Res 0145-2014

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