May 31, 2011, Introduced by Reps. McMillin, Kowall, Goike, Foster, Shirkey, Rogers and MacGregor and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
A bill to amend 1980 PA 524, entitled
"An act to provide for the terms of certain construction contracts
with certain public agencies; to regulate the payment and retainage
of payments on construction contracts with certain public agencies;
and to provide for the resolution of certain disputes,"
by amending section 2 (MCL 125.1562).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
2. (1) The A construction contract shall designate do
both of the following:
(a) Contain bid specifications that comply with subsection
(5).
(b) Designate a person representing the contractor who will
submit written requests for progress payments, and a person
representing the public agency to whom request for progress
payments are to be submitted. The written requests for progress
payments shall be submitted to the designated person in a manner
and at such times as provided in the construction contract.
(2) The processing of progress payments by the public agency
may be deferred by the public agency until work having a prior
sequence, as provided in the contract documents, is in place and is
approved.
(3) Each progress payment requested, including reasonable
interest if requested under subsection (4), shall be paid within 1
of the following time periods, whichever is later:
(a) Thirty days after the architect or professional engineer
has certified to the public agency that work is in place in the
portion of the facility covered by the applicable request for
payment in accordance with the contract documents.
(b) Fifteen days after the public agency has received the
funds with which to make the progress payment from a department or
agency of the federal or state government, if any funds are to come
from either of those sources.
(4) Upon failure of a public agency to make a timely progress
payment pursuant to this section, the person designated to submit
requests for progress payments may include reasonable interest on
amounts past due in the next request for payment.
(5) A public agency shall not enter into a construction
contract unless it contains bid specifications that meet all of the
following requirements:
(a) The bid specifications are written by the architect or
professional engineer, designer, or draftsman who provides design
services or writes specifications, directly or indirectly, for
materials to be used in performing the construction contract. The
person who writes the bid specifications shall not be an employee
or representative of a manufacturer of any material to be used in
performing the construction contract.
(b) The bid specifications specify performance standards for
the materials to be used in performing the construction contract.
However, if it is impossible or impractical to specify the
performance standards, then the bid specifications shall specify 3
or more examples of materials that establish a range for an
acceptable material of similar or equivalent performance
characteristics. The materials used as examples shall be produced
by different manufacturers whose ownership is completely
independent of each other. If 3 or more materials meeting the
requirements of this subdivision are not available, then as many
materials meeting these requirements as are available shall be
specified.
(c) The bid specifications state that bids do not require the
specified manufacturer of a material, which is listed only to
denote the performance standard for the material, and that
equivalent materials are acceptable. A bid specification may
designate 1 or more preferred manufacturers if the specification
also identifies the performance standards that support the
preference. A material that meets the performance standard
specified for the designated, preferred manufacturer is considered
equivalent to the material from the designated manufacturer.