San Francisco Infrastructure Lawyer & Attorney : Hanson Bridgett Law Firm : Public Works Construction : Sacramento, Marin County, Northern California

Governor Schwarzenegger recently announced a plan to promote public-private partnerships in order to meet California’s long-term infrastructure needs. (See Los Angeles Times article.) Public-private partnerships are contractual agreements which are formed between public agencies and one or more private companies whereby the private company finances, builds and manages public facilities for a specified period of time.

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Earlier this month, the American Institute of Architects California Council ("AIACC") and the American Institute of Architects ("AIA") jointly published a comprehensive new guide to Integrated Project Delivery methods.  The document is entitled "Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide," and can be downloaded here.  The Guide marks an exciting step forward in the development of Integrated Project Delivery concepts and making IPD a viable alternative for the construction industry.   

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On November 5, 2007, the California Supreme Court held that the State of California could not enter into a memorandum of understanding with an engineering union which restricted the State from hiring and retaining private engineering firms where such restrictions were barred by a recent amendment to the state constitution. (See Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California, Inc. v. Professional Engineers in California Government, 2007 Cal. LEXIS 12680.)

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On September 20, 2007, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (“TJPA”) selected Pelli Clark Pelli Architects and the Hines development firm to design and develop the new Transbay Transit Center and Transit Tower.

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The California Court of Appeal recently entered a decision reinforcing the importance of a contractor's compliance with the applicable code provisions when filing claims and bringing causes of action against public entities in public works projects.

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At the AIA National Convention in San Antonio on May 2, the AIA California Council issued an intriguing working definition of "Integrated Project Delivery."  The goal of Integrated Project Delivery is to approach construction projects in a more collaborative way, taking advantage of technological tools such as Building Information Modeling.  Click here to view the document published by the AIACC. 

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The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) recently issued the version 1.0 draft of the National Building Information Modeling Standard (National BIM Standard).  The National BIM Standard has been in the works for over four years, and is a collaboration between over 30 subject matter experts throughout the capital facilities industry.  An industry review and comment period is now in effect until May 21, 2007.  

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With the enactment of AB 573 (Wolk), many California public agencies face new restrictions on the indemnity protections they can require when engaging design professionals.

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New laws concerning the construction industry will go into effect in 2007, some of which are previewed below. These laws encompass a wide variety of issues including indemnification of design professionals, the ability of architects to practice as limited liability partnerships, “green” building construction, expansion of design-build procurement, revocation and suspension of contractors’ licenses, execution of public university contracts, and regulation of the conduct of architects. 

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