Hawaii procurement officers often complain of an inability to weed out unqualified or undependable contractors from the bidding process, and how the hard bid competitive bidding provisions of the procurement code do not allow sufficient discretion to pick the best contractors. There are, however, codified provisions for such "weeding," including findings of no responsibility, prequalification…

The U.S. defense budget is being subject to severe cuts, which may be felt even in military strongholds like Hawaii. According to an article in Pacific Business News, "the Pentagon is requesting $8.5 billion for military construction, which is a 29 percent reduction. It’s also asking for just $1.65 billion for family housing, which is…

New wind project obtains financing.

Hearings for House Bill 1671, which relates to the procurement code, are scheduled for
today before the Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations and Military
Affairs. More specifically, HB 1671 is described on the legislature’s Web site
as “[i]mpos[ing] time limits on rendering administrative and judicial review
decisions” and “[l]imiting protests to those that are…

Appellant Shaw Construction (“Shaw”) was the contractor for the Roslyn Court condominium complex.  Shaw hired a drywall subcontractor and a separate subcontractor to install roofs, gutters, and downspouts. 

The City and County of Denver issued certificates of occupancy for each residential building for various periods, with the last certificate for the project being issued on…

The Star Advertiser reports that construction lending by Hawaii's banks dropped off during the recession by as much as 66%.  "Construction loans made by the state's top seven banks dwindled to $773 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 66 percent decline from $2.26 billion at the end of 2007, according to a Star-Advertiser…

In Dragani v. Borough of Ambler and BFI Waste Services of PA, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 52 (February 6, 2012), a Pennsylvania appellate court addressed the question of noncomforming bids for public works and to what extent such nonconformities could be waived.

The invitation for bids required that each bid be accompanied by a document called the…

House Bill 1969 is currently working its way through the legislature, and has made its way past three committees without major changes.  The bill, frankly, is a strange one, in that it purports to extend the prompt payment measures set forth in Hawaii's procurement code (and thus applicable to public projects), to private jobs.  Even more strangely…