the case of airport and aviation transportation projects, the maximum cost ofarchitectural or professional engineering services for all projects in one contract term of amultiple project contract from $500,000 to $1.5 million and for any single project from $100,000to $500,000. For a locality or authority or sanitation district with a population in excess of80,000, the bill raises the maximum cost of such services from $1 million to $2 million.Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

SB 902

Virginia Public Procurement Act; Alternative Forms of SecurityAuthorizes the acceptance of a cashiers check in lieu of a bid, payment, or performance bond.Currently the only acceptable alternative forms of security are certified funds or cash escrow.Effective Date: July 1, 2013.

SAVE THE DATE

The 34th Annual Construction and Public Contracts Law Seminar will be presented live inCharlottesville, Virginia on November 8 and 9, 2013. (Note: Due to where Halloween falls onthe calendar this year, the seminar has been moved to the second Friday and Saturday inNovember.) Don't miss this educational and networking opportunity. The seminar provides anentire year's worth of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education credits (12 hours, including 2

hours of ethics). More details to follow.