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Filed (End of Session)
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Referred to Comm by Council
City Council
Introduced by Council

Res. No. 145

 

Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to introduce and pass and the Governor to sign a law, which would allow the City of New York to use Design-Build contracts for construction projects.

 

By Council Members Vacca, Levin, Rodriguez, Garodnick, Espinal, Crowley, Cohen, Maisel, Vallone, Salamanca, Menchaca, Constantinides, Torres, Reynoso, Lander, Kallos, Koslowitz, Treyger, Ferreras-Copeland, Rose, Gentile and Mendez

 

Whereas, In Fiscal Year 2013 the City of New York spent $2.8 billion on construction projects; and

Whereas, According to a March 2014 report by the Center for an Urban Future entitled, “Caution Ahead: Overdue Investments for New York’s Aging Infrastructure,” New York City has the highest construction costs in the United States, and those costs have risen 33% more than the rate of inflation over the last decade; and

Whereas, The current process by which construction projects are contracted for in the City requires firms to create a design, submit it to the City as a bid, and if the bid meets the project specifications and is the lowest price, the firm is awarded the contract and then works with the builder to build the design; and

Whereas, Furthermore, this methodology often result in bids that do not fully consider the  costs and challenges of maintaining the construction project once it is built, thereby increasing  the risk that the project will either fail or the costs will significantly increase; and

Whereas, An alternative model is for the designer and construction firms to jointly submit design bids so that the construction firm is fully engaged in the project at the outset, ensuring its expertise is incorporated into the design of the project; and

Whereas, In 2011, New York State passed a law that allowed certain State authorities to use design-build contracts, but did not give that option to municipalities; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to introduce and pass and the Governor to sign a law, which would allow the City of New York to use Design-Build contracts for construction projects.

AM
LS 1009

3/21/2014