91ÊÓƵ

A flurry of construction-related bills hit the Oregon Legislature on Thursday. Here is a look at a few of them:

Bill would level the playing field for permit violations

If a contractor starts building a structure without the proper permit or plan review, he or she could face a fine between $1,000 and $5,000.

The same requirement doesn’t apply for work on plumbing, boilers, elevators or manufactured homes.

Mark Long, the administrator of the Oregon Building Codes Division, wants to change that with House Bill 2978.

“This makes the regulations across the board and consistent,” he told members of the House Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency Committee on Thursday.

He told lawmakers the bill would have no effect on most contractors – for the most part.

“If you don’t get a permit, it will definitely have an impact,” he said.

The bill would expand who could get fined – or slapped with double permit fees – for not obtaining permits. The fines would apply to people doing structural, mechanical, residential and electrical work.

State Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, the committee chairman, noted that recent amendments have dramatically changed the bill’s language.

“It’s a complete rewrite of the bill,” he said. “I would like to give (committee members) an opportunity to respond. I just wanted to get the amendment adopted and get the paperwork, so we can move ahead in the process and hopefully vote on it before the end of our timeline.”

BILL STATUS: After closing the public hearing, committee members took no further action on House Bill 2978. Next, during a work session, the bill will be killed, referred to another committee or sent to the House floor for a vote.

Green energy bill would alter rules for contractors

House Bill 3169 would amend a state requirement for building contractors who work on public buildings. Under existing law, contractors are required to provide a certain amount of green technology as part of any public project.

That green technology is supposed to amount to 1.5 percent of the overall contract price. Diana Enright, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Energy, told members of the House Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency Committee on Thursday that technology must be part of the building being constructed.

House Bill 3169 would change that. It would allow contractors to provide green technologies such as solar or geothermal power to buildings other than the ones being constructed under the contract.

The one stipulation is that new green technology cannot replace existing green technology. In other words, Enright said, a contractor couldn’t simply swap out solar panels.

The bill also would stretch the definition of green technologies to go beyond solar and geothermal to take into account others not developed yet, she added.

Mark Landauer, government affairs director of the Special Districts Association of Oregon, said the bill would provide important definitions for fire districts, water districts and other taxing entities.

“For very small districts, this can be a difficult piece of legislation to work through, especially for the smaller – and perhaps less sophisticated – districts,” Landauer said.

The bill would apply only to state-funded projects.

BILL STATUS: After closing the public hearing, committee members took no further action on House Bill 3169. Next, during a work session, the bill will be killed, referred to another committee or sent to the House floor for a vote.

QBS bill goes to Senate floor without dissent

A bill that would give city and county officials the ability to skip the bidding process for construction projects of $100,000 or less generated a lot of debate when it came before the Senate Business and Transportation Committee for a public hearing on March 25.

There wasn’t a peep of dissent on Thursday when committee members sent Senate Bill 644 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.

The bill would define when county and local governments can select designers based on either a direct appointment or qualifications-based selection (QBS) process.

Under the QBS system, if a project is worth more than $250,000, public officials can ask for the qualifications of any number of possible contractors. However, they must be evaluated based strictly on their qualifications. Price cannot enter into the initial decision.

For projects between $100,000 and $250,000, public officials can narrow their search to a handful of possible contractors. What Senate Bill 644 seeks to do is have direct appointment kick in at less than $100,000.

Public officials would then ask for the qualifications of only one potential contractor. Then price negotiations could begin. If officials were not satisfied, they could go to someone else – and so on down the line.

BILL STATUS: The bill is awaiting a vote by the Senate.