Paid Sick Leave Now A Requirement for Some Phila. Contractors and Subcontractors
Some City of Philadelphia contractors and subcontractors now have a new requirement to contend with, along with all of the other assorted rules and regulations that govern their contracts with the City. Effective July 1, 2012, under the newly amended “Philadelphia 21st Century Minimum Wage and Benefits Standard,” for profit service contractors or subcontractors on City […]
Philadelphia Prison Contractor Fined $1.85M for Evading Minority Contracting Rules
The City of Philadelphia has once again taken enforcement action against a City contractor for a violation of the City’s minority contracting rules. The City’s inspector general conducted an investigation of Prison Health Services, the City’s contractor for prison health care services, and charged the contractor with using a woman-owned firm as a mere pass-through entity in […]
New State Initiative Will Set Aside Contracts for Small Businesses
On July 19, 2012, Gov. Corbett officially announced the creation of a new state contracting program which is intended to set aside state contracts for small businesses and small veteran-owned businesses. The Department of General Services has formed the Small Business Procurement Initiative and has expanded the Small Diverse Business Program – formerly the Small Disadvantaged […]
ENR Editorial on U.S. Department of Transportation DBE Program
On July 16, 2012, Engineering News-Record published an editorial on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s DBE program. The US DOT DBE program principally affects contractors working for entities receiving federal transportation funding, such as PennDOT, SEPTA, and the City of Philadelphia Streets Department, among other public entities. The editorial raises some salient points about the US […]
E-Verify Mandated for Public Works Contracts in Pennsylvania
After a long wait, E-Verify is coming to Pennsylvania. On July 5, 2012, Gov. Corbett signed into law the Public Works Employment Verification Act (S.B. 637) which takes effect January 1, 2013. The Act requires all public works contractors and subcontractors in Pennsylvania to use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility of new employees and applies to projects […]
Public Contracting 101: Retainage
This post is the first in a series on the basic concepts and tenets of public contracting in Pennsylvania. Public works contracts in Pennsylvania may include a provision for the withholding of retainage. Retainage is a sum of money which is withheld from payment until the contract is completed. However, under the Pa. Procurement Code […]
Public Bidding Hall of Fame: Kratz v. Allentown
This post is one of a continuing series which will highlight significant Pennsylvania court decisions in the area of public bidding. The decision highlighted here concerns bidder responsibility. In Kratz v. Allentown, 304 Pa. 51, 155 A. 116 (1931), the City of Allentown undertook the construction of a sanitary filtration plant on an island in the Lehigh River. […]
Christopher I. McCabe, Esq.
