What applies to this federal construction contract

At or below $2,000, construction subject to Davis-Bacon is a micro-purchase: Davis-Bacon (which starts above $2,000) does not apply, and neither does the small business set-aside rule. The general micro-purchase threshold is $15,000, but that number does not apply to Davis-Bacon construction.

Contracts over $2,000 for construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of public buildings or public works in the U.S. carry the Construction Wage Rate Requirements clauses: pay laborers and mechanics on site at least the wage determination rates, keep payrolls, and file the weekly Copeland Act statement of compliance.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 22.403-1 and 22.407 are 22.402-3 and 22.402-4 in the RFO text. Threshold unchanged.

Above the $2,000 construction micro-purchase threshold, the contracting officer must set the job aside for small business when two or more responsible small businesses are expected to offer at fair market prices.

Worded differently in RFO. Codified FAR 19.502-2 splits the rule at the $350,000 simplified acquisition threshold (at or below it the job is set aside unless the officer finds no reasonable expectation of two small offers). RFO 19.104-1 states one rule for everything above the micro-purchase threshold.

Over $35,000 and up to $150,000, the contracting officer picks two or more payment protections (payment bond, irrevocable letter of credit, tripartite escrow, certificates of deposit, or a deposit of U.S. bonds, notes, or cash) and you furnish one. It must equal 100 percent of the original contract price unless the officer sets a lower amount, and it is due within the number of days after award set in the contract. Clause 52.228-13.

Over $150,000, you need a performance bond and a payment bond, each at 100 percent of the original contract price unless the contracting officer sets a lower amount (the payment bond can never be less than the performance bond). Both are due within the time the contracting officer sets, and in any event before you start work. Clause 52.228-15.

A bid guarantee is required whenever a performance bond is required, unless the chief of the contracting office waives it. The amount is at least 20 percent of the bid price, but not more than $3 million. On a construction job it must be a separate guarantee for this bid. A missing bid guarantee in sealed bidding means the bid is rejected, with limited exceptions.

Contracts over $150,000 include 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify), covering new hires and employees assigned to the contract. It does not apply if the period of performance is under 120 days or the work is entirely outside the U.S.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 22.1803 is 22.1802-2 in the RFO text. Threshold unchanged.

Contracts over $200,000 that employ laborers or mechanics carry 52.222-4: time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek, with liquidated damages for violations.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 22.305 is 22.301-2 in the RFO text. Both say the clause is left out at or below $200,000.

At $200,000 or more, the contract includes 52.222-35 and 52.222-37, and you file the annual VETS-4212 report with the Department of Labor.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 22.1303 and 22.1310 are 22.1302-1 and 22.1302-2 in the RFO text. Threshold unchanged.

Over $350,000, simplified acquisition procedures are off the table. The agency must prepare an independent government estimate, and fixed-price construction contracts must include the standard construction clauses (differing site conditions, site investigation, superintendence, accident prevention, specifications and drawings, and others). The contract also includes 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 36.203 and 36.5 are 36.101-6 and 36.101-7 in the RFO text; the SAT trigger is the same.

On a small business set-aside expected to exceed $350,000 (and on 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB set-asides and sole-source awards at any value), clause 52.219-14 applies. A general construction prime may not pay more than 85 percent of what the government pays it, excluding materials, to subs that are not similarly situated. For a special trade contractor the limit is 75 percent.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 19.507(e) is 19.104-3(c) in the RFO text. The 85 and 75 percent limits are the same in both versions of 52.219-14.

Construction contracts expected to exceed $2 million with subcontracting possibilities require the apparent winner to submit an acceptable small business subcontracting plan (clause 52.219-9). Small businesses are exempt, and set-aside contracts do not get the clause. The non-construction threshold is $900,000.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 19.702 and 19.708 are 19.109 in the RFO text. Same $2 million construction threshold.

Under the codified FAR, fixed-price construction contracts over $2 million include 52.236-1, which sets a minimum share of the work you must perform with your own forces, ordinarily not less than 12 percent. Small business set-asides and 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, and WOSB awards are exempt.

Dropped in RFO. The RFO text of Part 36 drops this requirement and marks 52.236-1 as reserved. Agencies using the RFO deviation (including GSA, VA, and DoD) should not include it. Check Section I of the solicitation.

Federal construction projects with a total estimated construction cost of $35 million or more must use a project labor agreement unless an exception applies. The solicitation will say whether one is required.

Renumbered in RFO. Codified FAR 22.502 and 22.503 are 22.501 and 22.502-1 in the RFO text, and RFO 36.002(a) repeats the rule.

For DoD two-phase design-build contracts over $5.5 million, phase two is limited to no more than five offerors, unless it is an IDIQ design-build contract or the head of the contracting activity approves more.

Military construction funded with MILCON appropriations, over $1 million, and performed in U.S. outlying areas in the Pacific, on Kwajalein Atoll, or in countries bordering the Arabian Gulf goes only to U.S. firms, unless the U.S. firm's low offer is more than 20 percent above a foreign firm's (Marshallese firms on Kwajalein excepted). Only matters if the job is in one of those places.