Plans for the new $30 million county courthouse project include outreach provisions to help local contractors and suppliers qualify and compete for the work, Court Executive Officer Gil Solorio said.
The courthouse project will begin between September 2010 and February 2011 with completion during the first half of 2012. It is the largest public construction project ever undertaken for the Hollister downtown area and will be built on the abandoned Fremont School site on Fourth Street.
The outreach will include links through the county Web site to the Web site of the construction management firm, Kitchell, and seminars early next year to help prequalify local contractors.
Damon Felice, of Felice Consulting Services and president of The Association of San Benito County Contractors, was supportive of the program, especially the opportunity for prequalification. The contractors' organization is a nonprofit association of general contractors, sub-contractors, building materials suppliers, and other construction-related businesses and professionals servicing San Benito County.
"Prequalification is important because it helps the small contractors deal with the regulatory requirements," he said.
Another critical provision for making local contractors competitive is the separating of some contract requirements so small firms can bid on the job sizes they can handle. Felice also stressed the importance of communication between the management firm, major contractors and the local contractors since they are unfamiliar with one another.
"It's essential to have a local liaison who can work with both groups."
He explained that public (projects) have some mandatory requirements that may be difficult for small contractors to meet - such as prevailing wage and accounting rules - but they can overcome these hurdles by hiring outside firms to do the specialized functions, usually related to overhead, or by forming joint ventures with other companies.
The county court Web site, www.sanbenito.courts.ca.gov, has a link to information (click on "Learn More") on the new courthouse construction project including a fact sheet, frequently asked questions, project presentation, site photographs and a video.
Marty Richman Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
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