ACT 17 INFORMATION 

From the State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Workforce Development Division
(Russ K. Saito and staff address specific questions and concerns)

    Act 17 (HRS § 103-55.6) gives bidders of public works projects a 5% reduction in price for bid scoring purposes, if the bidder is a party to an apprenticeship agreement registered with the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations for each apprenticeable trade the bidder will employ to construct public work.

           
    To be considered for the 5% price reduction, bidders must submit a certification from the program sponsor that they are parties to an apprenticeship program registered with the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. If the bidder is successful in being awarded a contract, the contractor must submit a monthly certification from the sponsor which reports that the contractor remains a party to a registered apprenticeship program, for the duration of the project.

    Form 1, Certification of Bidder's Participation in Approved Apprenticeship Program under Act 17, and Form 2, Monthly Report or Contractor's Participation in Approved Apprenticeship Program under Act 17, are available for downloading and printing at http://hawaii.gov/labor/wdd. Please check the website for the latest forms because changes will be made as needed.

Please note the following:
1. Form 1, item II, A, Apprenticeable Trades to be Employed
Be sure to enter The trade as recorded in the List of Construction Trades in
Registered Apprenticeship Programs posted on the State Department of Labor and
Industrial Relations website.

Any abbreviated names or commonly used names, if not the same as the
occupation listed on the website, may fail to be recognized by the procuring
agency.

2. Form I, item II.B. Apprenticeship Sponsor
Be sure to enter the sponsor's name as recorded on the Department's website.

In many cases, the specific Joint Apprenticeship Committee is the sponsor, not the organization, e.g., union or association, that provides staffing for the training office. Procuring agencies may not recognize the sponsor as one registered with the Department if the sponsor's name differs from the list.

3. Form II, item III, Sponsor's Name—same as for prior item.

4. Forms I & II. Bidder's Certification and Apprenticeship Program Sponsor's Certification
Original signatures are required.

1. HRS 103-55.6/ACT 17  have no HAR’s that dictate implementation the only administration and details come from DAGS Memorandum No. 2010-29, without HAR’s how did they get a 5 page document that explains the HRS/ACT?

Response:We have started the Rule making process but recognizing that it may take time, I have issued Comptroller’s Memorandum 2010 – 29 to serve as interim rules, effective immediately for Executive Branch departments. The Comptroller’s Memorandum has been shared with all Chief Procurement Officers of the 20 State and County jurisdictions to follow on a voluntary basis. The Comptroller’s Memorandum has the same instructions as the proposed rules, so when the rules are adopted there should be minimum adjustments.

2. HRS 103-55.6 states “……shall decrease the bid amount of a bidder by five percent if the bidder is a party to an apprenticeship agreement registered with the department of labor and industrial relations for each apprenticeable trade the bidder will employ to construct public works, and in conformance with chapter 372.”  This and the note above could have different interpretations.

Response:  There is no difference in terms of the apprenticeship programs being registered with DLIR in conformance with chapter 372. However, the contractor must be a party to every apprenticeable trade for which the contractor plans to use the contractor’s own employees to perform the work. The subcontractors do not need to be parties to apprenticeship programs registered with DLIR.

The complication will be when a contractor’s employees are able to perform work in more than one apprenticeable trade; for example, carpenter and laborer. My assessment of this situation is that if the contractor uses the multi skilled employees to perform work for which the contractor is not a party to an apprenticeable trade registered with DLIR, the contractor will not be able to claim the 5% preference. To be sure, I’m reviewing this with the Attorney General’s office. Another complication is the issue of contractor licensing and work done incidentally under the contractor's license. I'm checking into this too, but note that the issue of contractor licensing is separate from the issue of the apprenticeship preference.

3. Act 17 SLH 2009 Section 3, Note A (2) Subcontractors do not have to be a party to an apprenticeship agreement for the offeror to obtain the preference.  (Where is this determined?  HRS 103-55.6 does not mention subcontractors in any portion of the language.)

Response:This determined by a plain reading of the Act. All of the responsibility for being a party to an apprenticeship program registered with DLIR is on the “bidder” which means the same as “offeror” as used in the question. As used in the Act (Section 1, §103 – (d), For purposes of this section, "bidder" means an entity that submits a competitive sealed bid under section 103D-302 or submits a competitive sealed proposal under section 103D-303." In other words a bidder is the general contractor and not any of the bidder’s subcontractors.

Sponsors