GRAND RAPIDS - Beefed-up responsible contracting guidelines for taxpayer-funded construction have been put into place by City Commissioners.

The state's second biggest city is now the largest municipality in the state to have a full set of responsible contracting regulations on its books.

"Responsible contracting isn't a union or nonunion issue," said Ed Haynor of the West Michigan Construction Alliance, and Michigan Association for Responsible Contracting, union-backed groups seeking to implement such policies in school districts and municipalities. "Responsible contracting means that contractors bidding for work have to rise to a level of quality that's laid out in the language. It levels the playing field for all contractors bidding for work, and that's in the interest of everybody."

The West Michigan alliance, through the MARC, has been a major advocate for responsible contracting for the last few years. Responsible contracting suggests that before school boards and municipal authorities enter into any construction-related agreements, bidding contractors should meet several standards. They include:

• Documentation that contractors' training programs meet federal standards;
• An alcohol- and drug-free workplace policy;
• A local hiring policy, if applicable;
• Credit for working with local schools to get youth involved in the building trades, if applicable;
• Documentation of any civil suits, arbitrations, or criminal convictions that have occurred within the past five years.
• Documentation of safety policies;
• An explanation of the contractor's experience in the field.
• Ratings for worker's compensation insurance.

A working group that included Haynor, union building trades agents, an Associated Builders and Contractors representative, and an AGC representative, made the proposals to the Grand Rapids City Commission, which accepted them on Nov. 21. As a result, Grand Rapids will be asking contractors to answer questions about those areas beginning in 2007.

Dianette Hight, the city's engineering services administrator, said Grand Rapids has maintained a contractor pre-qualification process since 1984 that was last updated in 2003. It applies to general contractors as well as subcontractors who do more than $10,000 of business with the city.

The working group, she said, is advising those requirements be stiffened by incorporating responsible contracting principles in five areas.
Hight noted the engineering department for the city of Grand Rapids typically oversees from $40 million to $50 million in construction activity in any given year. The new requirements, she said, should help ensure the city get what its citizens are paying for.

"We're trying to get the best quality product at the end of construction," she said.

Haynor worked in the study group along with Dick Brunvand of the Michigan Associated General Contractors, Buck Geno of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters and Service Trades Local 174, and Sean Egan of IBEW Local 275.

"We're dealing with an industry that doesn't like to bare its dirty laundry," Haynor said. "Our position is, is that if it's true that union contractors are best for quality and safety, then responsible contracting rules should help our ability to get work."

(Michigan Construction News.com contributed this report)