KNOW THE FACTS
Your Questions Answered About the Pennsylvania Separations Act
Everything you need to know about the Separations Act, multi-prime bidding, and why reform matters.
The Separations Act is a Pennsylvania law passed in 1913 requiring public institutions to seek separate bids from at least four different prime contractors. This approach is known as a multiple prime project delivery method.
It is an antiquated 1913 law that creates a barrier to modern construction delivery methods. Taxpayers pay for these increased construction costs and expensive delays.
Design-build is a project delivery system with one independent entity operating under a single contract providing design and construction services to the project owner or institution. This results in one qualified entity and a single contract offering a unified workflow from the initial concept through completion. Design-build is also known as design/construct and single-source responsibility.
Only Pennsylvania requires it for all public construction. Two other states have a less restricted version of the Separations Act.
No. The federal government does not employ a multi-prime construction delivery system, and private industry uses it infrequently, and only for specific circumstances.
On bid day, multiple prime delivery contractors submit artificially low forecasts. This translates into a lack of coordination and inevitable increases in change orders that erase alleged savings while increasing the overall cost of the project.
No. General contractors use subcontractors known for their reliability and quality work. However, on Pennsylvania public work projects, the public institution doesn’t know the identity of the subcontractor until the awarding of bids. This results in the loss of a critical unifying element as the institution attempts to manage at least four independent companies that probably lack coordinated work experience. If only one subcontractor has a delay, it launches a trickle-down effect, impacting the other companies.
Yes. Design documents often confuse prime contractors regarding responsibility for specific work. A single prime contractor is responsible for the entire scope of the project, eliminating any gaps in the range of work coverage while formalizing accountability.
Yes. High-performance buildings operate at maximum efficiency when functioning as a single unit. LEEDv4, the latest building certification version from the U.S. Green Building Council, insists on the need for integrative project planning and design during pre-construction. Collaboration is critical for success. The Separations Act renders this impossible because multiple prime construction imposes four separate projects occurring simultaneously without unifying collaboration.
No. It can accentuate jurisdictional disagreements. For example, a long-standing principle maintains that plumbers’ work is inside 5 feet of the building line. Some site contractors place all other utility lines on a public project with laborers. A Pennsylvania court deemed this a violation of the Separations Act, despite the fact the institution consigned the site work in the general contractor’s package, not the plumbers’ package.
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