Employee of subcontractor can't recover prevailing wage underpayment from prime contractor

Posted on April 24, 2006 by David Gehrig
A recent California appellate court decision held that an employee of a subcontractor on a public works project has no right to recover a prevailing wage underpayment from the prime contractor. (See Violante v. Communities Southwest Development and Construction Company, (April 17, 2006, E037333) ___ Cal.App.4th ___ [06 C.D.O.S. 3209].) In Violante, the plaintiffs were employed by a subcontractor on a master planned community development with 2000 residences and many public improvements. Plaintiffs’ alleged that they were not paid prevailing wages for their work by their direct employer, the subcontractor, and brought suit against the general contractor. Continue Reading...
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State legislature expands statutory design-build authority to apply to more cities and counties

Posted on April 16, 2006 by David Gehrig

Pursuant to three separate bills, the state legislature expanded existing statutory authority to award construction contracts on a design-build basis to apply to more cities and counties as of January 1, 2006. In each case, the duration of the statutory design-build authority was extended to the year 2011, and the dollar threshold was lowered to $2.5 million per project for counties. Following is a short summary of the bills:

·        AB 1329 (Wolk): This bill added section 20175 to the Public Contract Code, and authorizes cities in the counties of Solano and Yolo to award construction contracts on a design-build basis. The authority only applies to buildings and directly related improvements, and does not apply to streets, highways, public rail transit, or water resources facilities and infrastructure. The statute has a sunset provision for the year 2011.

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